http://laroquodexperiment.com/in/chronolog/atom.xmlThe Laroquod Experiment in Chronology, JournalWhere I come from, there are no Arts. There is just one art. Of sequence.http://laroquodexperiment.com/favicon.ico2011-01-12T07:41:44-05:00tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2007:10120071026111350Paul Laroquod2007-10-26T11:13:50-05:00<![CDATA[Carved Open]]>CLICK TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2006:10120060912090024Paul Laroquod2006-09-12T09:00:24-05:00<![CDATA[Bravado]]>taking first shot submissions from the public is my participation in the Toronto Film Challenge. The challenge being: to shoot and deliver an entire short film in 48 hours, starting without even so much as a script. At the start of the countdown the organisers assigned each crew some required seed material at random, like props that must appear or mandatory locations — a method not so different from starting with somebody else's first shot. And it reminded me that there is a paradoxical freedom in giving up a measure of control.
I would tell you that our approach to the Challenge was unusual. But that would be an understatement.
]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2005:10120050616164627Paul Laroquod2005-06-16T16:46:27-05:00<![CDATA[The Landing]]>CLICK TO FIND OUT WHAT WE ACHIEVED]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2005:10120050602163213Paul Laroquod2005-06-02T16:32:13-05:00<![CDATA[The Perils of Vivisection]]> I suppose it's a sort of dissection anxiety. Maybe after seeing it clearly from the inside, my writing will feel less alive in some way. But there is nothing for it now but to let it all hang out. It's required of me, by our approach to the Toronto Film Challenge.
]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2005:10120050602161301Paul Laroquod2005-06-02T16:13:01-05:00<![CDATA[Skeletons from my Closet]]>CLICK TO READ THE MATERIAL]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2005:10120050530033950Paul Laroquod2005-05-30T03:39:50-05:00<![CDATA[The Muster]]>ARE YOU OUT THERE?]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2005:10120050524142021Paul Laroquod2005-05-24T14:20:21-05:00<![CDATA[The Outfit]]> So our producer and I have decided what kind of an 'outfit' we will need to pull off this one shot operation. We plan to spend the entire first 24 hours of the Challenge just improvising variations with the actors in different combinations until we come up with a story that resonates for them. To make this method work, we have reduced the off-camera crew to a bare bones life-support system for as large a troupe of improv-trained actors as possible. Any function that can be dumped to make way for an actor, has been dumped. Which is why it shouldn't reflect negatively on anyone that we couldn't fit their skills into this narrow trench. We have omitted from the outfit an awful lot of talent in music and animation (neither of which we could afford as priorities), and a lot of acting talent too (but with just a little bit less experience improvising on camera). I wish I didn't have to leave out anyone, and I really appreciate the way each of you 'future networking opportunities' volunteered a commitment without even knowing if it could be accepted.
]]>tag:laroquodexperiment.com,2005:10120050511155631Paul Laroquod2005-05-11T15:56:31-05:00<![CDATA[The Theory of You at 35]]>When you're 25 years old, you have a secret (or not so secret) theory of what you might become, and where, and how. It's a naive theory, no doubt, but it has all the seductive power of the self-made myth. Your suspicions about yourself brim over, begging to be confirmed--and you have no evidence that they won't be confirmed. All you've got is a long swath of time and desire to imagine and seek out opportunities to be tested.
When you're 35 years old, things have changed. You've already tabled most of your spare time as a bargaining chip to try to negotiate your way into a serious relationship as well as something resembling a career. And it was worth it. Because you just aren't so interested anymore in spending much time thinking about the Theory of You. You tell yourself that you can't afford to navel-gaze, but that's not it. The hypothesis itself has changed. It's been falsified, at least in part, by your relentlessly unhypothetical life. And you don't necessarily feel all that good about it.
Well you should, because a 25-year-old's idea of who they will be is boldly, enthusiastically wrong. They will fire themselves off with great speed and intensity and it will all look very cool, but they won't have a clue what they're aiming at. Collateral damage abounds in those years, and friendly fire is a real problem. But you've been through this hail of random bullets and you're still standing. And in the future, you will choose your targets more carefully.
But what if there were an opportunity for you to have it both ways? To combine the benefits of experience with the urgency of innocence? I think there might just be such an opportunity in the 48-hour Toronto Film Challenge, and I invite you to join the 'die hard' team of creatives we're assembling for the attempt if you're still interested after reading how and why we're doing it.