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Tuesday, 2002 January 1
Happy New Year!

Wednesday, 2002 January 2
We are again in the editing room of "Filmplus". We have plenty of work till the afternoon viewing. We are no more able to appreciate what is the film like. If we had to change it, we do our best. In the afternoon arrives Zsófi, the dramaturg, Gergő, the cameraman, Gábor, the editor, and Gyuri, the director. At half past five arrive the producers too. The director puts the sound to the images. The producers understand the movie, they like it but they still find the beginning too long.
"A 75 minutes long film can't have 40 minutes of exposition."
"In a film there are no scenes with the same importance, you have to size up the situation."
These are the most important observations.
"In the 16th minute it should happen something!"
"You may not bore the audience."
"It's not important to be ready for the Review, just to be a good film."
We are helpless. We don't have a better version of the film. It seems that the producer's request is incontestable - he wants to make the film more understandable for the spectators, namely he wants to make the riddle easier.
"Leona" coffee shop. Thinking. The director, the dramaturg and the film editor. We are exhausted. What we omitted to put together? Drafts of another sequences, another solutions put on paper. The film editor is thinking of a crosscutting: he would cut in six the scenes with the beekeeper and with lunch. The director disapproves with the parallel montage; he searches for a better solution. The film editor draws a sketch about his idea, and takes his coat: "I can't do better than that." The director and the dramaturg are talking with the cameraman on the phone. Long, long "conference talking". Then with a devious idea they find the possibility to accomplish the producer's idea and at the same time not to harm the director's conception: we bring forward the scene with the midwife.
At leaving another disappointment: from first of January the drink's prices have risen…
Cold.
Sleeping.

Thursday, 2002 January 3
It's nine in the morning and we are in the editing room from "Filmplus". The editor is making his own version, then the director his. The scene with the boar follows the scene with the pub in a way that it almost convinces the director: there is its right place. After long disputes with the director and after a little "dramaturgical" influence the editor renounces to make the cross editing.

Thursday, 2002 January 4
At nine in the morning viewing for the producer again.
He likes better this version, but he still has some objections. The correction of those put in the end the scene with the beekeeper. It doesn't seem to be a bad solution.
In the next day the laboratory is closed, so we have only two days for making the foot count-list. We open champagne. We receive the special effect cut form the laboratory. It's defective. They have to remake it.

Saturday, 2002 January 5
Schulze, Pohárnok, Ruttkay, Marinkás, Pálfi. Let's see hat have we done! Nobody see clearly the film. According to the cameraman this is the best version, but the others aren't so sure.
The movie is shorter with two minutes than the festival requests. Work method: everybody has to find at least 20 seconds in the film that could be made longer. (The other possibility: we should repeat the best scenes twice <or three times>.) Then we clear the situation in the editing room. The editor and the director take over the cuts and correct the last faults.

Sunday, 2002 January 6
We continue correcting work. The scenes with the funeral and the wedding are not really perfect. We finish them by afternoon. At one o'clock the film is ready!!!
Beta copying the sound, for they can start working.
First part of the foot counts list and VHS for the laboratory.

Monday, 2002 January 7
In the morning the material arrives to "Filmlabor". The negative editing starts. The computer from "Filmplus" broke. The editor moves with the floppy to the "HB" video and continues his work. By afternoon is finished the newest laboratory special effect. The editor puts it in the film.
There are problems with the sound. The film was changed so much, that they don't know when will they finish putting the original sounds and atmospheres.
The director is working on PR at "Mokép" - they finish the casting list, they talk over the poster and prepare the material for the press too.
The director meets the dramaturg to talk over what "suddenly" happened with the film. The director, after few days feels more and more that he deiced against the film letting to change it… The dramaturg isn't surprised at all at that.
The director with a phone call changes the last scene.
He reconciles himself to unchangeable things.

Tuesday, 2002 January 8
At "Mokép" the director talks over with the producer the poster plan. He mentions the possibility of returning to the other version of the film, but the producer turns a deaf ear to it. He assures that they may put the director's version on DVD.
At the laboratory, due to perforation error they have to cut out 12 squares from one cut, and they add the same to the end of the negative.

Wednesday, 2002 January 9
Feverish awakening for the director - in the last minute he bungled the film.
A lot of doubts, reproaches and disappointments.
Finalising the poster at the graphic artist.

Thursday, 2002 January 10
The assistant director joins the team: he works on the counts.
There will be made only six posters - just for the Review.
In the afternoon the "String Film Association" ("Madzag Filmegylet") is established.

Friday, 2002 January 11
The sound editor can't guarantee that they could finish until the review.

Friday, 2002 January 18
Preparations for the Film Review. Finalising the material for the press.
Another discussion with the composers. We are short of time. One saving idea: Let the sound men finish, to have a lighted copy for the review, then we have to give time for the sound editors to finish the final sound of the film. This means three million HUF; the director has to find the money for that.
We are searching actors for dubbing the "Brazil series".

