Hard Times in Documentary-land

Documentiares are hard.

Boo hoo, poor me, I know. I'm not looking for sympathy, just expressing a fact. Hear me out:

What makes documentaries particulary hard... well there are many reasons. But the one I'm currently faced with is when one of your most fascinating of characters becomes unreachable or uncooperative. You've met them, fallen in love with their stories, begun to imagine the film in your head... it's all coming together and becoming something REAL. A concept really is just a broad stroke until you meet the actual characters that will colour in the intriguing details and intricacies to make a glorious and rich portrait of a story.

And suddenly, your character is M.I.A.

While the same thing happens with actors on dramas and crew across-the-board, it is much more of a blow when you are creating a story that isn't just a figment of your imagination and is all about capturing a person and journey that organically exist. It's not quite so easy to "cast" a new face with a documentary.

I really am mastering the technique of letting "characters" know that they will really need to treat me as a personal friend fairly quickly (without the years of history to fall back on). Once I'm shooting, I find it easy to acheive this...but it's in the early stages when you're conversing via phone, trying to get into someone's head and anticipate the storyline/shoot schedule that it's always a challenge... getting people to open up and let you in.

The other point that I find is crucial to emphasize to a "character" is that no matter how much anticipated "fun" they think the whole process will be, in actuality it is also very long, tiring, and far more involved then they are expecting... and that they will realize all of this fairly quickly once we start filming.

While there are filmmakers who take a truly organic approach and camp out with their subjects, tagging along with them on-and-off for years (lending an incredible level of intimacy to the story), I have not found myself in this situation yet. So, all one can really do is try to ramp up the "getting to know each other" process and hope that the film doesn't suffer as a result.

Currently, I'm holding my breath over a character -- I can appreciate what it's like to try to run a new business and deal with the day-to-day, seeing the potential for a documentary to capture your ups-and-downs but not fully sure how to prioritize it with the million of other tasks demanding your attention. I'm smitten -- like a gal who's made it through the first date, I'm already sufficiently enamoured that it's not quite so easy to walk away anymore. So I wait... and reluctantly start to reconsider my options to give someone a shot that didn't grab my heart from the get-go....

In more exciting news, I've stumbled upon a potential goldmine of a story!

A young Greek-American pop star with a Mediterranean shape, who's trying to make it in the biz, without losing herself (and her healthy, fit physique) in the process. Talk about a last minute find -- my development deadline is a few mere days away! I'm flying out to NYC for a day next week...

Which brings me to a new source of stress. Just how do you manage a day trip when half of the contents of your purse are no longer allowed to be accompanied with you on board the plane?

Guess it will be my little baggie of cosmetics going around the luggage carousel with all of the hulking Samsonite 25-pounder suitcases.

What can you do?

Cheeky Girls

If you follow the UK dance music scene at all, you might remember this ridiculous song. It's amazing how quirky those Brits can be in terms of their European tunes....

I think this song lasted all of 10 seconds, but....presenting.... The CHEEKY GIRLS!

Click Here To Enjoy A Quality Video by the Cheeky Girls!

Bones and Butts

Even though "Skinny Culture" has been around forever, I still get really really uncomfortable when I come across articles like this:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2104-2280785,00.html

Perhaps I wasn't in California long enough to really notice the insanity it describes -- but part of me thinks as a coping mechanism, I actually tuned it out. I've just recently come to this conclusion -- that I've been unconsciously tuning out observations that might torment my own body image. This poses an interesting new challenge for me:

I've always been an observer, fascinated by the minute details of life. I love picking up on the subtle nuances of a culture and a community... the particular way that someone speaks, carries herself, noticing the similarities and differences between people and places. So my adopted defense tactics against the media's unrealistic body ideals might blur my vision and keep me from truly observing first hand the insanity that prevails amongst women.

Looks like I'm going to have to gingerly step into this arena with my film -- despite the risks. Backtrack in my "progress", in order to move even farther forward then ever before. There are those who believe you have to hit rock bottom to really appreciate great success and fortune....

