Submitted by Herk
What is this movie about?
Americans love a bargain. Not only do they want their money's worth, you better give them a hardy discount to boot. So if they're going to spend nine bucks hard earned and invest two hours on a certain Saturday night to catch a movie, you better not go cheap on the trimmings.
In the end, Americans are willing to pay for the perception they're getting nine dollars worth of entertainment, even if the final product may turn out to be only nine dollars worth of packaging. Movies today have higher production values than movies in the past. Consequently, "film criticism" today is not anymore about film as fine art, it's about whether or not you'll get cheated out of your nine bucks and two hours spent on a Saturday night. Movies have become commodities, as all art eventually will become. As everything will eventually become.
Yet there are forces at work where this makes sense and why it must be so. Fact is, film is a collaborative art and a financial reality to be reckoned with. If you're a person dying to become a filmmaker and you can't accept that, then don't go into filmmaking. Unlike a painter or an author, you can't say "I will make my film. I will realize my vision. Audience be damned."
Film is the most expensive art form and the collaboration of many talented people - many paid talented people. So what to do? Executive producers must finance a film understandably with prospects of at least recouping their money if even a little profit. We are not living the salad days of wealthy aristocratic patrons supporting the arts. Even way back when, there weren't any wealthy patrons willing to pay for food catering, for key grips, script supervisors, and fat cameramen. Film is grounded in an economic reality and any potential filmmaker not also rooted in this reality should find another vocation.
And there is no shortage of self-pitying, misunderstood artist-types who insist on their god-given right to dip ceremoniously into other people's hard earned cash to realize their "brilliant script." Any rejection of course is met by bitter complaints that "conglomerates" have become too commercial. "They're not interested in art," they say "They're only interested in the bottom line." So back they go flipping burgers. Let's see how easy it is for them to pluck down a couple million for their so called inherent right to express. As long as it is not their money who gives a damn, right?
Who is a filmmaker?
The expression of a filmmaker is through the medium, not through a "story." Any filmmaker more fascinated by the subject of his film than the filmmaking process itself, has committed the sin of reducing film to less than its medium - a sin akin to those annoying people who, unable to use chopsticks, stab at their food and then shove it into their mouths. Poetry is not prose, radio drama is not theater. So theater is not cinema. Cinema is told in images, the manipulation of which is its own unique "dialog." Or, as Uncle Hitchcock said, "We're dealing in pictures here! These words, get rid of them!" That's why most wannabes with a "brilliant script" (usually about their domestic life) don't qualify as true filmmakers and why they're never financed. And that is why as brilliant a gift Woody Allen or David Mamet has for dialog, visionary filmmakers they are not and their movies are scarcely watched by the mainstream.
A filmmakers' first allegiance is not to the "story" but to the storytelling. How will he tell the story? Through images? What angle? Through sound? Through dialog? Through editing? That is the work of the true filmmaker. Let these works be brought to life through their original medium, and we will have a much happier, less schizoid society.
If you are unwilling to sacrifice for your vision, then your film was not worth making and probably not worth seeing. In the end, those who want to be filmmakers will become filmmakers, and those who truly want to realize their vision will.
Life will imbue the gifts and the circumstances to realize true burning desires.
Monday, November 12, 2001
Monday, October 29, 2001
There's No Need to be Story-bored!
Submitted by Rhoni Doss and Mark Cooper
As a city where the traditional breakfast is mouse flakes, and the most respectable workplaces have at least one smoking area, it's sometimes said Orlando isn't exactly a breeding ground for creativity, (as in Los Angeles or New York City). But tucked away into the Conway quarter of town, between the International Airport and downtown Orlando is the Quick-Draw Studio, one of the world's more creative and experienced pre-production storyboard shops.
