ANATOLY IVANOV / PROSE / 2014-10-08

MY SECOND FEATURE FILM: KVADRAT GEAR

by Anatoly IVANOV

CINEMA / HEALTH / MY NEWS

What better way to rest from all the hard shooting and editing of my first feature film, Kvadrat, than to shoot and edit a second feature film? Especially if it’s the exact opposite of the first one?

How about a classical documentary with tons of dialogue, explanatory voice-over, abundant still photos, archival footage and almost no music? Oh, and an even longer one? And with me in front of the camera instead of behind the camera?

A 2 hour 46 minutes documentary about a documentary, Kvadrat Gear narrates my filmmaker’s struggle against all odds to achieve the impossible in cinema. No money. No film crew. No jibs. No cranes. No dollies. No steadicams. But a desire to create a musical documentary like no other: Kvadrat. A road-movie shot in 5 countries, a feature built of reality footage using fiction techniques, a hybrid devoid of documentary elements (no interviews, no explanatory voice-over, no facts, no figures)… In a brutally honest and painstakingly detailed way, I share my unorthodox methodology, radical gear selection, fearless do-it-yourself customization and other unusual tricks to inspire fellow filmmakers to question the status quo and realize their dreams.

I shot it in November 2012, whilst in post-production of Kvadrat. At that time, I got infected by a rather debilitating flu virus, so I thought, what better moment to shoot it? However, I could edit the footage only months after the launch of Kvadrat, in August-September-October 2014.

In Kvadrat Gear, I discuss not only the logic, production and behind the scenes of Kvadrat. I also review the pros and cons of the following gear in the context of independent filmmaking:

I also describe some crazy carry-overs from my experience in ultralight backpacking which you may have been following here, namely, sewing my own cinema gear bags and pouches out of Dyneema gridstop nylon fabric and using a ULA Conduit backpack to carry more than 15 kg of film gear.

Have a watch and tell me what you think.

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