-- but back to the article. This is scary scary scary folks. Yes, America is getting fat. Yes, we need to start taking responsibility for our health and well-being. But I have to wonder: what sort of world will I one day be bringing children into? Where our headlines may be blasting Nicole Richie's skeleton-ness, but we're hard pressed to find anyone else BUT her on our mag covers. When a woman who's ribs are more prevalent than her hips appears everywhere in the media because she happens to be wearing great designer clothes and shows up at all the hot parties... What other ideal are our media-fed children to embrace? We offer no alternative role models to compete in any way with the Parises and Nicoles...

A better article:

http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/la_face_with_an_oakland_booty/

I am in a tiny position of power -- to bring new role models forth. Sexy, confident, ambitious women who will hopefully challenge the ridiculous standards. It's the little I can do and it's become an all-out mission for me. Because, as I said, I found it challenging enough finding my way through adolescence with the Beverly Hills 90210 gang as my gals to emulate (watch an early episode and witness at how healthy the gals looked before they dieted their bodies away over the seasons).... it pains me to think of the battles today's teens (and even our future children) face. They need our help.

Who's with me?

Oh the Irony....

I've got some Google Ads up on my site that vary from day to day (random generator based on the content of my site). And today I'm glad to say that I'm advertising for...

My beloved Beyonce and her clothing line!

Of all the ads in all of cyberspace... why don't we just kick her while she's down folks! But really, it's actually pretty funny....

Just working away on my development proposal, hopefully will come up for air soon.

(My only rendevouz to date with Madame formerly-Bootylicious -- a "waxy" Beyonce and I in NYC)

Humps in the Road

Feeling creatively stuck today.
How is this possible with such a fun topic?

For starters, I am a person of extremes -- extreme highs that make way for extreme lows... I like to refer to it as being "intense".

This 'booty' doc has been in my thoughts, whirling around and trying to shape itself for almost 1 1/2 years now. That is a LOT of time to devote a good chunk of your brain to a story...time spent considering the angles, weighing the different options and imagining the storyline while commuting, drifting off to sleep, browsing the internet, even while out with friends.... A lot of energy and focus for a project still in "development".

Lately, I've been soothing my mind by imagining myself years down the line, relishing in the dream that one day I might be better positioned to just pick up a camera and SHOOT something I find fascinating. No disruptions or roadblocks to the natural flow of the creative stream of consciousness... I could do this now... but feel I should be patient, and learn and grow a bit first.

My current fear is if this project ends up taking 2 years of my life, how do I become more than the woman who did the documentary on asses? It will certainly be hard to surpass this one ... and yet, on a positive note, it will clearly establish to a wider audience my style, approach, and goals.

The first day of shooting on this one will be like the opening of floodgates, I'm certain.... and I can't wait!

The Butt Assessment Test!

The Butt Assessment Test

More Local Burlesque/Dance....

Went to the Bettie Page DCD release party yesterday at the Mod Club with my friend Anna.

The show started significantly late and it was standing room only (grumble).... and it took a bit for the show to build... But there were some phenomenal performances mixed into the evening. By far my favourite performances of the night were by "Lena Love" (whom I've spoken about in previous posts) and "Las Gatas". Lena moves like no one I've ever seen before -- it's absolutely mesmerizing -- she has a style all her own. She did a bizarrely fascinating performance to Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" with a luminous, minimal, yet over-the-top featured costume (can you tell by my choice of words that you have to see it to understand?) Then Las Gatas took the stage -- I had heard about this "exotic dance" troupe from several people in Toronto and nothing they described prepared me for this performace. Wowzah! It was so hot, and an incredible blend (to my eye) of Vegas showgirl dance, yoga and jazz. I've never seen the Pussycat Dolls live, but perhaps these girls could be compared to them, although they seem way more innovative somehow. Of course the song of choice "Closer" by NIN, does a lot to the body temperature and imagination on its own, but add three sultry, gorgeous, flexible and choreographed ladies and you have one hot hot hot performance.

