Tuesday, June 13, 2006
I feel like I just returned from summer camp, and took the train from hell to get back home. Okay, I'm exaggerating. The train ride was fine, except for the fact that it was disgustingly hot inside. That's the real bitch of the Finnish summer, nothing is air conditioned. Sure it's only needed for a few months out of the year, but the lack of it makes those months really sweaty. In J-town K and I would go for an evening dip at the lake to cool down before going to bed. I think I will head to the beach today and scope it out. We live quite close to a swimming area and we could quite easily resume our evening swim. And truthfully, yesterday's train ride was nowhere near a disgusting as the one we took last summer when the ride was two hours longer and at least ten degrees hotter. Oh well, we'll have to do it again in July, but I think I will be better prepared for it. I think I will go nude.
So talk of going back in July brings me to the reading on Sunday and Monday in the studio village that has been constructed in an old army barracks in Kontioniemi, which is a 15 minute drive outside of Joensuu. On Sunday night almost all of the actors gathered around on the sunny porch and read the script in Finnish, and I read along with the English version. But when the sun went beneath the tall trees and the mosquito's came out I stopped reading along and spent the entire second act looking at my exposed legs and killing anything that got close.
I was a fool. I guess I had been in Texas a little too long and forgot about the Finnish air force. Those biting bastards are everywhere when the sun goes down and the wind rests a little. I should have brought jeans or at least a long pair of socks to protect my ankles and the backs of my knees. They really love those two areas on my body.
So after the Finnish reading we all went inside and read the English version. I think that the actors were quite excited to have an opportunity to do the same film in two different ways. They all seemed to agree that the Finnish version was more melancholic than the English - go figure - and they all enjoyed the fact that their characters were a little different in each language. This is the first time that something like this has been attempted in Finland and, at first we were all a little concerned that the actors would be a little intimidated, but it wasn't so at all. They all spoke such nice English and even those whose English was a little rusty, their accents fit their characters perfectly.
I was happy that the reading went well, because it was essentially an audition that would decide whether or not K and I would be hired again and brought back in July and August for the summer shoots. And this brings me to the location itself, which is simply gorgeous. It's set on a small hill just above a pristine lake. I went for a walk by the lake yesterday and could not believe how magical the setting was. Markku's dog followed me around the whole time and we explored the trails and the paths and the boats by the water. I had forgotten how unblemished the Eastern part of the country is and was quickly reminded. But even the lakes in Joensuu were populated and near the town. This lake was off on its own and there was only one row boat floating in the middle of the water, otherwise me and the dog were the only ones around.
So talk of going back in July brings me to the reading on Sunday and Monday in the studio village that has been constructed in an old army barracks in Kontioniemi, which is a 15 minute drive outside of Joensuu. On Sunday night almost all of the actors gathered around on the sunny porch and read the script in Finnish, and I read along with the English version. But when the sun went beneath the tall trees and the mosquito's came out I stopped reading along and spent the entire second act looking at my exposed legs and killing anything that got close.
I was a fool. I guess I had been in Texas a little too long and forgot about the Finnish air force. Those biting bastards are everywhere when the sun goes down and the wind rests a little. I should have brought jeans or at least a long pair of socks to protect my ankles and the backs of my knees. They really love those two areas on my body.
So after the Finnish reading we all went inside and read the English version. I think that the actors were quite excited to have an opportunity to do the same film in two different ways. They all seemed to agree that the Finnish version was more melancholic than the English - go figure - and they all enjoyed the fact that their characters were a little different in each language. This is the first time that something like this has been attempted in Finland and, at first we were all a little concerned that the actors would be a little intimidated, but it wasn't so at all. They all spoke such nice English and even those whose English was a little rusty, their accents fit their characters perfectly.
I was happy that the reading went well, because it was essentially an audition that would decide whether or not K and I would be hired again and brought back in July and August for the summer shoots. And this brings me to the location itself, which is simply gorgeous. It's set on a small hill just above a pristine lake. I went for a walk by the lake yesterday and could not believe how magical the setting was. Markku's dog followed me around the whole time and we explored the trails and the paths and the boats by the water. I had forgotten how unblemished the Eastern part of the country is and was quickly reminded. But even the lakes in Joensuu were populated and near the town. This lake was off on its own and there was only one row boat floating in the middle of the water, otherwise me and the dog were the only ones around.
// posted by Howard @ 9:47 AM 
