While many of their counterparts went to the beach for spring break, students from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington journeyed to Prague, Czech Republic, to shoot Conversation with Kafka, a narrative film adapted from one of the writer's early short stories. The students served as cast, crew and even doubled as a tripod.
"The opportunity to make a film at an exotic location was a lure," says theater major Jason Smith, who plans to act in films. Garrett Droege signed on as an actor, but before the shoot was over, he played a much broader role. In addition to performing, Droege was a grip. He drew the storyboards and shot a documentary video on the making of the project. "We were shorthanded," he explains, "so when they were not in front of the camera, the actors worked as part of the crew."
Dr. Renee Vincent, a professor in the university´s Art and Theater Department, organized the project and was also cast in multiple roles as director, writer and producer. The project came about when the university´s honors program invited Vincent and Dr. Paula Kamenish, an associate professor of English, who taught a senior seminar on Kafka to take honor students to Prague.
The film was mainly funded with a grant from UNC-Wilmington. The school´s chancellor funded insurance for the camera package which Joe Dunton Camera, a Wilmington-based equipment rental house, provided for a nominal fee. The students/actors paid for their own transportation to Prague.
Bryan Kupko and Michael McGuire shared the cinematoaraphy credit. They suggested producing Conversation with Kafka in widescreen anamorphic format (2:4:1 aspect ratio) because they felt the script and location required a cinematic feeling. A 35 mm budget was out of the question, so the company opted to shoot in 16 mm format with the new Millennium Series anamorphic lenses developed by Dunton and his company, 2.35 Research. The lenses were mounted on an Arriflex SR2 16 mm camera.
McGuire feels the anamorphic format was essential for capturing the spirit of Prague´s vistas. "We planned an important scene on a bridge with statues," he recalls, "and I wanted to use a wider frame to cover both sides of the bridge."
Shooting in Prague was a totally different experience for the filmmakers. "We had time constraints and limited use of the facilities," says Chris Ryan, one of the actors. "In Wilmington, if we don´t get a shot off, we can get it next weekend."
They shot extensively in medieval-looking sections of Prague, including the aforementioned historic Charles Bridge. When local authorities insisted they would have to pay a hefty fee for a permit if the camera was mounted on a tripod, they decided to avoid that cost by literally using their heads.
When he wasn´t in front of the camera. Smith served as a tripod. "I took a deep breath and held it so I didn´t shake the camera," he recalls. "We did what was necessary to place the camera where it would be its steadiest and still get the shots," says McGuire. In addition to Smith´s body, they used walls and trashcans to steady the camera, and captured low-angle handheld shots sitting down.
Bystanders were another obstacle. "We were filming in public places, and a lot of people were curious about what we were doing," Droege explains. "They´d walk by and look directly into the camera. We had to learn about crowd control."
The filmmakers felt it was important to film in Prague at night, but their slim budget precluded lighting the city streets. McGuire and Kupko metered the practical light rendered by street lamps and calculated how close the actors had to be.
"We were shooting wide open with Kodak Vision 800T color negative film," says McGuire. "We rated the film for (an exposure index) of 1600 without pushing the process at the lab. We wanted to avoid excessive grain because we plan to make 35 mm blowups. That gave us the latitude to shoot with the actors five to seven feet from a streetlight. Without that extra stop we would have had the actors closer to the lamps that would have given them less freedom to move. The film also recorded a castle and cathedral in the dark background which establishes the location and sets the mood."
One scene called for a full moon rising over the Charles Bridge. "Although the night was cloudy, a storyboard-perfect moon came up over the bridge, buildings and actors, and we got it perfectly on film," says McGuire.
Conversation with Kafka will be submitted to film festivals, but the filmmakers believe their experience transcends any honors it may garner.
"It was a great experience," says Smith. "I saw how the director and cinematographers set up shots and use the different lenses, which is something I had no idea about before. I gained an appreciation of the roles and functions of the crew, and seeing how all of that relates to my job as an actor opened my eyes."
McGuire feels Conversation with Kafka has already started to pay benefits.
"When you tell people you went to Prague and shot a film in widescreen format they seem to take it more seriously," he says.
