…a technical challenge
With our second short film "Epilog", the burning question for Frank Griebe and myself was whether we could get the technical side of things under better control this time. "Because", the first short film, was quite bumpy really. All those things we found important in cinema, the moveable camera, a three-dimensional space in the room, tracking shots, figures which become three-dimensional through the camera movement rather than their own - we wanted to try out all these ideas we were carrying around with us.
…problems with the "vertigo" zoom
We were particularly fascinated by the famous zoom and dolly combination from Hitchcock's "Vertigo". We kept trying it, but it never worked like it did for Hitchcock. It's a difficult thing: the timing is extremely complicated, as is perfecting the synchronicity between the speed of the shot and the speed of the zoom. And if it is not exactly right, you get a kind of "pump effect".
We had the same problem later with "Run Lola Run", where I wanted to have a long "Vertigo" effect for the scene in the casino where Lola screams and forces the ball onto the 20. Frank hired a specialist to make a machine to steer it electronically. And it worked, very well at first - during the tests. But during the actual shoot, the damn thing packed in. I think Franka had to scream her head off twenty times while Frank tried to keep the dynamic going over the long shot whilst hand operating the zoom - and then with one of the angles, it did eventually work.
…an influential camera magician
We were - and are - both very impressed with the cameraman, Michael Ballhaus. Back then he was one of the inspirational factors for many shots in "Epilog" - besides Brian de Palma and many others of course. Because he was also the one who went that extra mile with the flexible, "unleashed" camera - and it was a long time before the age of digital image editing. These days, the camera flies about the place completely unleashed, but to a large extent it is calculated on the computer.
…the creative family
Besides Frank Griebe, with whom I have made every film until now, more and more people came along at that time, who later became a part of the creative family. Peter Lichtefeld, for example, was production manager on "Epilog", then unit manager on "Deadly Maria", and eventually he made his own film "Trains 'n' Roses". The editor Katja Dringenberg was there from the start as well. She edited "Because", "Epilog", "Deadly Maria" and "Winter Sleepers". Then I met Mathilde Bonnefoy - and that also developed into a long-term working relationship, which spans "Run Lola Run", "The Princess and the Warrior", "Heaven" and "True".
…the hunt for a production partner
After the two short films, I went back to writing feature film scripts, one after the other, and I always tried to submit them to film subsidies and broadcasters. I didn't really know where I should submit them, not to mention all the other things which are required to go with a submission. Capital, for example, and I didn't have any of that - so I thought I needed a producer. I sent a lot of scripts to producers, and even got some interesting feedback, but never an acceptance. So then I started thinking I probably would need to do it on my own after all. But at the same time, I knew I would never be in a position to deal with all the bureaucracy on my own.
You need an opposite, a counterpart, a psychological, and of course spatial setting. I had paid for "Epilog" myself, and it cost 40,000 Marks, which is a stack of money if you're not really earning very much - and money which the bank is reluctant to hand over if your income is so measly. When I finally got one foot in the door of German public broadcaster, ZDF with "Deadly Maria", I spoke with Stefan Arndt, whom I had met as a colleague (and competitor) as a Berlin cinema owner. He didn't have any money either, but he said: "Okay, let's do it together". And then, without a penny to our names, just with borrowed money, we set up a company called "Liebesfilm GmbH" - which we renamed a year later as "X Filme".
…a call with consequences
One day, after all our futile attempts, we had a message from ZDF on the answer machine. It said: "Okay, we want to be involved in Deadly Maria." The message was quite aloof really. Later I found out that it had been a close call for this project in the commissioning round, and that the department was divided on the film. Then Liane Jessen, the commissioning editor, got out a video of "Epilog" and that secured us a slight majority in the vote. From that you can see how valuable short films can be. Anyway, as I stood in front of the answer machine back then, I remember clearly thinking: "okay, everything is going to be different from now on". And somehow it was. Everything was different.
