My First Film

It's 2013, which means I have been working at my Film & TV career for 10 years. I still haven't learnt my lesson. Lol.

I made my first film in 2003. It was not commercial, it wasn't for profit. It was in high school.

The idea came for a VHS cover design I made. VHS was an ancient form of the Blu-ray Disk.

In those days, I was influenced by the films of Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino, and Martin Scorsese. I had really like The Godfather, Lock, Stock, Maltese Falcon, and Pulp Fiction. In those days I was an avid game player, and so I stuck in some influence of GTA: Vice City.

I designed the cover, and wrote the blurb. I remember using my friends names as 'actors' and constructed a 'plot' with 'characters', turning my friends into heroes, villains, and gangsters. It was all made with love of course, and I hope no one would be offended. Luckily for me, no one was. In fact, some were pretty impressed.

I called it "The Pussycatto".

The name came from a bizarre way my mother used to pronounce the word 'pussycat'. I don't think it has an analogue in the Italian language or any of the dialects.

Months later, the filmmaking bug bit me. I remember it clearly, sitting in a computer room and deciding to become a filmmaker. It was so fun. Perhaps that's where my troubles began.... but that is another story.

There was a lesson where you could choose what you wanted to study. Some choose to study leopards or sharks, but I choose to make a film. I wanted to make The Pussycatto.

The plot was pretty much the same on the blurb, but the characters were different. I wanted to make the most offensive film of all time - quite daring for a high schooler, and it was actually. Lol. It had swearing, blood & violence, (fake) drug usage, and an infamous masturbation scene to the tune of Micheal Jackson's Beat It.

I was infatuated with the films of Tarantino & Ritchie, of course. But I never got in trouble with the principal (!) I just told them it was artistic.

So I wrote the script, did the costumes, acted in 2 roles and set out to shoot it. Because this was my first film, I like everyone before me, used their friends and family as actors. I remember using my cognitive skills to solve a problem: some of my actors failed to show up, so I had to get another friend to do the part. I've used this skill to this day.

I still remember my friend Sean, saying to another person who didn't want to be there to do it "because a friend needs our help" and I've never forgotten it.

I managed to get it filmed with my father's digital Panasonic camcorder, including all the violent & masturbation scenes. It was tough. I edited the film in 640X480 format (big mistake). I used 80s music because the film was set in the 80s.

The plot is simple: several gangster factions fight for a coveted statue called The Pussycatto. Yes, its based on many things I saw at the time. You can guess the inspirations.

I learnt many things throughout production. Like how to quickly edit a story while one of your lead actor leaves the production. Yep, it happened. I think I recast it a couple of times. I even did a double-role.

I did end up finishing it though, thanks to my friends and my brother. We had a small screening, it was quite loud; the screening was almost canceled. I forgot to invite one of my main teachers at the time, which I still regret. For the life of me, I couldn't remember the reaction. Pleasure? Probably. Controversy? Maybe.

So that's it! The story of my first ever film! Hope you've found this insightful into my life, and thank you for reading it.

Note: I will NOT upload the film onto Youtube. Way too embarassed ;P