Storyboard artist, Mark Cooper's fifteen years of experience has resulted in quick storyboards in Orlando, Florida, the Cayman Islands, B.W.I., and Houston, Texas for clients the world over such as the "Truth" campaign, Haxan Films, Lockheed Martin, Universal, Soundelux, Nitrate Films, Seaworld, and independent producers and directors. His credits include: the motion picture Heart of Love, The Back Street Boys MTV music video of the year, the SuperBoy television series, and over one-hundred television commercial spots including Meineke, Nike, Sprint, K-mart, Dodge, Minute Lube, Super Cuts, Disney and Euro Disney to name a few. As owner of the Quick-Draw company, Mark helps bring together producers, directors and their crews on the same (storyboard) page. Mark's experiences as a storyboard artist range from music videos, television commercials and stage shows, to character development for indies and boards for feature motion pictures. He elaborated on his duties, "The boards allow producers to get accurate bids on CGI (computer generated images) effects. When boarding for a Meineke television campaign, the series of spots were cast directly from the characters I created in the storyboard art. I took that as a huge compliment and it made the casting agent's and the art director's job much easier. The crews also appreciate the boards during production by indicating lighting effects." Mark often wears many hats within his storyboard frames. One second he's a stunt coordinator and the next he's a fashion designer. He also comments that, "As a storyboard artist, you can sometimes find yourself working on the opening scene last."
One of Mark's most recent gigs was with those zany guys that directed and produced the original Blair Witch Project. He expounded on his specific storyboard experiences with the Haxan Films' project Heart of Love, "My contract began as a one and a half month project to board up only CGI scenes. Due to the writer's and then the actor's strikes, development time was doubled and the producer asked me to board up the entire motion picture." Initially, after reading The Heart of Love script, a meeting was arranged with the two directors, Eduardo Sanchez and Dan Myrick, to discuss any questions Mark had and to convey their perception of the main characters. Illustrations of the over 1000 storyboard frames began. The CGI scenes were primarily drawn first. All the while, storyboards where photocopied, logged, numbered, and reviewed by the directors daily. Several table readings were conducted to further scrutinize the script making minor revisions and passing them on to Mark. When nearly completed, the boards were shuffled off to one of the upstairs editing suites for shooting frame by frame in preparation for the animatics and animatic voice-overs.
Mark commented, "Working with directors Ed and Dan means a lot of working hard and laughing hard. Good java, the daily office foosball tournament, practical jokes, and unsolicited sales people at the door is an unusual yet creative environment. In one humorous incident, the producer set up a Tiki goddess alter, compete with a fog machine, on top of the receptionist's counter. The next morning Mike's Tiki goddess was under siege by Ed's fifty marching and flying alien action figures!"
Mark admits that many directors don't use storyboards. He addressed that by saying, "Without the storyboard art as an organizational tool, those directors routinely find themselves going over budget." The storyboard artist sets in motion the visual story telling to address issues before casting, location scouting and on set direction begins. In this light, storyboards can definitely be key in a smooth running production.
As a city where the traditional breakfast is mouse flakes, and the most respectable workplaces have at least one smoking area, it's sometimes said Orlando isn't exactly a breeding ground for creativity, (as in Los Angeles or New York City). But tucked away into the Conway quarter of town, between the International Airport and downtown Orlando is the Quick-Draw Studio, one of the world's more creative and experienced pre-production storyboard shops.
Storyboard artist, Mark Cooper's fifteen years of experience has resulted in quick storyboards in Orlando, Florida, the Cayman Islands, B.W.I., and Houston, Texas for clients the world over such as the "Truth" campaign, Haxan Films, Lockheed Martin, Universal, Soundelux, Nitrate Films, Seaworld, and independent producers and directors. His credits include: the motion picture Heart of Love, The Back Street Boys MTV music video of the year, the SuperBoy television series, and over one-hundred television commercial spots including Meineke, Nike, Sprint, K-mart, Dodge, Minute Lube, Super Cuts, Disney and Euro Disney to name a few. As owner of the Quick-Draw company, Mark helps bring together producers, directors and their crews on the same (storyboard) page. Mark's experiences as a storyboard artist range from music videos, television commercials and stage shows, to character development for indies and boards for feature motion pictures. He elaborated on his duties, "The boards allow producers to get accurate bids on CGI (computer generated images) effects. When boarding for a Meineke television campaign, the series of spots were cast directly from the characters I created in the storyboard art. I took that as a huge compliment and it made the casting agent's and the art director's job much easier. The crews also appreciate the boards during production by indicating lighting effects." Mark often wears many hats within his storyboard frames. One second he's a stunt coordinator and the next he's a fashion designer. He also comments that, "As a storyboard artist, you can sometimes find yourself working on the opening scene last."
