Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, September 26, 1997
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Grad student produces film on Picasso's 'blue period'
KU graduate student Dan Ginavan stands next to Picasso's "Man with Guitar" painting at Oldfather's Studio. The painting inspired Ginavan to make a film about Picasso. Photo by Marc Shank/KANSAN
Fictitious movie features KU theater majors, local sites
Emily C. Forsyth
Kansan staff writer
Andrew Loos doesn't usually leave the house wearing a long ruffly shirt and polyester vest, but on Tuesday night, he was willing to make the sacrifice to be in a film shot by Dan Ginavan, Emporia graduate student.
Ginavan's short film was shot in Lawrence and on campus earlier this week. "Echoes of Picasso," is a fictionalized period piece which tells the story of one night in the life of Pablo Picasso.
Ginavan filmed three scenes, which drift between live action and still shots of Picasso's paintings.
Scene 1 was filmed at Oldfather Studio's sound stage on a two-room set. Scene 2 was shot at the Spencer Museum of Art, and Scene 3 took place in the courtyard garden at the Eldridge Hotel
The cost for making the film was under $7,000, which Ginavan paid for with student loans. Although the film was made primarily for his Intermediate Film class, he said he would submit the film to film festivals and use it when applying to film schools next year.
Loos, Shawnee junior, was in the scene filmed Tuesday at the Eldridge, in which he played Max Jacob, a friend of Picasso. He said the gray and dreary evening worked well to create an ambiance reminiscent of Picasso's time. "The surroundings were perfect," said Loos. "It was exactly what I would expect Paris to be like."
The cast of the film included six main actors, four of whom were KU theater majors and several extras. Ginavan wrote the original script last June but said that it went through nine different revisions before filming began.
The film begins in 1901 during Picasso's "blue period," when his paintings were mostly dismal and melancholy, Ginavan said. In researching Picasso, Ginavan found that there were two major impacts on his life which influenced the "blue period." The first one was the death of his friend Carlos Casagemus, who killed himself around 1900. Secondly, Picasso's environment at the time largely contributed to the themes in his paintings.
"He was surrounded by poor people and wretched people — prostitutes, carnival actors who didn't make very much money and weren't very well respected, drunks and beggars — and that was all he painted for this period," Ginavan said.
To make the film Ginavan used a special kind of camera that shot a wide-screen format, rather than a television format. The Aaton Super 16 mm camera he used was identical to the model used for filming the movie "Leaving Las Vegas."
A 16 mm is a rare find in the Midwest. In fact, Ginavan had to fly to New York to rent the $100,000 camera, which costs $250 each day to use. He and his crew were excited to have an opportunity to use such advanced technology, Ginavan said.
"It looks so much more theatrical and cinematic, and we all wanted the experience," Ginavan said.
A total of 36 to 40 hours of shooting produced 50 minutes of film that Ginavan hopes to cut down to a nine to 12 minute piece. Ginavan said his next step was to edit the film using computer programs and add a soundtrack, consisting mostly of classical guitar.
Ginavan said he was pleased with the work done by everyone involved and was thrilled at the opportunity to produce a work focusing on Picasso.
"He's been my favorite painter for as long as I've had a favorite painter," Ginavan said. "I've really always loved his blue period."
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