A message from Sylvia

As we continue on the paths that our work as artists keep us on - Chris finishing his novel and producing music, sylvia devoting her studio time to solo projects that increasingly get attention from curators, Sapna shooting her co-starring role on NBC's 'Awake' - among other things, Keskarel seems to have ended, as successful collaborative projects are supposed to. We hope our project continued just long enough, and is not ending too soon or too late. Look for us, each of us - sylviatoyindustries, Chris Arthur-Henly Robinson, Michael Lewis, Diana Slampyak, Nidal Yousef, Nima Nejad, Steven Lewis & Sapna Gandhi - in the future. We will be there making art.

- sylvia

A message from sylviatoyindustries

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status

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 10:42 PM
To: Christopher Arthur-Henly Robinson, bymikelewis, diana slampyak
hey. imagine you are finishing the semester. winter blues are worse than usual at our place because of my mom's death. i have the flu and will probably have to lay a little low while my lungs fix themselves over the next few weeks. but i think we should pick one scene with Diana, design and set it up and shoot it. we need to get our feet wet. how about the week after Christmas? -- Thanks. The Keskarel the Movie production team

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Keskarel, a Quicktime storyboard

Keskarel is a live-action (not an animatic!) feature-length Quicktime storyboard, directed and produced by sylviatoyindustries. The characters and the dialogue in Keskarel were entirely improvised by the actors, using a storyline written by Chris Arthur-Henly Robinson. Entirely - so much so, that 75% of what we shot was thrown out as the characters lived an ever-changing story in their fictional world. This piece will be produced in late 2011-early 2012 with full tech by sylviatoyindustries, with Michael Lewis and Chris Robinson co-directing. This movie is from San Francisco. The cast is Diana Slampyak, Nima Nejad, Nidal Yousef, Steven Lewis, Sapna Gandhi and Nena St. Louis. We thank Zatoon Records for the loan of tunes by The Neybuzz. Our movie is blogged at keskarelamovie.blogspot.com. 'Keskarel' is shot on Canon Vixias.

A message from sylviatoyindustries: Congratulations!

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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Your movie

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 3:43 AM
To: Chris Arthur-Henly Robinson, Diana Slampyak, Nidal Yousef, Nima Nejad, Steve Lewis, Sapna Gandhi, Michael Lewis
with luck, it is going to the encoder today. the screening copy will of course not have a watermark - the final copy on Vimeo will. i will make copies of the master sans watermark for everyone. congratulations. job well done. sylvia -- Thanks. The Keskarel the Movie production team

A message from sylviatoyindustries

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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The real deal

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 3:21 PM
To: Mike Lewis, Diana Slampyak, Nidal Yousef, Chris Arthur-Henly Robinson, Nima Nejad, Sapna Gandhi, Steve Lewis
thank you all for getting me the best 60th birthday present imaginable. i have made a director's cut for one of my online portfolios (the curated one), and will never be able to thank you all enough for something that in spades is exactly what i wanted. i'm so proud of and thrilled with my director's cut of the storyboard. now i need to move over a little so everyone else can get the movie they can be proud of. i will be in producer role, and mike's and chris's roles, if they are willing, will be directoral. i will try to get at least one person who wants & needs a PA internship. i think it is likely that we will not have to reshoot the LA clips if i can tweak them well enough. mike thinks we can shoot the movie in a week or less. we probably have most of what we need. i'm pricing reflectors - there are some kits on sale for under $15 on Amazon at the moment - i will ask mike to check them out and see what he thinks. i can't afford the kind and quality of shotgun mic that i have to have, but mics are not that expensive to rent. i have a mixer that i've never used, but there's a mini-mixer on my Juiced Link XLR mic adapter and it's probably better than my Eurorack. i am hoping to enlist the cooperation of Hayes Valley Merchants Assn so we won't have to have obtain permits. At any rate, we won't be shooting until after the Board of Supes drops the daily rate for permits, which is supposed to happen in October. where we shoot the apartment scenes is an issue, but i've already talked to some friends who own the places where they live, and i don't think space is going to be a horrible problem for us. it's likely among all of us, we have contacts who own or have access (legal access) to property that's unoccupied. i know i'm overly optimistic, but that's what it takes: "watch my movie, which was completed in 8 months and cost probably less than $500, AND IS ALMOST COMPLETELY IMPROVISED." glass 3/4 full, my friends. to be continued to completion. sylvia

Keskarel - update this week: We are done!

congratulations to the Keskarel for wrapping the shooting of our Quicktime storyboard. our AD, Chris Arthur-Henly Robinson, is out of town, writing the screenplay 'Keskarel' from his outlines and the storyboard. we made this video greeting card for him. the final version of 'Keskarel A Quicktime Storyboard' will be posted on Vimeo in September 2011 after its screening in San Francisco. in this video: Michael Lewis (cinematographer), Nima Nejad ('Mikael'), Diana Slampyak ('Keskarel') and sylviatoyindustries (a woman of many hats). also absent is Nidal T. Musallam ('The Landlord'), who had a previous engagement (i.e., closing Nabila's and going home for a well-deserved rest).

