Spinoza Hotel - A short film by Robert David Duncan

I was quite captivated by the poetic narration in Spinoza Hotel. Below is my transcription of the first 1 minute and 30 seconds of Spinoza Hotel.

I channel it all
It’s an unbroken thread you see
It’s that line, that line that comes down
It has come down and I am it, you follow?
Everything that is here that exists here that has ever existed here
And there
Is still here
And there.

There is this thread
Call it madness, call it genius
That travels throughout history
Throughout the universe
And universes, multiverses, multiple verses, you get me?
I like to think of it as this little puddle, like mercury
And it flows around and settles, coalesces, like a bubble of mercury.
If it lands on you or even a bit of it lands on you
Lets say it’s splashing around coz the universe has got bumped or something
And a bit of it gets on you, or a lot, then you got it, you are part of it
And it will flow through you
And you will think and do cool things.
Like weird things even, magical.
Spinoza, for example, he got some.

Spinoza Hotel is #ROFFEKEOFFICIALSELECTION2018

ROFFEKE at MV Fest

On 30th November, ROFFEKE was privileged to be a part of MV Fest, organized by Olamart Creatives. The venue was the beautiful and serene Oak Place Hotel and Conference Centre. The workshop, titled "ABCD of Screenwriting", was attended by actors, screenwriters, film students, models, a music video producer, an artist and a teacher. I used various short films and music videos that were submitted to ROFFEKE to illustrate the basics of screenwriting.

ANTAGONIST

"The antagonist (not the protagonist) must have the greatest willpower, which makes him or her the most powerful character in your story."
- Michael Tabb.

Screening: THIS IS JOE



The protagonist can be his or her own worst enemy.

SCREENING: RITA



BACKSTORY

One of the many things that Backstory helps a writer to do is identify conflict. "Conflict is the fundamental element of fiction, fundamental because...only trouble is interesting. It takes trouble to turn the great themes of life into a story..." - Janet Burroway.

Screening: ROCK IS NOT AN ATTITUDE



CONFLICT

Three types of conflict:
Man versus self (intrapersonal)

Man versus man (interpersonal)

Screening: ON THE FLOOR

On The Floor from Georges HH on Vimeo.

Screening: TAP



Man versus environment

Screening: WALL OF DEATH

Synopsis: "A meteorite flies to the earth and threatens to destroy an open air rock'n'roll party. Through the power of a "Wall Of Death" the festival visitors can save the party!"



DIALOGUE

"A good film script should be able to do completely without dialogue." - David Mamet

One participant wanted to know what the screenwriter's role was if no dialogue was used in a movie. I explained that the screenwriter is the one who writes a lot of what will appear on the screen.

Screening: THE SOUND OF ROAD



Screening: MEASURE OF A MAN



(Check out the interview with Measure of a Man director and actor here)

I ended by asking the participants: What are the ABCDs in RED OMEN?

Screening: RED OMEN

Synopsis: "Award winning Canadian singer songwriter Ed Roman along with animator extraordinaire Nelson Diaz from There Be Dragons Creative Media in NYC have created an exquisite animation to the title track of Ed Roman’s latest album Red Omen. The message is for awareness of Dyslexia."



(Read ROFFEKE Volunteer, Zafrica Hasaja's review of Red Omen, here)

We ended with a short discussion on the challenges and opportunities in the Kenyan film industry.