INTERVIEW with Ana Marija Palir

 

 

Can you explain to the audience your career?

My name is Ana Marija. I am 24 years old, and I am currently attending a video and animation university. I have been making short stories and movies for about 4 years and I intend to further my career in this field in the following years.

 

How many years have you been making movies?

I have been making short movies for about 4 years, basically ever since I was accepted into the university I’m currently attending. Before that I used to make short YouTube videos but that’s about it.

 

Why did you start making movies?

I really enjoyed watching how the storied unfolded when I watched films on the Tv, and I really loved writing short stories so I just put those two loves together and started putting all my written stories into a visual context.

 

Tell us a little about your project. What will the audience be able to see in your film?

No train too late is a short story about amnesia, and the feeling of lingering death. The audience should be able to follow the context of the white death and connect that the saviour at the end was the one who was following the main character all along.

 

Why did you do this project?

I loved the movie happy death day and i wanted to make a similar storyline (repeating of the same day) but with a more artistic and less obvious visual.

 

One of the problems some directors encounter is directing actors and dealing with some actors, especially in the amateur world. How do you see this topic? What kind of work do you do with them?

Working with ameteur actors is a delight because i love directing and seeing how they improve from the first shot to the second, sure there are more takes and it maybe takes a few more explanations, but in the end i feel like it’s way more personal and everyone involved gets a fun experience out of it.

 

A good movie takes care of all departments. But normally we can not allocate all the resources to have a good photography or spend a lot of money on sound post production or budget to hire actors. In your project what % have you allocated to. I don't just mean money but time as well. Of 100% of the time/money, what % did you dedicate to each department?

 -Direction: I directed the entire production so i spent a good amount of effort getting everyone set on a specific time and what we shall be doing. 

-Photography: I had a videographer who did an amazing job, but i’m sure he had a pretty rought time setting up all the shots and listening to all my ideas for how to position some shots.

-Sound: The sound was more of an afterthought at the time of the making, which has bitten me in the log run. I realize for my next projects that i should put a lot more time into reaserching of the sound and music.

-Postproduction: Editing and all the post production was done by me and it took almost most of the time and effort. Editing clips and even just selecting what would fit was the most time consuming, but it was all worth it for the end product.

 -Work with actors: I feel like this took the least amount of time because i had amazing actors that got my vision almost instantly and the only direction they needed was mostly just when to start; waiting for us to shout action.

-Art direction/locations: Location was for a while quite the debate among everyone in the team, because some shots needed specific time and weather conditions. Luckily we could find a local train station that was not super busy and that let us film for what we needed.

 

If you could go back, what would you change about this project? (1 thing only)

If i had to change one thing, it would definitley be the music choice or i would have made it completley silent because looking back, the sound is the most distracting.

 

What are you happiest about this project?

I am super happy that i had such an amazing team and that we made it pretty close to my original idea.

 

Make a wish to the movie gods. What do you ask?

I wish that i will make even better movies that will get recogdnised even more one day.

 

What movie would you have liked to direct?

Probably Titanic, it has been my favorite movie since i was a kid and looking at all the behind the scenes i would have liked to even been the extra in the background for that movie.

 

What kind of cinema do you like? Genre, directors, actors?

I enjoy a lot of different genres but my favorite would have to be romance and horror. For directors i really look up to Alfred Hitchcock, James Cameron and Wes Anderson. For actors it really changes every time i see a movie because i can see how they transform and make the role their own. I really respect actors.

 

Imagine that all the movies are going to be lost. If you could save 3 movies, what would they be?

I would for sure save Titanic, Crows and Vertigo.

 

If you have more projects underway, can you give us a bit of information?

I am currently planning on researching the underground and alternative culture and maybe i’ll get some good script material then.