One of Mark's most recent gigs was with those zany guys that directed and produced the original Blair Witch Project. He expounded on his specific storyboard experiences with the Haxan Films' project Heart of Love, "My contract began as a one and a half month project to board up only CGI scenes. Due to the writer's and then the actor's strikes, development time was doubled and the producer asked me to board up the entire motion picture." Initially, after reading The Heart of Love script, a meeting was arranged with the two directors, Eduardo Sanchez and Dan Myrick, to discuss any questions Mark had and to convey their perception of the main characters. Illustrations of the over 1000 storyboard frames began. The CGI scenes were primarily drawn first. All the while, storyboards where photocopied, logged, numbered, and reviewed by the directors daily. Several table readings were conducted to further scrutinize the script making minor revisions and passing them on to Mark. When nearly completed, the boards were shuffled off to one of the upstairs editing suites for shooting frame by frame in preparation for the animatics and animatic voice-overs.
Mark commented, "Working with directors Ed and Dan means a lot of working hard and laughing hard. Good java, the daily office foosball tournament, practical jokes, and unsolicited sales people at the door is an unusual yet creative environment. In one humorous incident, the producer set up a Tiki goddess alter, compete with a fog machine, on top of the receptionist's counter. The next morning Mike's Tiki goddess was under siege by Ed's fifty marching and flying alien action figures!"
Mark admits that many directors don't use storyboards. He addressed that by saying, "Without the storyboard art as an organizational tool, those directors routinely find themselves going over budget." The storyboard artist sets in motion the visual story telling to address issues before casting, location scouting and on set direction begins. In this light, storyboards can definitely be key in a smooth running production.
Tuesday, October 02, 2001
Rules of Ultra-Low Budget Casting
Submitted by Chris Watson
1) Never pay for an actor who isn't a name. For instance, don't pay your neighbor money to be in your movie unless he's been in at least one film. I paid Joe Estevez and Robert Z'Dar on my first feature. Bruce Baum and Eric Edwards worked for nothing. I had several unknowns requesting money or they wouldn't show, but Bruce Baum, who works regularly on stand-up circuit, The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway? worked for nothing. If they're not a name, don't pay them.
2) Make a star out of the smallest person. For instance, we had a local blues singer do a cameo. To most people it was nothing, but to a cast and crew out to make a movie it's a big thing. We also used a local model and some other local celebrities. I mean, we're in the middle of Kansas, so these people aren't celebrities. However, it added punch to a really small movie.
3) Pursue any celebrity within your reach. Bruce Baum was doing stand-up at a local club so I dragged my co-writer to go see him. We talked to him for a bit and then convinced him to do a cameo in his free time between gigs. This goes along with rule number two, which includes even the smallest celebrity. In our case, it was a blues singer, model, and professional actor.
4) Everybody knows somebody. It's true that everybody knows somebody. My neighbor knew Gene Bicknell, a veteran of multiple movies. The newspaper lady knew some ladies who had been in Spaceballs and other movies. The photographer knew Robert Z'Dar from Tango and Cash. A friend knows a lady from Baywatch. Robert Z'Dar knew Joe Estevez. Our original assistant director knew Eric Edwards. The list goes on. Pursue them without worry of appearing desperate because YOU ARE DESPERATE. The smallest name can get your film into a festival or get it distribution.
5) Always have a back-up plan. I lost two cameo actors to another production, one to a motorcycle accident, and one to surgery during the filming of Mob Daze. I also had to recast multiple parts just weeks before and even during production. If you have a back-up plan, or just know how to scrounge, then you'll feel like a king when production is over and you've saved the film by having a plethora of actors to choose from.
6) Do not count on friends. I can't stress this enough. I cast a short with friends and neighbors and one showed up. Even your best friend will not show up. It seems to be the unwritten rule of filmmaking. Cast your film with actors who have a true heart for filmmaking. Even if you have money to pay them, tell them straight-up so you can see how much they want it. This, of course, only applies to the no name actors.
1) Never pay for an actor who isn't a name. For instance, don't pay your neighbor money to be in your movie unless he's been in at least one film. I paid Joe Estevez and Robert Z'Dar on my first feature. Bruce Baum and Eric Edwards worked for nothing. I had several unknowns requesting money or they wouldn't show, but Bruce Baum, who works regularly on stand-up circuit, The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway? worked for nothing. If they're not a name, don't pay them.
2) Make a star out of the smallest person. For instance, we had a local blues singer do a cameo. To most people it was nothing, but to a cast and crew out to make a movie it's a big thing. We also used a local model and some other local celebrities. I mean, we're in the middle of Kansas, so these people aren't celebrities. However, it added punch to a really small movie.
