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LONERS: PREPARATION AND THE SHOOTING

The screenplay
Petr Zelenka, the author of the screenplay, says: "In 1995 I had an idea to map in a documentary way, using a digital video camera, the lives of my closest friends and parents as we approached thirty - a sort of settling of accounts with my environment. In 1996 Olga Dabrowská and I wrote the first version of the screenplay. At a time when many among us were "loners", we tried to examine relationships and ways of living together other than marriage. I wanted to show loneliness not only as a handicap, but also as a state of mind that one can use for thinking about life."

Thanks to this text Petr Zelenka received a stipend from the Literary Fund. Further versions of screenplay were developed already together with David Ondricek. From a psychological feeler into human relationships the story moved to a comedy level full of little tragicomedy moments, the life is full of. The final version was ready before the start of the shooting in September 1999. We received the grant from the Ministry of Culture.

Preparations
The main producer of the film is Lucky Man Films, a production company founded by David Ondricek in June 1999. He founded his own company to have the chance to realize the film according to his ideas. The name of the company was devised by David Ondricek: "I like the "Free cinema" movement, particularly the films of Lindsay Anderson. He shot his film "Oh, Lucky Man" in 1971 with my father as a cameraman. So I sort of wanted to dedicate my company to both."
After finishing Loners, the company will continue to work in film production.

We succeeded to gain for our intention Czech Television that became one of the co-producers of Loners. It has been one of the main producers of Czech films for the past ten years.

The distributor CinemArt decided to be not only the distributor of the film but to be involved in co-production as well. This company is one of the main distributors of foreign art films to Czech cinemas and has also been the distributor of several successful recent Czech films.

The casting was long and quite particular. David Ondricek searched for actors who would maximally suit his ideas in various theatres, films, and TV programs for months before the actual casting. The casting itself took nearly four months before he managed to find the most suitable actor for each role. In the end, it became a priority that most of the actors chosen not have great experience in film, because their means of accessing their characters would then come from the inside, from internal searching and not out of bad film techniques.

Petr Zelenka had offered the role of Vesna to Labina Mitevská when they met each other while she was serving in the jury and he was in competition with Buttoners at the Cottbus festival. Because she liked the story and she knew Zelenka and Ondricek's previous films, she came to Prague to meet David Ondricek.

During the Shoot
The shoot took in all 61 shooting days, from September 25th to December 12th 1999. It was also quite a long shoot, because the intention of the creators was to shoot Loners solely in real locations, in a large number of places, and also to insure that the maximum effort was made to make each shot perfectly in accord with their ideas. Loners were shot in places typical of today's life in Prague, places usually avoided by tourists - and filmmakers. Among the locations for shooting were the former factory hall in Karlin, the area surrounding the Main Railway Station, the residential quarters of Letna and Holesovice, the Rock Café and the bar La Casa Blue.

Postproduction
Now, the work to finish the film continues. Together with Michal Lansky, David Ondricek edits Loners at the electronic editing room Mouse & Cut. The sound production will be done by the studio Cinemasound, the only studio in Central Europe equipped with the technique Dolby Digital norm, compatible with DVD.

In conjunction with premiere of Loners, a SOUNDTRACK will be released, featuring original music by Jan P. Muchow, recognized artist of the European musical scene, and songs by such Czech and foreign groups as Ohm Square, Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Morcheeba, Moloko etc.

Distribution
Eighteen prints will be made of the film, which will be shown at the premiere in Prague and in distribution in fifteen other Czech towns. The additional print will have English subtitles. It is being prepared for various FESTIVAL SCREENINGS and will also be screened for international audiences in the Prague cinema Evald.


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