Brilliant work by Sapna Gandhi

New Scenes with Sapna Gandhi in the title role

Diana Slampyak's Development of the Character, Violet Milazzo: First Interview

sylviatoyindustries

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First set of interview questions
1 message

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sylviatoyindustries Lewis	Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 2:34 PM
To: Diana Slampyak
interview questions for Diana/Violet I was so excited I could scarcely wait to get dressed and go into town.  But my mother came into my room wearing a narrow, lavender linen shift.  Her crazy black curls were pulled into a thick pony tail that stretched her white face across thin, flat cheekbones and slanted her eyes - YOU HAVE BLACK HAIR, BUT THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT YOU'RE CAUCASIAN; YOUR DAUGHTER IS DARK, NOT AS DARK AS THE PORTRAIT OF HER GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER, FLAVIA MILAZZO; IN FACT NOONE WAS SURE THAT FLAVIA MILAZZO WASN'T A DARK INDIAN, A MIXED BLOOD NEGRO OR AN ARAB, EVEN THOUGH SHE SAID SHE WAS SICILIAN AND SPOKE ITALIAN - DID YOU DYE YOUR DAUGHTER'S HAIR BLONDE WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD SO NOONE WOULD QUESTION WHETHER SHE WAS CAUCASIAN. Violet   Are you helping her get dressed, Blackie? WERE YOU UPSET THAT YOUR HUSBAND WAS DRESSING YOUR TEN YEAR OLD DAUGHTER? Indigo   Mommy!  Mommy!  I look just like Flavia Milazzo. Violet   Are you? Blackie   It’s her birthday. Indigo Mommy!  Daddy says I’m a princess. Violet Don’t you think she’s old enough to dress herself? Blackie Jealous of your own daughter?  Or me? SO WERE YOU JEALOUS OF YOUR DAUGHTER OR YOUR HUSBAND, OR WAS THERE SOMETHING ELSE. Violet She’s old enough to dress herself. And then Mommy smelled Daddy’s fingers; and Daddy shook his head - WHY DID YOU SMELL YOUR HUSBAND'S FINGERS.  But Mommy got hysterical anyway.  She always got hysterical if Daddy and I were alone - WHY DID YOU GET HYSTERICAL WHENEVER YOUR HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER WERE ALONE.  It took her an hour to calm down before we could leave the house - HOW DID YOU "CALM DOWN": JUST CHILLING OUT, DARK ROOM WITH A CLOTH ON YOUR FOREHEAD, HOT TUB, DEEP BREATHING, YOGA, ROSARY, ASPIRIN, SEDATIVE, DITCH WEED. -- sylviatoyindustries

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Sapna Gandhi's Development of the Character, Indigo Milazzo: First Interview

sylviatoyindustries

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First set of Questions - I will call you tomorrow
1 message

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sylviatoyindustries	Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 2:32 PM
To: Sapna Gandhi
interview questions for SAPNA/INDIGO I was so excited I could scarcely wait to get dressed and go into town.  But my mother came into my room wearing a narrow, lavender linen shift.  Her crazy black curls were pulled into a thick pony tail that stretched her white face across thin, flat cheekbones and slanted her eyes - YOU HAVE BLACK HAIR, HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU THAT YOU'RE CAUCASIAN; EVEN THOUGH YOU AND YOUR FATHER ARE NOT AS DARK AS THE PORTRAIT OF  FLAVIA MILAZZO; IN FACT, ISN'T IT TRUE THAT NOONE WAS SURE THAT FLAVIA MILAZZO WASN'T A DARK INDIAN, A MIXED BLOOD NEGRO OR AN ARAB, EVEN THOUGH SHE SAID SHE WAS SICILIAN AND SPOKE ITALIAN - WHY DO YOU THINK YOUR MOTHER STARTED YOUR HAIR BLONDE WHEN YOU WERE 18 MONTHS OLD. Violet   Are you helping her get dressed, Blackie? LOOKING BACK, DO YOU THINK THERE WAS ANYTHING STRANGE ABOUT YOUR FATHER HELPING YOU GET DRESSED WHEN YOU WERE 10 YEARS OLD. Indigo   Mommy!  Mommy!  I look just like Flavia Milazzo. DO YOU/DID YOU THINK YOU LOOKED LIKE FLAVIA, EVEN THOUGH YOUR MOTHER DYED YOUR HAIR BLONDE AND DO YOU THINK IT WOULD HAVE BOTHERED YOUR MOTHER THAT YOU THOUGHT YOU DID. Violet   Are you? WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOUR MOTHER  GOT UPSET ABOUT YOU BEING SO CLOSE TO YOUR FATHER. Blackie   It’s her birthday. Indigo Mommy!  Daddy says I’m a princess. DID YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU WERE A PRINCESS - IF SO, WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT. Violet Don’t you think she’s old enough to dress herself? Blackie Jealous of your own daughter?  Or me? DID YOU/DO YOU THINK YOUR MOTHER  WAS JEALOUS OF YOU AND OR YOUR FATHER. Violet She’s old enough to dress herself. And then Mommy smelled Daddy’s fingers; and Daddy shook his head - HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOUR MOTHER DID THIS  But Mommy got hysterical anyway.  She always got hysterical if Daddy and I were alone - HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN THIS HAPPENED.  It took her an hour to calm down before we could leave the house - WHAT DID YOUR MOTHER DO TO "CALM DOWN": JUST CHILLING OUT, DARK ROOM WITH A CLOTH ON HER FOREHEAD, HOT TUB, DEEP BREATHING, YOGA, ROSARY, ASPIRIN, SEDATIVE, DITCH WEED. -- sylviatoyindustries