thanks, everyone!

sylvia

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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the good news, the bad news

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 2:57 PM
To: diana slampyak, Nima Nejad, Nidal T. Musallam Cc: Christopher Robinson
the good news is that Chris, who has only one more semester of school (YAY) is beginning to write the screenplay based on all the crew's wonderful work. the bad news is that Chris's mom had a very bad fall off a ladder. fortunately for her, Chris is a good caregiver who is off for the new few weeks. unfortunately for us, he likely will not be here on the next couple of Thursdays so that he can shoot the last footage that we need and share a big whoop with us when we wrap. luckily, we have our good friend and guest shooter, Mike (YAY). i want to do the final edit or the bulk of it while i'm on vacation at the beginning of sept, and hope everyone is available this Thursday night, which Nidal says will work for him. i'd like to do this Thurs rather than the 25th in case i need Diana again (well, i always need Diana, but i mean for shooting). YAY! we are so awesome. -- Thanks. The Keskarel the Movie production team

A message from sylviatoyindustries to the Keskarel Cast: Hey Nima: But it's your birthday!

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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hey, Nima!

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 3:56 AM
To: Nima Nejad Cc: diana slampyak, Christopher Robinson, Nidal
thursday the 14th is your birthday? you don't really want to shoot on your birthday, do you? especially since you're the one who'll be doing the heavy lifting in most of the scenes! we'll have a cake for you, for sure - but it's up to you. -- sylvia Thanks. The Keskarel the Movie production team

Keskarel - update this week: The final cut begins - we are almost done!

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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The new timeline

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 11:29 AM
To: diana slampyak, Nima Nejad, Nidal, Christopher Robinson Cc: Sapna
guys, this is the plan for the final version, minus about 3-5 scenes - http://vimeo.com/26328535. i need nima & diana to watch the first scene - it is very different, and will change what happens, which likely involves the audience finding out right away when Nima/Mikael gets up off the floor laughing, and then waiting for K to come back - which of course doesn't happen until the end of the movie. Since Nima is available this Thursday night, Nidal, I hope we can get a short scene of him coming into Nabila's with a photo and description. Most likely, Nidal's character will lie, thinking he's protecting Keskarel. Also, as it turns out, not knowing the City, K also doesn't know that the laundromat where the taxi dropped her off at the end of the movie (more about that later this week), is only a few blocks from Nima/Mikael's apartment.   More later.

A message from sylviatoyindustries to the Keskarel Cast

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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Tomorrow night

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 8:13 AM
To: diana slampyak, Nima Nejad Cc: Christopher Robinson
hey, Diana said she accidentally deleted this, so i'm resending. i spent 7 or 8 hours yesterday cleaning up and resequencing the storyboard. after seeing the flow, i think we will hold off on the second laundromat scene (below). even with trimming, the movie is 63 minutes. a first film like this will just not be crisp if there is anything redundant. crispness helps balance unknownness. you all should know that the old kitchen scene has been chopped up and woven into the laundromat scene as flashbacks. i think once i clean up the transitions the pace of the scene will be at a nice clip. however what that means is that scene is still happening after what we shoot tomorrow night, and we will have to have some scenework to show the couple temporarily making up before the big gundown. the storyboard is rendering, now and it will take all day. but once it's up tonight, it would be a good idea for you all to watch the beginning of the movie. i will send the link tonight, or you can watch it on the blog or Facebook. also, Mike and i will reshoot the Videographer with her headphones on with no sculpture in the picture. that is a continuity fix that's simple. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Christopher Robinson Date: Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 1:16 PM Subject: Here are three more scenes To: keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com> Hi Sylvia, I had a lot of dreams last night, woke up at six thirty had brunch with my wife and got to work. So this would be a combination of the many things we have discussed for our project. I hope you enjoy the beats. I figure we need two more scenes after these three. For the next scene I would like a beat where V convinces K to go back to her husband, K says something like, “I want to go to the beach first, it is the place where I think best, the place that gives me strength.” V agrees then the two get lost and do not end up making it back to Nima’s. In the final scene V can say something about a surprise she has for K, K say’s, “I love surprises,” and the two can take the bus back towards Nima’s. Along the way V convinces K to go back home. I would like to improvise the meeting between Nima and K; I would like to show K waiting by the steps for him. He comes in sees K invites her in, they talk, things happen and our movie ends. I would like the grocery store scene to be improvised, but we should meet up and together we can make the prompts. We can also think of more scenes if needed. ... ____________________________________________________________________________________ sylvia

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A message from sylviatoyindustries: update, this month

A message from sylviatoyindustries to the Keskarel Cast: Hey Nidal!

