A CONVERSATION WITH ROB TREGENZA concerning
INSIDE/OUT
WHY IS THE FILM CALLED INSIDE/OUT?
All my films are about their titles in a very direct sort of way. The title is designed to announce the operation of the film at a number of levels. First, at the level of the film structure, then a sort of metaphorical statement about the relation of the film thing to the event, and lastly to describe what might pass as the narrative.
WHEN YOU WRITE THE SCRIPT, DO YOU START WITH PLOT AND CHARACTER OR SOMETHING ELSE IN MIND?
Usually specific images that I have seen in the world... a sort of mood which has been following me around for awhile... and these are then organized around some concept.
SO YOU DON'T START FROM CHARACTERS?
The characters emerge from the original images... but the characters are most important because of their predetermined social or historical functions... I use character as typage not as the psychological motor for dialogue or plot.
DOES THIS MAKE IT HARDER TO DEAL WITH ACTORS?
Film actor's these days are always asking about the connections between character and their inner motivation, inorder to externalize this into their actions... That whole thing descends from the same source... the concerns of the Moscow Art Theatre and not Meyerhold.
I am more interested in Meyerhold. However, I can speak to them about these sorts of concerns. But for a director in a scene, often there are other relations not governed by acting processes that need to take precedence. Then you have to ask the actor to be still and trust you... trust in relations they can not see or even feel...ask them to stop the inner dialogue and let the world, the cut or the camera pass them by.
YOU ARE ALSO THE CAMERAPERSON IN ALL YOUR FILMS. IS IT HARD TO DIRECT AND SHOOT?
There is a certain level of distraction because the DP really runs the crew... and all the technical aspects of a production. But we don't work using the industrial model for film production... it is rare if the total crew is more than nine people. I like the actors and the crew to be close to each other... to sense their interdependence on each other. Because, I am in a sense the leader of both groups... they all tend to become one group on the set. This has distinct advantages when I shoot long takes or try to cover the scene in one shot.
TALKING TO STRANGERS WAS NINE TAKES AND EACH SCENE/TAKE SHOT ONCE. IN INSIDE/OUT THERE IS A RETURN TO LONG TAKES...WERE MANY OF THEM ALSO SHOT ONLY ONCE?
Yes, I like the energy when everybody can get it right the first time. I rarely shoot more than two shots of anything. And that is not because of money. After you have the actors, crew and the cranes etc there... another roll of film isn't a very major concern. It is more a function of the sort of relation... the sort of risks I want to take within the event.
But THE ARC also had long takes... people forget that because the first few reels are so heavily edited. STRIKE was the model for that film. The game there was to have the length of the shots extend as the character evolves... as we "arced" from one sliver of his existence to the next. The last third of the film is made up of shots that are very much like TALKING TO STRANGERS.
YOU TALK ALOT ABOUT THE GAMES OF CINEMA. WHAT IS THE GAME IN INSIDE/OUT?
Well, I'm not sure I want to say. From the start of my work I have wanted to create an event which is open to plural interpretations. When a director starts telling people what "it" is about... then that very quickly becomes a privileged interpretation... and that shuts down other interpretations which to my mind are just as valid as my own thoughts about the event.
BUT GAMES HAVE RULES... AND DON"T YOU THINK WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT SORT OF RULES ARE BEING PLAYED WITH... SO, WE CAN ENJOY OR UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS?
True. As I said it is mostly about the title. INSIDE/OUT asks a question concerning a relationship between what is inside or outside something. That question can be applied to different sets of relations within the film-event and within the world... relations between the audience and the film, the character to the plot, the use of sound in relation to image.
At the most obvious level.... obvious, only because of Hollywood inculcation... in the narrative of INSIDE/OUT... all the scenes that one would expect to see in this sort of film... are outside the event. This requires the audience to build their own narrative links to explain for example why the characters are doing what they are doing. Why is the Priest (Tom Gilroy) so crazy about the Organist (Stefania Rocca)? It is a decentered narrative.
I disagree with critics who suggest that this film is not about narrative that it is about beautiful photography. They are not looking close enough... it is very much about the rule of narrative and how we might get outside of it for a season.
WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR NEXT FILM?
I'm not sure, there are two ideas on the stove... one could be shot in Canada the other in Europe.
SO, YOU WANT TO GET OUTSIDE the STATES?
I don't think that is possible anymore... even in Europe... and certainly not Canada. But never the less it might be worth the risk.
THANK YOU
My pleasure.