3) Pursue any celebrity within your reach. Bruce Baum was doing stand-up at a local club so I dragged my co-writer to go see him. We talked to him for a bit and then convinced him to do a cameo in his free time between gigs. This goes along with rule number two, which includes even the smallest celebrity. In our case, it was a blues singer, model, and professional actor.
4) Everybody knows somebody. It's true that everybody knows somebody. My neighbor knew Gene Bicknell, a veteran of multiple movies. The newspaper lady knew some ladies who had been in Spaceballs and other movies. The photographer knew Robert Z'Dar from Tango and Cash. A friend knows a lady from Baywatch. Robert Z'Dar knew Joe Estevez. Our original assistant director knew Eric Edwards. The list goes on. Pursue them without worry of appearing desperate because YOU ARE DESPERATE. The smallest name can get your film into a festival or get it distribution.
5) Always have a back-up plan. I lost two cameo actors to another production, one to a motorcycle accident, and one to surgery during the filming of Mob Daze. I also had to recast multiple parts just weeks before and even during production. If you have a back-up plan, or just know how to scrounge, then you'll feel like a king when production is over and you've saved the film by having a plethora of actors to choose from.
6) Do not count on friends. I can't stress this enough. I cast a short with friends and neighbors and one showed up. Even your best friend will not show up. It seems to be the unwritten rule of filmmaking. Cast your film with actors who have a true heart for filmmaking. Even if you have money to pay them, tell them straight-up so you can see how much they want it. This, of course, only applies to the no name actors.
Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Neglected Gems of Fantasy, Horror, and Science-Fiction Films
Submitted by Mark R. Leeper
One of the things I like to do occasionally in my film reviews is to reference to some very good film that I doubt most of my readers have heard of and to which I would like to call some attention. There are a lot of decent films, and a handful of very good ones, that at this point may exist only in the film libraries of obscure television stations, and when these few prints disappear the films will be gone. I would like to generate interest in some of these films, if not to help save them, at least to alert people that if they do get a chance to see them, it is a rare chance and you should give the films a look.
Of course, there are a lot of obscure films that are showing up on videotape today, many of them very poorly made films. It is ironic that some terrific films are being over-looked, but in each case I think I can understand why some producer would think the film would not sell well on tape. I still recommend these films highly. This list was initially composed in the mid-seventies, but in the interim I have been adding to it, and in some cases deleting. I have removed Quatermass and the Pit (a.k.a. Five Million Years to Earth), still in my opinion, the best science fiction film ever made, because it is no longer really obscure. I take some pride that my efforts to bring this film to people's attention may be part of the reason it no longer is obscure in the United States. Perhaps this list will help in some small way to make some of the other films more available and perhaps be discovered by new fans. Every one of these films has something unique that appeals to me. Not every film will appeal to every viewer. If these films had appealed to every viewer, it is much more likely they would still be around and popular.
It is of interest to notice how often the name Richard Matheson shows up in this list. That is probably as it should be. Matheson is one of the great under-appreciated names in fantasy, horror, and science-fiction. He has made a greater contribution than Stephen King, but most modern fans do not even know his name. This list was intended to bring attention to neglected films, but just as important, I hope it brings attention to a neglected man.
Faust (1926)
Director F. W. Murnau is best known for Nosferatu, the making of which was dramatized in Shadow of the Vampire. This is another fine film from him. There is a lot of good visual fantasy in this film version of the famous play by Goethe. There is a terrific image of the devil spreading his cape over a village, and many other visual surprises throughout.
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The story, based on a lesser-known novel by Victor Hugo, could be better, but Conrad Veidt is terrific in the role of a man whose face is carved into an obscene, huge, involuntary grin. This makes everybody interpret him as constantly happy. Veidt conveys a full range of emotions through his eyes alone. The grinning Veidt was the visual inspiration for Batman's foe The Joker.
The Dybbuk (1939)
At times this is very slow, but also at times a very effective horror film. This was a low-budget film in Yiddish, but is now restored and subtitled in English. The "Dance of Death" scene has become an eerie classic. The story deals with a man's soul returning from the dead to possess the woman promised to him and whom he loved. Most of the filmmakers died in the Holocaust shortly after the film was made.
The Seventh Victim (1943)
Other Val Lewton films get more attention but this film is blacker and bleaker than anything ever done in film noir. This is a solid mood piece that stands above Lewton's other films. A woman searching for her sister runs afoul of murder and Satanists.