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Indigo Lady: First "Review"

by my friend on Vimeo:

Christina W Ward 18 hours ago: Reflections, why do we do this to ourselves?...It's not like the "astral" physical world is of concern? I love your story..."ruffles & an invitations to artificial birthdays..." Your passion makes this what it is: BOLD!

sylvia toy industries Lewis  17 hours ago: christina: even though the title character is very different from the kind of woman that i am - and was raised to be - i empathize with her. she is in a limbo of her own making, because in spite of her visceral impulses, she does not go past superficiality. and you're right: we do it to ourselves, and i am passionate about living with awareness that all of 'this' will turn back into stardust someday.

Christina W Ward 5 hours ago: I want more! ...Oh, I kind of liked envisioning you as the character, it made it more real...I am glad to know you know the difference, that makes me confident your objective was something I acknowledged as well!

Indigo Lady - casting memo

sylviatoyindustries 

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Indigo Lady quicktime storyboard - casting memo

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sylviatoyindustries Lewis	Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 4:40 AM
To: Sapna Gandhi, Diana Slampyak, tyler cohen
http://vimeo.com/32135353 hey. so i combined the montage studies that i've been making for the last month with interspersed talking head of a reading of the original stage version script. there will be talking head clips in the movie (monologues of the main characters - i.e., Sapna/Indigo, Diana/Violet/Indigo's mother, Russell - that are improvised by the actors based on the script). but also scenes of characters in action; much of this will be green-screened. there will be a lot of montage, effects (visual & sound), etc., that happens on the editing table. but there will also be full-frame clips, probably at the beginning of each plot point. just so you know, i play the ghost of the great great grandmother, who never speaks, just haunts the montage at 50% opacity at plot points in the central character's throughline, wearing a black veil and looking somber. FYI, i am upping the mother's role in the movie because the conflict between mother & daughter is one of the story's strengths. i am going to wait and see what Sapna and Diana come up with in their monologues before i cast Indigo's father. nidal, i'm including you on this even though you haven't committed yea or nay. i am reworking the script that i sent you because i think the relationship between the detective and Sapna's character (Indigo)  happens too late in the story. i probably will add a different unattainable male character who appears early (in Sapna/Indigo's) childhood; and right now i'm thinking that character is probably a priest when he reappears in the story - probably as the intercedent between the detective and Indigo's husband's mistress. meaning, it is the priest who convinces the detective to investigate Indigo's husband's disappearance. steve, can you please watch this and think about playing Russell, the husband? nima, can you please watch this and consider playing the priest? rebecca, i will ask you about this when you drop by - but in case i forget, as is my MO, will you watch this and consider playing the mistress? -- sylviatoyindustries

Film version of the 1990's solo play, 'Indigo Lady': a Quicktime storyboard

This first draft of the 'Indigo Lady' QuickTime storyboard is intended to help me, the designer Tyler Cohen and the actors go forward. 'Indigo Lady' will be a video performance art feature based on my 1990's one-woman play about a young woman who, "disappointed in love and marriage, murders her husband and turns him into ham." 'Indigo Lady' layers reality, memory, fantasy, desire and delusion. The surrealistic montages in the movie will show that layering. The talking head will be replaced as the characters created by the actors retell the story of 'Indigo Lady,' her family, life and loves in their own words, while the ghost of a famous female ancestor haunts them. Whether the ghost of Flavia Milazzo is real or only exists in Indigo Milazzo's head is part of the mystery. The play is quite visceral and so far, the QuickTime storyboard is even more so. The imagery is disturbing for some viewers, and is not intended for children.

This video and the other studies done so far for 'Indigo Lady' will soon be compiled into a Quicktime storyboard to help me, the designer Tyler Cohen and the actors go forward.

This scene happens in the title character's memory, which is compounded of events she witnessed growing up on a ranch in rural Nebraska. It's said that farm kids learn about sex from growing up with animals; perhaps they also learn about violence and suffering. Many thanks for the borrowed footage from the Internet Archive Community Video page.