DOCUMENTARY

Collegiate filmmakers journey to Prague on the trail of Kafka

	Vincent (centre) sets up a shot with DPs Michael McGuire (left) and Bryan Kupko on the Charles Bridge

Renee Vincent, a professor in the art and theater department at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, led a student crew to Prague, Czech Republic, to shoot Conversation with Kafka. It is a narrative film adapted from one of the writer's early short stories. Vincent served as director, writer and producer.

"He wrote horror stories of the mind," Vincent explains. "Very few of his works have been told on film, especially the short stories."

Co-directors of photography, Bryan Kupko and Michael McGuire, wanted to tell the story in widescreen anamorphic format (2.35:1 aspect ratio), however, there wasn't a budget for a 35mm film production. Instead, the cinematographers used the new Millennium Series 16mm anamorphic lenses developed by Joe Dunton Camera, in Wilmington, North Carolina. The lenses were mounted on an ARRIFLEX SR2 camera. Kupko and McGuire used three lenses--a 35mm for wide angle shots, a 50mm and an 85mm. Dunton, who has been experimenting with anamorphic lenses for over 25 years, developed the new lenses through 2.35 Research, another company he operates.

"I've collaborated with these two cinematographers on other innovative projects, and thought it would be interesting to do this film with the new lenses," Vincent says.

Director Renee Vincent said Prague was "a key character in the film."

The Kafka project was funded by a number of sources. Vincent received a grant and sabbatical from UNC-Wilmington. The school's chancellor, dean of arts and sciences, and chair of theater, funded the insurance for the camera package that Joe Dunton Camera provided for a discounted fee. The five student/actors were enrolled in an honors class that also traveled to Prague. Vincent says the city was a key character in the film.

"Kafka talks about the city's influence on him," she explains. "Prague is mysterious, spiritual and old-world European, but it is also influenced by the East. When you're there, you can understand a lot of his conflicts."

Kupko says it was important to record scenes of the city at night. Since there was no practical way to light scenes, he and McGuire had to rely on available light.

"The city is beautiful at night," says Kupko. "The overall luminance of Prague is amazing. We scouted the night before and measured the light and distances, and picked spots. We were literally placing actors within a certain diameter of a street lamp."

In one scene, the filmmakers wanted a shot of the moon over the Charles Bridge, a famous Prague landmark. "We waited until the night of the full moon," says Kupko. "We didn't think we'd be able to do it because it was cloudy, but at 11 o' clock, the moon came out. I was able to get shots on the bridge with the moon in the background."

Kupko credits the deep exposure latitude of the Kodak Vision 800T film with giving them the freedom to work in those circumstances.

"We were shooting wide open at T-1.6," he says. "Even though we were using high-speed lenses, we needed that extra stop because we didn't want to underexpose or push the film at the lab."

Conversation with Kafka will be submitted to film festivals, however Vincent feels the main goals of the project have already been met. "We've shown you can produce films with innovative, non-traditional techniques on limited budgets," she states. "This will assist independent filmmakers and college film departments who work on shoestring budgets. Research projects such as this could make the application of film theory less cost-prohibitive and create an incentive for experimenting with innovative techniques."