Crazy is as Crazy does

11 February 2003

At eight years old, Richard Veed was the highest paid and most popular star on television. Five years later, he suffered a near-fatal drug overdose and was instantly forgotten.

Now, aged 21, Richard attempts to recapture the spotlight as a promiscuous gay teenager in a late-night sitcom. A young filmmaker, Katrina Matters, is hired to shoot behind the scenes of Richard's new show and becomes entwined in the drama of his real life. It is her work that will truly expose Richard to the public, in graphic and shocking detail. As the cameras roll, the pressure builds, and Katrina's voyeurism pushes the fallen angel too far.

Told in a documentary-style, Crazy Richard is a bittersweet satire about celebrity and a culture of voyeuristic tendencies. Dean Francis explains, "Around the time the project was conceived The Blair Witch Project had just come out. I remember being astounded by the number of my friends who actually believed that the scenario described in the film's publicity was real. It showed that the 'digital video' revolution (and the subsequent reality TV explosion) had given filmmakers new powers to blur the distinction between fiction and reality, thus heightening viewers' experiences by continually engaging them in a process of evaluation.

"Of course, this was not a new idea, I had also been influenced strongly by the French independent film Man Bites Dog which is a harrowing mockumentary following a serial killer around the streets of Paris."

From celebrities with no makeup to Joe Bloggs in his underwear, the 21st century seems to be the era of voyeurism. So, what is the reason behind our obsession with watching?

"It’s a natural human instinct to watch each other. We define our identities by comparing ourselves to other people. Staring into the cinema or television screen is merely an elaborate mirror for our own thoughts, actions and emotions. Voyeurism has always existed, only now we have the tools to take it to absurd levels."

In Crazy Richard, Katrina Matters' fascination with watching – and Richard's obsession with being watched – comes to a dark and extreme conclusion. Are we as a culture destined to end up like Katrina and Richard?

"I believe our voyeuristic tendencies could in theory be purely entertaining, but there are too many Gollums around for that to be the case," postulates Dean.

"Subjects of mass voyeurism often become moths to the flame as they begin to construct their lives around the need to provide entertainment… when you’re thinking more about how other people perceive your choices than about why you’re making them, then something is bound to go wrong eventually.

"In the case of poor old Richard (and others throughout history), this cost him his life. Being the subject of mass voyeurism is seen to raise someone’s status to an absolute level – fame is the closest someone in our society can get to becoming a god – consequently some people sacrifice everything to attain and hold on to it."

Richard's exhibitionism is similarly portrayed as being addictive and destructive. Yet as a filmmaker, it is your job to disseminate your ideas and creative vision to an audience, which you evidently take certain pleasure in. Do you think that exhibitionism is therefore somehow a necessary evil? An artistic characteristic? Or perhaps just another part of human nature?

"Yes – it is a necessary evil especially if you’re a filmmaker – we thrive on both the real and the fictitious Richard’s need to be adored and his deep love of the camera. In any relationship, if you feel that somebody has a deep need and that you are able to satisfy that need while also having something within you satisfied, such as a need to watch perhaps in this case, then it's symbiotic and productive and hopefully interesting.

"The filmmaking process is inherently riddled with exhibitionism. The most exhibitionist / voyeuristic experiences are those where an actor impresses their own trajectory upon a project thus expressing very intimately a part of who they are – it may be evil but we’re thankful for it!"

Crazy Richard is also unique in taking a spontaneous, unplanned approach to filming.

"When Katrina arrived on the set of the internet sitcom I Can't Even Think Straight! she saw a real life drama unfolding in front of her. There are real-life dramas everywhere in life, but in this case the people involved were so eager to create drama for drama's sake that she instantly had all the elements of a great story.

"What we shot during improvisation was all based on our own thoughts, fears, personas, emotions etc and therefore very much half-documentary. If we scripted the film it would have been impossible to sit down and imagine situations as spontaneously hilarious yet tragic as what was shot. It was a priority to maintain a 'realistic' documentary approach which meant not rehearsing at all before shooting and only shooting everything once. It meant that actors had to be constantly inventing new elements of their characters and the story, often having no time for rational thought and consequently exposing their own vulnerabilities to the camera."

Crazy Richard is appearing as part of the Mardi Gras Film Festival. While the film itself only deals with the issue of sexuality in passing, Dean Francis maintains that the Festival is something that should be supported. He explains, "The public gets to see films which they would never normally get the chance to see. Often because these films don’t have the pressure of reaching a mass market audience, they allow themselves to be much more challenging and experimental.

"On one level sure, it’s about a character who faces issues relating to sexual identity; it is set behind the scenes of a queer sitcom so it has had immediate appeal amongst queer audiences. But Crazy Richard does not attempt to 'say' anything about sexuality or promote an agenda of separatism or acceptance or whatever of gay people. If anything its about disrupting homogeneous ideas of sexuality which exist perhaps more within the gay community than in wider society. But regardless, none of this was on anybody’s mind when we were making the film!

"Crazy Richard, as a very multi-layered piece, is about much more than sexuality. It's about human nature and the destruction of the self by the ego."

- Chloe Flynn

---

home | reviews | news | hit-list | arts directory | about us | contact us
Copyright © 1996-2009 State of the Arts - All Rights Reserved

This section no longer in use