Making everything a stupid cartoon: Clara Mamet on her short film "Nell"
Written by Matt Lathrom and Clara Mamet
I attended the premiere screening of Clara Mamet's new short film "Nell" back in October. During the Q&A, she explained that Nell was originally a feature concept about a mother jealous of her designer baby. That's a hook... and quite the writing challenge.
"Nell"
As the date of her first televised appearance draws near, a hideously ugly cello prodigy and her stage mother grapple with public expectations and the throes of puberty.
What sparked the idea for Nell and how did it evolve?
Clara: Seven years ago I wrote a story about a woman becoming distraught over her baby's potential beauty once she falls pregnant with a girl. She tries to abort, but loves the way her pregnancy makes her husband look at her. The child is born 'Nell,' and the woman surrenders to her fate as a stage mother; the irony of her biggest fear realized through the dispensation of her ill-wishes. I think it could unfortunately be classed as an allegory if I didn't write it in complete accord with the Evil Queen. She (and we) see(s) Nell as a sinister upstart who wields her innocence like a cudgel; whereas the Evil Queen herself is our harried ("could you hold the elevator?!," coffee on shirt...) sardonic-'anti' underdog.
I figured, however, that if the audience were to meet Nell for themselves it would throw our Protagonist into stark relief, changing the tenor of the story. It was possible to do that in a movie, and I wanted to make a movie, and so I picked Nell.
My best friend Katja plays the title role; she's got these big blue eyes... Her performance, as well as the beautiful cello performances by Yi-Mei Templeman make me finally hate the Mother in a way that was only theoretical before. So, that's fun.
Having said that, I stand by my inclination to make everything a stupid cartoon and hope I have achieved that here.
Movies about show business are my especial favorite, particularly when concerning the leading ladies of the studio system once they're punted to the 'hag' pile. To borrow Dr. Leo Spaceman's designation, the 'clinically disgusting' period begets some interesting movies, and that particular tradition was certainly an inspiration for this.
What was most difficult to get right, and what was the breakthrough?
Clara: It proved impossible, given the format, to show Nell's life from conception to death (as in the story.) Instead, I needed to have the short hinge on a scenario that articulated the conflict between Nell and her Mom so that their opposing reactions would tell the story of their entire relationship without needing any insight into their past (I guess this is pretty 'obv,' and you're probably thinking 'yeah, obv.') Well, anyway, 'obv'-but I decided to have the Mavis Show be The Thing and after that, it was easy to write.
What does a Clara Mamet writing session look like?
Clara: I set a deadline for myself that I make irrefutable by notifying everyone involved and then I fail to meet that deadline until the humiliation becomes a threat to my identity. It's really not a good system and I hope to outgrow it one of these days, as writing is a joy and a privilege.
Godard said a film is born three times, which speaks to how painful filmmaking can be. What did you learn from that process during Nell's production?
Clara: Whenever I get to make something, I am reminded that my on-set despair indicates nothing. Or, it indicates that I'm good at feeling despair, and while this certainly doesn't guarantee that I'll end up liking what I'm making, it's also not a harbinger of the quality of the work.
One time I privately wept after shooting a scene that ended up being the strongest in the thing. Another time I privately wept after a scene but was bolstered by the lesson of the previous experience. I repeated that despair indicated nothing, and when I got to the edit, found the scene in question to in fact be very bad indeed. Thus, I should really add that I don't find this mantra very comforting and don't recommend repeating it to yourself.
Any advice you’d like to share?
Clara: I don't have tips. All the advice I could give would be disingenuous because I myself am disorganized and afraid of pain. I will say I try not to listen to music with lyrics before I work, cause it agitates the mind (but I don't always succeed.) My advice is don't listen to anybody. Everyone's wrong but you've got the right idea. You're great, and you're doing a great job. <3
What’s next?
Clara: Movies, movies, movies babyyyy. Dead industry no attention span I DON'T CARE I WILL DO IT TIL I'M LONG IN THE TOOTH AND HARD IN THE HEART (which will be never, because movies are love.)
Clara Mamet is a director, writer and actress. She has sold projects to IFC, Amazon and HBO. She has staffed on Nicolas Winding Refn's Maniac Cop for HBO and The Greatest Spy of Them All for Netflix.
