JORINDA AND JORINGEL : BEHIND THE SCENES

This 30 minute film was shot over a few months in the summer of 1995, most shooting took place in Central Park, NYC.
The woods, lakes and the castle were used with the permission of the Parks Department, and a $25 "student" permit.
The footage is black and white, so it was easy to hide signs of modern day life. There were giant crowds of children and
frisbee players in bright neon colors, EVERYWHERE. As we went deeper into the "woods" of Central Park (named the
"bramble") things got scary. At one point we were shooting the love scene where Joringel is hypnotized by the Witch, which was shot mainly on a giant rock, and as I was shooting the kissing scenes, I looked behind the actors, and, in the distance
I spotted several "peeping toms" who were obviously cruising the woods for something wild. They were all men in their forties, wearing polo shirts, khakis, baseball hats and backpacks, and they were ALL "getting off" in one way or another
while the actors simulated a sexual encounter. If you look closely in the background of that scene, you can see one or two
"peepers".

The Shoots were long and exhausting. Every day was a battle with dehydration, sun poisoning, perverts, stalkers, and park police. There were three crew people carrying everything. We had to walk miles to find sections of the park that weren't
swarming with people. During the shoot with the old man, Tom Trenkle (RIP), we were confonted with a potentially
violent situation. We were deep in the woods, and a pack of seemingly vicious gang members came speeding towards
us on their bikes. They were yelling and howling, approaching us rapidly. Since there were about fifteen of them, and four
of us (two in costume) we began to panic. Then suddenly, as they approached, I decided to turn the camera around and point it at them, as a last ditch attempt to stay alive. The transformation was instant: the screaming, menacing gang of young men saw that they were being filmed, and they immediately became the ultimate "hams", smiling, laughing and posing for the camera. Then, as soon as they came, they were gone, into the forest, giddy about their new fame. Unfortunately, my life-saving idea was not to be their ticket to stardom, because the camera had no film in it!