5 Questions with Gus Aronson ("Self Portrait")
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I grew up in a little town called Riverdale: a small corner of the Bronx just north of Manhattan. I was always, and to be honest, still am, a kid of obsessions. Something would catch my eye one day and suddenly I’d be reading books on knights and the urban planning of medieval cities, and I’d be dressed up in a tunic with a toy sword by my side. As I matured, what I was interested in did too. I did technical theatre all throughout High School, learning about sound and lighting, I studied architecture history, building models and exploring the city, and in the summer between my sophomore and junior year of High School, I spent the summer working as a lab tech in a cancer research lab. Working in the lab was a pivotal moment for me; Not only did I learn that I wanted to work in a profession that wasn’t indoors all the time, but the money I earned that summer allow me to buy myself my first camera, sparking a new interest and passion for film and photography. I started making little “studies” with my camera, both in stills and in video. I was enamored by what the lens could do. I had a friend who showed the film teacher at school some of the experimental films I was making, and they got me to take a film class my senior year. I ended up shooting 5 movies for friends that year and tried to make a film of my own. Because I was making movies that were more experimental, my teacher suggested I go to Bard College (his alma-mater), and the rest is history.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
The initial idea for the project came the summer before my junior year at Bard. A spot opened up for the 2nd semester of a two part narrative filmmaking class with Charles Burnet called “Personal Narratives,” and I had to catch up by writing a script over the summer. I wanted to make a sort of anti road movie, one where things don’t work out in the end. I’ve always found it funny how strangers in road movies just meet and run away together and everything is always so perfect, so I was obsessed with the idea of what might happen when the characters realize that they made a mistake but were stuck on the road together. I thought I’d center the conflict of the movie around ideas of desire and assumption; a personal narrative because throughout my life a lot of people, but men in particular, have made unwanted, unrequited, and sometimes forceful advances on me. This first attempt at the movie desperately failed, so a year later when I was working on my senior thesis film, I thought I’d try and reframe this discussion of unrequited or misinterpreted desire. Since I’m also a photographer, I thought I’d try and use the framework of the artist / subject relationship, but instead flip the dynamic. Everyone always thinks of it as the artist looking at the subject, but forgets that the subject is there looking right back at the artist. Using some personal experience as a framework of the film, I thought I’d write something to explore what could have happened next.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
The biggest challenge of the film also ended up being the most gratifying. Since the film deals with, and alludes to, some very emotional and somewhat graphic subject matter, making sure that we had a safe working environment for the sexual and predatory scenes especially, was a difficult and vital challenge. Starting in the research and character development stages, moving into rehearsal, and carrying all the way through shooting, we took it slow, talking a lot and debriefing. While shooting, we took time between takes to talk about what we shot and how it felt. I think we created a safe and open environment that allowed everyone on set to grow, learn, and explore their identity. In some ways I also might say that this was the easiest part of thee process too. I kept my crew small, and enlisted friends who I trusted, and who I knew trusted each other. This made it a lot easier to shoot these difficult scenes because we already had a baseline sense of community and trust that allowed us to communicate. There is nothing better than working with people you can trust.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
“Free Time” by Manfred Kirchheimer, a beautiful 16mm B&W study of New York City, shot in the late 1950s, edited close to 60 years later. I loved Manfred’s appreciation for small details and body language and the palpable nature of his love for what and who he is filming. His editing feels like a cross between a violin sonata and jazz improve, and the photography, a cross between the photographs of Robert Frank and Helen Levitt. Watching it you can feel his sense of discovery within the city, even as someone who, from age 5, grew up up there. It stands as a reminder that you can always look at something with a fresh pair of eyes.
5) What’s next for you?
I always hate this question. I’m a very slow and instinctual filmmaker, so I’m not always sure what I’m making till I’m already well into making it. I think I want to make a Neo Noir about the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In the meantime however, I’m prepping to shoot a musical for a good friend!
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gusaronson.com | IG: @gusselsprout