Saturday, 2002 January 19
The director is at the graphic artist again. He is (still) working at the flash site. At the sound editor's invitation most of the crewmembers (the editor, the dramaturg, the new G, the two composers and the director) meet at the opening ceremony of "Saint Audio". Indifferent eating, drinking. Everybody is dead tired.
When in the middle of the party the director enters the sound editor's room and he finds him with one of his colleague working at "Hukkle" an euphoric feeling seizes him: therefore it worth (?).

Sunday, 2002 January 20
At nine in the morning at Saint Audio Emma Mikes and Gábor Fogarasi noise experts are adding sounds to the re-edited film. In the afternoon the composer is making the main song with Bea Paya and Ferenc Sebő. The director is watching them with critic eyes…

Monday, 2002 January 21
The sound editors are putting yesterday noises on the film. "Mokép" approves the credits. It misses only the list with the film songs, but by night the material is at the special effect men.

Tuesday, 2002 January 22
At nine in the morning at Saint Audio studio - during the workmen hammer beating - we start to prepare the material for mixing. The conditions of the studio under building are not the most suitable for work, but the atmosphere is familiar, almost homelike.
The work rate is slower than we expected.
Much more work with the film than we expected.
The crew is working much longer time.
We leave work by 11 in the evening.

Wednesday, 2002 January 23
The director, the cameraman, the editor and the dramaturg watch the master copy at the Laboratory. They are very satisfied, but there are some little mistakes on the tape. It is solved in no time by the laboratory people (depend what we mean on no time…)
The supplementary work continues only in the afternoon. As the humped child under the mat is. It is sure by now that in one day we cannot finish more than 10-12 minutes. In this way it's desperate.
The good news is that the posters are ready! For the time being only the PR woman saw it, and according to her they are wonderful.

Thursday, 2002 January 24
The child is still humped. 16-18 hours of work by day. Everybody is tired and more irritable. But the work is going on well. The composers arrive changing each other with newer materials. The director is sure by now that he dislikes the main song as it is now.

Friday, 2002 January 25
The rush is bigger, everybody is more and more tired, and it's more and more hard. The good thing is that there is the possibility to present the film next year. Naturally it would be a mistake, but is better than presenting a half-finished material.
This is the fifth pizza in his week. (When will we finish?) This is not good for our nervous system.

Saturday, 2002 January 26
The rush continues. In the evening two actors arrive: Janka Solecki and Attila Menszátor Héresz to dub the "Brazil series". This releases us a little. Finally some change. This work is finished very fast; then again 20 m2, one more pizza and again fighting with time.

Sunday, 2002 January 27
Work is finished only at five at the Saint, then moving to the university since by Tuesday night we should finish the mixing of the whole film. The projection room of the university is relatively bigger, it would be better to mix there than in a small room. But we have at least two days of work to do - if not two weeks…
The sound editor and the director agree that after moving they will work a little, but it won't happen.

Monday, 2002 January 28
For the time mixing is out of question. We continue the work where we have finished yesterday. Due to the heating error it's terribly hot in the room, and we can't do anything to change that. The caretaker vanished. Everybody is agonising half-naked.
By the end of the day it's more and more sure that the work will be finished not on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, so the laboratory will get the material one day later than we planned.
In the evening some phone calls and (it seems that) the problem is solved. The laboratory assumed that they would finish by Saturday, if they would get the material on DAT by Thursday at 8.
Sites of relief then work again. By morning we come to the end of the film. Tomorrow we can start mixing.
We gained a day!!!

Tuesday, 2002 January 29
The temperature of the room barely changed a little. But it doesn't make our enthusiasm faint!
For the first five minutes of the film we lose 4 hours. This wouldn't work like that anymore. We should speed up the work. It is pity that we have to add many things later. We would really need at least two weeks. Moreover, we don't know how these scene fit to each other with sound on them. We will see it tomorrow, when the producer will watch it.

Wednesday, 2002 January 30
It is the last day. This lends us wings. Unfortunately time flies too…
Around seven arrive the producers and a French film editor. We view them the movie; we may say that it didn't gain unanimous enthusiasm.
The producers seem disappointed, the French film editor says that he understands what are we trying to do, but we are small for that yet.
The director, the sound editor, the two composers and the dramaturg are perplexed. They haven't the faintest idea of what should they do now. According to the producer the director is now like a football player: he's in front of the goal, but he didn't managed to score the penalty kick. But he adds comforting that the review will receive well the film, but he has to give a thought about the foreign festivals.
Only the director isn't desperate. A short brake makes him good. The crew is eating at a Chinese snack bar to gain some strength to finish the last part of the work. This work lasts till half past three.
Moreover: for the sound editor lasts till eight in the morning - till he copies the sound and takes it to the laboratory. But that story belongs to tomorrow.

Thursday, 2002 January 31
At eight in the morning the sound editor handles the sound to the laboratory. So, the sound editor, the director and the cameraman may watch the finished film tomorrow morning at seven.
The 33rd edition of the Film Review begins.
The director is a little bitter that the participant artists didn't received invitation for the opening. Who will fill that huge hall? This is like if the sportsmen wouldn't march at the opening of the Olympics.
Of course there is great excitement about the crew would or wouldn't participate at the closing ceremony.

 

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