Night of the Demon (a.k.a. Curse of the Demon) (1957)
This film has gotten some attention because of an allusion in a song in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but at the time of the original writing it was rarely seen. Now it is a little better known, but still not to the degree it deserves. That is a pity because it is quite a nice, little supernatural thriller. It suffers a little from showing the audience too much too soon, but it still is suspenseful and well-written.
The Mind Benders (1962)
This film combines Cold War thriller elements with science fiction and a compelling human story. A scientist working on sensory deprivation commits suicide and is discovered to have been passing secrets to the Soviets. Was he to blame or could his mind have been twisted while under the influence of the sensory deprivation tank? The government investigator decides to experiment to find out. Another scientist working in the same field (played by Dirk Bogarde) is very devoted to his wife and family. Can the government investigators change that in his personality while he is in the tank? This film is well acted, enthralling, and atmospheric.
Night of the Eagle (a.k.a. Burn, Witch, Burn) (1962)
When Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont co-write a screenplay based on a novel by Fritz Leiber, you just naturally expect a good thriller. This story about an empiricist college professor discovering that his wife and several other professors' wives around him are actually witches. It is very well made and remains tense throughout.
Devil Doll (1963)
This is a wildly uneven film, but it has many very good moments. There have been several attempts to do stories of ventriloquist dummies who have lives of their own. This is the most intriguing treatment of that theme. For once the secret of what is happening is not a let-down.
Unearthly Stranger (1963)
A secret project is working on space exploration right in the heart of London. The approach to exploration is a novel one. Rather than sending the whole human into space, they are working on a sort of technological out-of-body experience. One can project one's mind to another planet and there have it take on physical form. The rub is that scientists on the project are being killed in some mysterious way involving super-high energy. And the wives of some of the scientists seem to have no background that project security can trace. The script is tense and the acting is quite good, with a cast that includes John Neville (A Study in Terror, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs). This film is so obscure that Leonard Maltin's usually very complete Movie and Video Guide overlooks it.
L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (a.k.a. The Last Man on Earth) (1964)
One of the more negative aspects of this film is that it started the whole sub-genre of living dead and zombie movies. It is a fairly effective adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, with the screenplay by Matheson himself. Matheson must have been disappointed with the film or with Vincent Price's performance since he had his name taken off of the film. He probably lived to regret that decision since this film is much more intelligent than most modern horror films and it is certainly better than the big-budget empty remake, Omega Man. One human remains alive while every other human dies of the plague, but returns as a sort of vampire. Now the one human rules while the sun is up, but at night is besieged by the dead. I saw it on a double feature with the above-mentioned Unearthly Stranger. Wow!
Crack in the World (1965)
The first and last ideas of this film are pretty silly, but in between this is a fairly exciting super-disaster film. A scientist uses a nuclear missile to open a passageway to the hot core of the earth. Like a crack in a car windshield, this fissure starts to spread threatening to break apart the whole world. Some of the visuals are spectacular. There is also some interesting human drama.
Dark Intruder (1965)
This film is only fifty-nine minutes long and originally was intended as a television pilot, but was released to theaters to play with films such as William Castle's I Saw What You Did - which it far out-classed. Leslie Nielsen plays a detective in late 19th Century San Francisco whose foppish appearance hides a man very knowledgeable and adept in matters of the occult and the supernatural. A series of weird unsolved murders and a friend's blackout spells may be connected and have some occult significance. Mark Richman and Werner Klemperer also star. The latter, best known as the gullible commandant from Hogan's Heroes, does a terrific job in a sinister role.
The Devil Rides Out (a.k.a. The Devil's Bride) (1968)
Richard Matheson's very faithful adaptation of the black magic novel by Dennis Wheatley takes a science-fiction-like approach to Satanism. It is fast-paced and at times fairly intelligent. As an economy measure they cheapened the effect of showing the devil by not using a lot of special effects with the ironic effect that he seemed much more immediate and corporeal. This is one of Hammer's best horror films.
Witchfinder General (a.k.a. Conqueror Worm) (1968)
A vital and well-made historical fringe-horror film about one of the great villains of English history, Matthew Hopkins. Even Vincent Price does a reasonable acting job. The original musical score is actually quite beautiful, though there is a version with an entirely different and much less enjoyable score.
