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About

MAYBE I'M AMAZED

Bob Rector
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What did Alva Sanders do openly in this film that would be scorned on TV shows today?

She brazenly and unapologeticly fired up a cigarette. Smoking was very common among young people back then.

The rest of the story: I made about a half-dozen films with Alva Sanders (maiden name), starting with The Long and Winding Road. As you can see, the camera loved Alva, but she also had a sweetness of spirit and a casual, carefree air so typical of young women in the late 60s/early 70s. Audiences picked up on it and loved her for it.

The guy is the same one seen in United We Stand. He and his wife, along with Alva and several others, including me, all hung out together back then and most of them appeared in my films. They were all very creative, free spirits, typical of the times. They laughingly became known as the Rector Repertory Company.

Maybe I'm Amazed was shot at Collier Park in Atlanta. It's one of the few films I didn't script, so it came together organically as the day went on, with everybody contributing ideas. The premise was simple, just a young couple spending an afternoon in the park. I wanted it to have a dreamy quality so I used a lot of slow motion photography and strong backlighting that created heavy shadows.

The couple picked up on what I was trying to do and as you can see tailored their expressions and actions accordingly. They are completely convincing. The only problem was the kissing scenes. They were friends, but not that way, and found the scenes awkward, especially since Alva was close friends with the guy's wife. To the guy, it was like kissing his sister. Many takes were ruined because they'd crack up halfway through each one. They finally realized we'd be there all day until we got a good take, took a deep breath, and did it.

The retakes burnt up a lot of film but there was also a price to pay for shooting slow motion. To achieve the effect, film rips through the camera at 64 frames per second instead of the standard 24. So you burn up 2-1/2 times as much film as normal. As a result of these two factors, I exposed more film for this piece than any other film I made for The Now Explosion. The producer was not happy.

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