I almost didn't want to write about them because I feel like I'm spilling a really great secret -- this troupe is going to be huge....

Sadly, not really suited to my project -- they are all 'real' women with beautiful natural curves, but none with the 'JLo' asset that I seek...

Tatyana

A Huge THANK YOU!

As I begin to sort my thoughts and screen some of my footage, I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of the wonderful women (and men) I met on my travels!

Each of you has inspired, motivated, and touched me with your amazing vision, wisdom, and accomplishments...

Keep kicking butt and changing the world for the better!

I feel so blessed to have met you all!
Tatyana

Buffie the Body -- the latest

http://hiphopruckus.blogspot.com/2006/09/buffie-body-lands-endorsement-deal.html

Hot Blog I Just Discovered....

http://toofatforfashion.blogspot.com/

State of Booty

If I can make a wide, sweeping generalization about the 'State of Booty' across America, I have to say, the prominence is definitely in the U.S.

Growing up in Toronto, I can't say I was ever exposed to the level of booty that the Americans possess. In fact, as a teen, amongst my peers, I was considered to be very 'bootylicious'. Unfortunately back then, there wasn't quite so sexy and positive a term available to refer to the ample rump....

People have been asking me why I've travelled so extensively in the US for my research. Here's my response: Canada has a wonderful, articulate, intelligent and cultured population, but on the whole I've always found Americans to be BIGGER (I'm speaking figuratively in this case), BRASHER and more ECCENTRIC! Sort of exaggerated, more animated versions of Canadians. Which all makes for.... fascinating TV!!

Home at Last!

(TIP: Sipping iced coffee makes a New York cabride bearable)

Back, had a day or so to rest and my blogs are completely up-to-date! I made it!

For the next little while, the posts will be fewer and further in between... but I'll do my best to post interesting facts and updates as they come up.

Thanks for tagging along on this portion of the Booty Quest!

Tatyana

Big (Bad) Apple Karma

There is so much that I love about New York. Really there is. But I’m beginning to think that the next time I visit, it must be for pleasure only or I risk being permanently disillusioned by the Big Apple.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the La Guardia airport, flight delayed yet again (on my way home!) It’s always soothing to know that your aircraft is having problems with the right engine and maintenance is on the way, meaning that your flight may or may not be cancelled. Or that it might take off after all – with a “repaired” system – at this moment, not really sure what’s worse.

Apologies again – I’ve yet to post some outstanding travelogues on several places. I have been documenting events as they happen, but am finding it hard to get all of my images together and edit my words and actually complete an official post. They are a comin' – as I relegate myself to bedrest for a day or two and get caught up (and reacquainted with Toronto).

Why bad karma?



The last time I was in NYC I was filming as part of an MTV Canada Diary on a Degrassi actress. I had hopped in the front seat of the cab and proceeded to film a bit of freeway signage on our way to Manhattan. When we got to the tunnel to Manhattan, I was in the process of putting my camera away when the car was SWARMED with security guards screaming at me, the cab driver and my sister (aka my P.A.) in unison. They berated me, interrogated me, took the camera and made me play back my footage, screamed at the driver and fined him for letting me sit in the front seat, and treated me like S-H-I-T. Turns out, after 9/11, filming is strictly prohibited on bridges, tunnels, airports and subways. You’d have thought someone would have prepped me on these new procedures in advance? ’Fraid not. So my eagerness to get an establishing shot of the Manhattan skyline became the beginning of a hellish couple of days for me. I’ve heard the skyline is copywritten anyhow….



I’m also glad my stomach has become a bit tougher from all of the traveling I’ve done (I used to get easily motion-sick) because I’d hate to think of what might happen if I really needed to sit up front in a NYC cab for nausea reasons in the future...What then?


This particular trip is also the same trip where security guards for a movie premiere pretty much manhandled me away from the red carpet I was filming from the sidelines (reaffirming that the job of a paparazzi really does suck) because the Film’s PR people didn’t think the project I was representing meant enough to America to give me decent access....