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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Nidal's scenes in the movie

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 7:30 AM
To: Nidal, diana slampyak, Christopher Robinson
We already know what we need, and it will not take long to shoot: Keskarel rents an apartment from Nidal; Keskarel and Nidal have a neighborly conversation; Keskarel is at the cash register buying something from Nidal; the Videographer passes, stops and looks in the window and then walks on - Keskarel and Nidal burst into laughter. I would like to do this a week from today, next Thursday, July 7th. Please let me know if this will work. The shoot has to be when the store closes at 9 p.m. in order for Nidal to be able to do it. thanks, all. sylvia -- Thanks. The Keskarel the Movie production team

Hamlet is like a box of chocolates ...

keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>

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The Keskarel Quicktime movie Hamlet + Ophelia scene

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keskarel navapeac <keskarel@gmail.com>	Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 10:14 PM
To: Sapna Gandhi, Steven Lewis Cc: Christopher Robinson , diana slampyak
Thanks for your patience. One of my old writing teachers used say, when you have a good draft, put it in a drawer for 6 weeks and let it sit - or "take," is more like it. A new piece of work is a new thing in your life that you have to get used to. When I first reread these scenes, just a month or so after seeing Hamlet performed on Alcatraz, I knew this section (below) is what the movie needs - an argument when people are saying mean nasty things to each other, that could get loud, and if distorted by wall and airspace and accompanied by actors' business, could really sound like a domestic dispute, especially to a second language English newlywed who is so green she ran away from home because she really believed bopping her husband on the head with a frozen Cornish game hen could kill him. But I had 1) just seen Hamlet live and 2) we didn't know yet why Keskarel ran away from home. We have a few guidelines that seem to work for us: the writer (usually Chris, but in this case Shakespeare) writes a script and provides it to the actors. Diana and I improvise, and so did our natural, Nidal at the store downstairs. Nima followed the script without having specific lines. The guidelines for this scene are you are two actors who are rehearsing together to play H + O in your own Shakespeare theatre company. Your fellow troupers don't think you're a fit, and you have to prove to them that you can make it work: you have decided that you will try to surprise each other at rehearsals to keep things fresh. I don't think it's necessary for you to be off book - it just needs to be clear immediately to the audience once they see you, that your characters are actors. Please remember that the only rule besides show up at sylviatoyindustries is have fun - life is short. We already have a woman attacking her husband with a chicken in the first scene, so knock yourselves out. HAMLET     Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a     breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest;     but yet I could accuse me of such things that it     were better my mother had not borne me: I am very     proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at     my beck than I have thoughts to put them in,     imagination to give them shape, or time to act them     in. What should such fellows as I do crawling     between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves,     all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery.     Where's your father? OPHELIA     At home, my lord. HAMLET     Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the     fool no where but in's own house. Farewell. OPHELIA     O, help him, you sweet heavens! HAMLET     If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague for     thy dowry: be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as     snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a     nunnery, go: farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs     marry, marry a fool; for wise men know well enough     what monsters you make of them. To a nunnery, go,     and quickly too. Farewell. OPHELIA     O heavenly powers, restore him! HAMLET     I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God     has given you one face, and you make yourselves     another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and     nick-name God's creatures, and make your wantonness     your ignorance. Go to, I'll no more on't; it hath     made me mad. I say, we will have no more marriages:     those that are married already, all but one, shall     live; the rest shall keep as they are. To a     nunnery, go. I have a shotlist in my head - there are about four or five. This isn't specific yet, but One in Sapna's living room One from outside an open window (with you inside/camera outside, peeping tom style) One in the front yard a prop of your choosing - the only rule is that it has to be big enough for the camera to show an object One with the two of you from behind walking up the sidewalk, vigorous business/action of your choosing - big enough for the camera to show (it could be tag, skipping, beating each other with plastic baseball bats - you just have to surprise each other) One with you passing the Videographer on the sidewalk, running your lines however you like Thanks, and see you soon. sylvia -- Thanks. The Keskarel the Movie production team

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Keskarel and her neighbor this weekend: Improv + rehearsal

sorry for the delay - we have been quiet but cogitating, and finally are reworking scenes about the development of Keskarel's and The Videographer's relationship. it had to be done due to our movie developing a plot!

more new core conflicts scenes to be posted later in the week.
sylvia

Keskarel, a Quicktime storyboard

With 4 new scenes added, the plot is plumping up and the story is starting to make sense. sylvia will continue to add to our new pickup list (http://keskarelamovie.blogspot.com/2011/06/pick-up.html). Hopefully, we'll shoot two new scenes with Nidal at Nabila's this coming Thursday the 9th. On July 23, we'll shoot the Hamlet + Ophelia scenes (http://keskarelamovie.blogspot.com/2011/02/keep-it-simple-sylvia.html, and preceeding) with Steve Lewis and Sapna Gandhi down South in Los Angeles. AD Chris is working on a new Keskarel + husband scene for the climax of the movie in fidelity with end-your-story-where-it-started. We are almost done!

sylvia

Keskarel: A new scene, a new cast member

A message from sylviatoyindustries to the Keskarel Cast: Hey Nima!

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Keskarel, a Quicktime storyboard: Keskarel Remembers

Keskarel: A new scene