A Perspicuous Concerto.

When I last saw Luca she was 12 years old, she’s 14 now.

Normally she lives in Berlin, right now she’s in San Francisco but we met and worked together in Seattle.

I had entered the Seattle 48 hour film project and was in the middle of 48 hours of writing, devising, filming and editing a film whose genre had been picked out of a hat at random.

And frankly I was a little out of my depth.

I was struggling to understand some of the instructions the organiser was sending by email, trying to learn how to use a brand new computer and editing suite, attempting to keep my teenage son assistant (and principal editor) focussed and wondering what Barsandtones were and why they were considered so essential to the finished product.

And that was when Luca walked in and said; “I’ve written a piece of music for your film.”

It wasn’t the first time we had spoken – her sister played the part of the murdered flamenco dancer in the film we were trying to edit – but it was our first professional negotiation.

“Do you have it with you?”
“Yes.”
“And your violin?”
“Yes,” – her English is excellent.
“Could you play it right now?”
“Ok”.

She solved a lot of problems – we hadn’t started to think about soundtrack but we were aware that the 48-hour film project was serious enough to insist on copyright issues, actor/union agreements and location waiver forms.

And we were already in deep water with the latter, having failed to ask anyone before filming where we already had.

“Ok can you sign this form?”

She did, and then she took out her violin, I held the sheet music and she played into the computer’s built in microphone.

Then she went off to rehearse a trapeze number for the cabaret, finish reading her novel in English, do a bit more work on her own one, paint another illustration for someone else's and do some skipping with her sister. Oh, and babysit her little brother.

What a woman!

Meanwhile Loui and I continued to sweat and struggle until the deadline, rushed to the final drop off meeting and two days later sat in the cinema with the other contestants watching everything on the big screen.

I’m thinking of this today, a struggling to be sunny January, because the Film Academy Oscar ceremony is fast approaching, March I believe with the nominations announced on the second of Feb, and I would like to do something similar here on my blog.

A sort of Bitsnbobsshowntell Oscar event where readers get to vote on a shortlist of blog awards – best pun, best use of the word perspicuous, best picture of a vegetable etc etc

Ideally I would like anyone who reads this blog to nominate categories and contenders.

Is that asking too much?

Or should I produce the list myself and simply ask you to vote?

The folk who run the 48-hour film project do a similar thing, recognising talent where it is due and awarding prizes for The Best film, The Best Actress etc etc.

Our film, Miss Bludd, awkward though it was –– won one!

“Best cello/viola solo” – 48 hour film project, Seattle 2008.

You can listen to it by clicking on this link – 48-hour film project.