Basically, I’ m saying that I find NYC the worst place thus far in my career to film in. Everyone wants something, if there’s nothing in it for them, they won’t help you out. People leer and ask you about your camera, then bump into you as you are carrying it anyways…..

This time round, I was all pumped and ready for the main event – the main reason for my trip to New York – the Burlesque Festival. A couple of days prior to the event, I was told that I would not be able to film during the gala show – which was the event I had been planning my whole trip around. The Bad Karma of NYC strikes again!

I think I’ve given New York a fair chance. It will take a lot to get me to be excited about filming there again (at least where venues and major organizations are concerned).

Now that I’ve vented, let’s get to the good stuff.



Burlesque rocks! I think I will forever be awed by the brazenness of these ladies. Their shapes, sizes and ages do vary – as do their performance styles.... if you've never experienced a show, you really should, if only to witness the lightning speed growing popularity of the form.


I just wish I could have experienced this one...

Because of rain delays, I was unable to attend the first night of the three day festival – so I was beyond excited for the big Gala at the Supper Club. Once inside, my sister (who came to PA for me as New York is too overwhelming for me solo) and I quickly realized that clear views of the stage were hard to come by. As the beginning of the event drew nearer, we frantically tried to position ourselves to see the show we had been waiting for. What ended up happening is we moved back and forth, upstairs and downstairs, catching glimpses here and there of full bodies but could really only see the faces of the performers. The faces we saw were quite lovely, but we were here to see the whole package -- beaming faces just weren't going to cut it.

I'm just glad I got my first taste of burlesque at a smaller venue where I could see every intimate detail of each performance at the Drake, with "Skin Tight Outta Sight".

The Supper Club was a pretty bad venue for this type of show. Had they been able to raise the stage a foot, everyone would have been able to see. After straining our necks and leaning against a table for 3 hours (catching glimpses of a feather fan being waved here, and a titty tassle glinting there) we called it a nite. The show wasn’t over – in fact Dirty Martini, one of the women we had come to see, had yet to go on. But the thought of only seeing her head shimmy and shake would frustrate me, so we called it a nite.

Besides, we had to get pumped up and rested for tomorrow’s Boat Cruise!

The Epicentre of Bootymania?

After a lovely morning with Artemis, a Greek makeup artist I grabbed a frappe with in Astoria, we had a bit of time to wander the city (read: shop) before I had to meet up with my last gal – the infamous JIGGLES.

Ok, her name is not Jiggles, but rather the girl who has intrigued me from the moment I stumbled across her website a few months back and ordered her book. Here was a young German gal with a booty who was basically ostracized in her country for not having the lean physique German women covet, who discovered the epicenter (arguably) of the booty phenomenon when she moved to New York. So she set out to research and self publish a book on booty culture – done in precisely the same cheeky tone that I am planning for my film! Her branding is PHENOMENAL, really gives you a feel for her approach and her book has almost been a reassurance to me (as I realize I’ve covered a lot of similar subject matter and sources through my own research). The biggest challenge now, is how to connect with her and through our separate projects, help each other.

She was even prettier and more polished than I expected – most pics in her book had her hair in wild gorgeous curls and dressed casually, but we were meeting up with her on a break from work so she had the total professional look going on. She told me that she was still crossing her fingers that her agent would make a sale on the book, but nothing was moving forward. I could relate to her frustration perhaps disillusionment. I know what it’s like to have a product that you know there is a willing market for, but trying to convince a senior authority figure that you are on to something.

But to me, her’s is the more compelling story – not only because her booty truly defines her look, but because she’s made her project work entirely on her own terms. Self publishing is no small feat! How's that for a labor of love? I believe you can or will be able to order her book online again soon, so support an artist (and amuse and educate yourself on the female posterior) and pick up this book!




I see good things for us down the line – my only regret is that we would have benefited from an evening of chatting over dinner vs a brief coffee midday…. Hopefully we’ll get that chance.