Satan's Skin (a.k.a. Blood on Satan's Claw) (1970)
In some ways an imitation of the style of Witchfinder General. A 17th century English ploughman turns up the remains of a demon and the artifact exerts satanic influence on the children of the region. This is a very atmospheric film with an authentic historical feel.
Quest for Love (1971)
This film is loosely adapted from the short story Random Quest by John Wyndham. Colin Trafford (played by Tom Bell) is a leading scientist at the Britain Imperial Physical Institute when one of his experiments goes wrong. Suddenly he finds himself in a parallel London in a parallel Britain that has not been to war since the Great War in the early part of the century. In this world Trafford is not a physicist, but a popular playwright. He is also now married to a beautiful woman (played by Joan Collins) whose life he has made miserable with his selfish ways and his philandering. Can Colin convince the world he is the playwright while convincing his new wife that he is different? Then there are plot complications that lead to a fast-paced climax across parallel worlds. Denholm Elliot also stars in the story which is part science-fiction adventure and part love story.
Count Yorga, Vampire (1973)
This low-budget horror film redefined the concept of the vampire. As a reaction to the staid, hypnotic, and slow vampires of British horror films, this film makes most vampires fast moving, predatory deadly animals who hunt in packs. At the time this was pretty scary stuff and the film still has a lot of impact.
The Big Bus (1974)
Not very good as a science-fiction film, but it is science-fiction and it is a good film. Years before Airplane!, this film is along the same lines and very nearly as funny. This is a satire of disaster films as the evil villain Ironman tries desperately to destroy Cyclops, the first nuclear powered bus on its maiden voyage from New York to Denver.
Phase IV (1974)
Two mutually alien intelligences are seen in the beginnings of a serious war. It is really more about how each side collects information about the other and uses its physical differences against the other. Ants somehow develop a gestalt mind and prepare to make themselves the masters of the world. Visually very striking with direction by visual artist Saul Bass (best known for creating arresting title sequences for other directors' films). There is also some terrific insect photography.
Who? (1974)
This fairly accurate adaptation of Algis Budrys' novel had film stock problems and could not be released to theaters. That is a genuine pity. The Cold War story of the near future has a scientist important to military defense in a bad accident. The East Germans get a hold of him and return him to the West more prosthetic than living matter. Now the problem is, how do you prove that he is who he says he is?
To the Devil, A Daughter (1976)
In spite of some scenes that are overly graphic for some viewers and a low-key ending, this is a fast-paced supernatural thriller. The hero played by Richard Widmark is the disreputable author of popular exploitation books about the supernatural. The villain played by Christopher Lee is a stop-at-nothing idealist trying to save the world in a dangerous experiment using dark forces. The writing is crisp and unusual.
The Last Wave (1977)
Australian Peter Weir built his reputation on this strange, mystical film about a lawyer who finds he might be the fulfillment of an Aboriginal prophecy. Images of nature out of balance and an intriguing story make this film a real spellbinder. This is a hard film to pigeon-hole and the intelligence of the writing never flags. This is a film of the quality of The Wicker Man, but one which has gotten much less attention.
Dragonslayer (1981)
Lots of films try to do medieval high-fantasy, but this is probably the best. With the death of a great magician, his young apprentice must see if he has mastered enough of his master's art to destroy a terrific dragon who is ravaging the countryside. There are lots of nice touches in the script and years later the dragon remains the best ever created on film.
Knightriders (1981)
George Romero says he got this out of his system and never has to make another film like Knightriders. What a pity! This was one of the best films of its year. Superficially, this is the story of a traveling Renaissance Fair that features jousts on motorcycles. But it has some terrific characters and a theme of the struggle between integrity and commercialism and between idealism and practicality. And late in the film the viewer realizes that the film has also been doing something else all along - it would be a spoiler to reveal what. This is a neat piece of writing.
Lifeforce (1981)
Very few fans are willing to look beyond the naked woman and the zombies to see what is one of the most bizarre and audacious concepts for any science-fiction film. Vampires, we learn, are really beings that leak lifeforce into the atmosphere like a tire with a slow leak leaks air. They must replenish the force regularly or they die. Much as we put bacteria into milk to multiply and make yogurt or cheese, some huge, incomprehensible, amoral, alien race seeds earth with vampires. The numbers of these vampires will increase exponentially, leaking more and more lifeforce into the environment so the aliens can vacuum it up.
