Talk Dirty To Me. A filmmaker's quest in finding just the right amount of detail.
Roald recollects the very first time he ever had sex. He tries to describe every ...
Talk Dirty To Me.
A filmmaker’s quest in finding just the right amount of detail. Roald recollects the very first time he ever had sex. He tries to describe every single detail to his very good friend Justine, as they sit across the table from one another, in a dimly lit coffee shop during the middle of the day. What’s sparked this conversation is that Justine, for the life of her, cannot remember whether she’s agreed to have sex with Roald, as he attests that they made a pact one year prior that would have them in each other’s arms by the end of the day. Roald insists that a year ago, they met at this exact location and sat at the very same table and exchanged their stories about their first time. He’s trying hard to convince her that the events did take place, so he goes on telling her that the supposed story of her very first time went a little something like this… This is a scene from “My Marienbad”, the working title of a film currently in production by Joel Salaysay. At twenty-two years old, Joel has just finished his second year in film studies at SFU, and what a whirlwind it has been. He spent an entire year, working with two other film students, Victor Heeckt and Rheanna Toy, producing and directing their short film titled, “Heartburn.” When the three of them were brainstorming ideas for their film, Victor found himself revealing an incident in his past that involved a love triangle ; this essentially drove the script writing into high gear and remains the backbone of the film’s premise. Using super 16mm film, Joel says, “Heartburn is essentially about a filmmaker who uses his latest feature film, to get over his last relationship that didn’t end too well.” The overall theme of the film is the desire to get closure. The protagonist, Richard, finds himself recounting the moments of where his relationship went wrong. Sarah, the girl he’s fallen for, says to him, “I don’t want to ruin our friendship, I just don’t see you that way.” “Heartburn” encapsulates the underlying themes of love and relationships, and so does “My Marienbad.” “My Marienbad” has one obvious part missing : What did Justine tell Roald, if it did happen, about the time she lost her virginity? What better way for Joel to do his research, then to ask people to share their own personal stories of losing their virginity? The research component for this film is to get a substantial amount of juicy detail from various women on their first encounters with sex. Joel has written a small questionnaire for them to fill out and will circulate it via Facebook and email. I meet Joel at the Woodwards building, also known as Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. Half his face is covered with a dark beard, as he clearly hasn’t shaved for days. He’s wearing his usual attire, a beige t-shirt that’s similar to the colour of his skin, and baggy darkwash jeans. He leads me up the stairs to the third floor where we find ourselves a quiet spot in the film editing room. The room is bare, with just a few chairs and film reels scattered around. One window is cracked open slightly, and the sound of cars driving by fill the room. I take a seat on a patchy, pleather sofa that resembles one you’d see in a psychiatrist’s office and immediately, Joel’s kicking back in one of the swivel chairs as if this is his home; his shoes are off and he whips his jacket behind his chair. What compelled him to make a questionnaire for this movie? He informs me that he read his script at a workshop and that the feedback he got, was to define Justine’s character a bit more. He states, “I needed to gain more clarity on the female perspective in order for me to portray it accurately in any way.” Since the male character Roald, is trying to convince Justine that the events from the year before did take place, Joel’s challenge as a filmmaker is to make the story believeable, so that Justine’s character will believe Roald, but also vague enough to leave the audience wondering if the exchange did in fact occur. Later on in the evening, I open my inbox to a subject line that reads, “The Virginity Questionnaire.” The email contains a document that outlines the very nature of the movie, as it’s for his upcoming third year film, and that responses are needed in order to fulfill the rest of the storyline. These personal questions filled the page: What was your relationship to the person (boyfriend, friend, stranger, etc.)? Do you remember any specific thoughts going through your head before, during, or after? Did your parents disapprove of them? Did you keep the relationship a secret? I thought to myself about how inclined one would feel to bearing their personal details to someone who could potentially use it in their film? Anonymity is crucial, but helping someone’s quest in their future endeavors is important too, so now what? Due to confidentiality purposes, Joel could not disclose the exact number of responses he’s received so far. But from what he’s been given he says, “ [W]omen are approaching sex from polar opposite perspectives. I’ve [read] some responses saying that sex and love are separate, and others saying they should be one and the same. Overall, this exercise has not been immediately helpful.” He suspects that roughly ten more responses will suffice for rewriting his script. Shooting for the film will not commence until sometime after September anyhow. The questionnaire is linked to surveymonkey.com, and will be there for the duration of a month. If you’re interested in helping out, visit the website and fill out the questionnaire. If not , then take this advice from Joel : “ Send it to an unsuspecting enemy, as long as they’re female.” I think I’ll take his advice.