In the brief walk back to her office, I only saw a taste of what happens to men when she’s around. Great example: a man in a three piece suit did a TRIPLE take, and suddenly changed his route, following us down the street. My sister and I said goodbye to Sarah at her office and stood under the awning, plotting our next move, when the man passed by AGAIN, and noticed our companion was no longer with us. He passed by a THIRD time, realizing that the beauteous booty was gone for good, and retreated into the street. I was floored. Absolutely floored. Who had any idea that the booty held THAT MUCH power in NYC?

Booties in Broad Daylight

(behold the crookedness!)

I will admit, at first the idea of touring the New York harbour on a day cruise, with alcohol and performing burlesque troupes sounded beyond fabulous. Factor in a really rocky ride, and a bit too long to set sail, and an unexpected heat -- here’s where things started to get bad. I even had the foresight to pop a few ginger capsules before the trip to prepare myself – and yet somehow, the rocking really got to me, as well as my sister, and a good chunk of the other guests.

My overactive imagination went wild, imagining the barf fest that could have unfolded – particularly because a lot of these folks were up late the last nite drinking and partying.

Remarkably, I didn’t see anyone get too sick, just lots of queasy, green faces. So I sipped some gingerale, chewed gingerly on some pretzels, and did my best to shoot – this was going to be my only footage of this glamourous event I had been so anticipating – I haven’t had a chance to watch it back yet, but we’ll see if there are obvious signs of swaying….

All in all, the World Famous Pontani Sisters did a great job (they are fabulous themselves, but were too wrapped up in pulling off their event to chat with me) and I find myself really drawn to burlesque…..

I really enjoyed the performances I saw. Apparantly, I missed the most elaborate, advanced performances the night before (I'll take their word for it **grumble**)... but I still enjoyed what I saw, especially because these were the women who had the guts to perform in broad daylight on a pitching boat!

My favourite was Sparkly Devil from Detroit who did a “Snakes on a Plane’ inspired piece that was so vicious it was fabulous! (She was someone I had been hoping to have a face to face meeting with, but our schedules wouldn’t allow). Great stuff!!

Even amidst all of the delectable divas having a great time, we found ourselves stumbling off of that boat as soon as we could!

In the evening, I had the pleasure of finally sitting down and chatting with the lovely Michelle L’Amour.



You might have seen her on America’s Got Talent as the controversial “stripper” who threw her bra at Brandy. FYI, she is in fact not a stripper but a trained burlesque performer who’s been given the nickname “the ass that goes POW”… My kinda girl!

She and her partner Franky and I chatted about booty, her career and changing people’s perceptions about body image and burlesque – I really feel this girl could be a great role model for younger girls. She’s petite, demure, pretty, talented, and not the least bit affected. She’s also on the same wave length as me, in terms of really trying to carve a niche for herself and maximize it. She’s by far my favourite at the moment – and I still have to wait until Sep 8th to see her perform (yes folks, the Booty is coming to T.O.!!) I also love the fact that burlesque is a full-time commitment for her – teaching a new troupe, performing, and trying to build new opportunities…. And it’s always nice to find a little fit white girl with a booty!

Also was delighted to connect with Miss Dirty Martini!

I thought I had her pegged as a very raunchy, brazen young woman. In fact, she is a delightful lady with a sweet face, great curves and a unique-sounding voice. We met at her Monday night Bingo gig – guess there's always a first time for bingo in New York! She was dressed in a fetching Dorothy costume, complete with frilly white knickers that she was more than happy to bend over and show off.

Dirty has a part in SHORTBUS, the film Toronto's own Sook Yin Lee is in and is premiering at the Film Festival, so if you’re in Toronto, don’t be surprised if you spot this blonde vixen around. Total sweetheart – a bit of a mama hen for up-and-coming burlesque gals – she was kind enough to introduce us to the audience… I think she may be doing a show in Toronto this week too! I hope her tushie tassles come out to play!

Folks, picking a burlesque performer is going to be the hardest decision I have to make. They really are a fascinating bunch….

Here's to Tushies!

Tatyana