Brainstorm (1983)
Okay, admittedly I do not like the last third of this film. Up to that point however, it is magnificent. This is the film that they had to patch together because of the death of Natalie Wood. Up to that point it is a superb examination of how a new invention - the electronic communication of brain sensation, electronic telepathy - is going to completely change the human race. Most films do not portray the R&D environment very well, this one does it nearly perfectly. You could make fifty films and never use up the implications of the premise of this film.
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
I am not generally a fan of Ray Bradbury's poetic prose. In this film I can appreciate what he is trying to do and he does create good suspense. Jonathan Pryce really projects malevolence as the owner of an evil carnival. This may be one of the most artistic horror films ever made. This film has several very good scenes and no bad ones. I really like a scene in which the evil Mr. Dark is tempting the Jason Robards character.
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
Hong Kong for a while was making its own horror films for their own audience. Their films are fast-paced, usually liberally laced with comedy and martial arts, but also having some interesting horror concepts. No one such film is all that terrific (at least among the films I have seen so far) but some are astonishing and full of unexpected touches. Look for the Chinese Ghost Story films, Wicked City, and Mr. Vampire, which must have a different name in China since it is really about Chinese hopping hosts.
The Runestone (1990)
Not a perfect horror film, but one with an intriguing idea and some decent, humorous writing to go along with the horror. The ancient Norse hid a runestone in Pennsylvania to get rid of the thing. It is the key to releasing the Fenris Wolf and bringing about the holocaust of Ragnarok. The stone is found, setting in motion events that could bring the end of the world. Peter Riegert is great as a laconic policeman pulled into the proceedings.
The Rocketeer (1991)
Hey, my introduction to science-fiction was with Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe, who flew with a rocket pack on his back. Those serials were tacky. This is what they would have done if they had a budget. We have a stylish look at Southern California in the 1930's with airplanes, movie stars, gangsters, and Nazi agents. In the middle of all this Cliff Secord finds a jet pack that lets him fly like Superman does. This film was popular in Japan, but never found much of a market in its native United States.
Cronos (1993)
A strange but very good film from Mexico about an alchemist's invention that gives the user immortality, but only at the cost of making that person a vampire. An aging antique dealer finds the immortality device only to have it destroy his life. One of the most creative horror films to be made in years. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has a very creative eye.
Dellamorte Dellamore (a.k.a. Cemetery Man) (1994)
The Italians made the zombie movie that started the sub-genre, L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (a.k.a. The Last Man on Earth), so it is appropriate that they also made the film that put a bullet into the genre. This film lampoons all the conventions of the zombie film by just accepting them and taking them deadpan. Francesco Dellamorte manages a cemetery, so the important job falls to him to kill the dead when they come back. It is not the world's greatest job but someone has to do it and it does allow him to indulge in occasional necrophilia. A very strange film and at times very funny if you are not turned off by the subject matter.
Richard III (1995)
An alternate history science-fiction film by William Shakespeare? I generally hate modern dress for operas and plays set in the past. Here it adds new meaning to Shakespeare's play. By setting Richard III in the 1930's, it becomes a stylish film of a fascist takeover of Britain. Ian McKellen is always great, but has never been better than as the elegant, malevolent usurper of the throne of England.
Kyua (a.k.a. Cure) (1997)
Even giving away the premise of this Japanese crime film probably gives away too much; however, since the film will probably almost never be seen outside of Japan, I will give the premise. The police have to solve a series of bloody murders, each with a different killer. The killers generally stay at the scene of the crime, but they have no memory of the crime, no motive, and are completely confused. Each case seems to be temporary insanity, but the pattern is too regular to be chance. By force of will, one person is influencing random people to become murderers. The process takes only an instant. Even knowing what is going on, the police are stumped as to how they can find the perpetrator and stop him.
Last Night (1998)
The film covers six hours, from six in the evening until midnight. Midnight is when the world comes to an end. How would you spend the last six hours of not just your life but the last six hours of the human race? The star, writer, and director is Canadian Don McKellar, who explores just that question in a film literally about the last night. This film is almost a loose and un-credited adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1953 short story, The Last Day. Still, McKellar manages comedy, drama, and a whole gamut of emotions.
Lake Placid (1999)
The fun of this film is not the monster, a giant crocodile, but the dialog as a mismatched group of investigators hunt for the creature in their local lake. The script writers formerly wrote for Northern Exposure and the dialog is very funny. The actual story of the film is decent, but that is not why the film is worth seeing.
Titus (1999)
A horror film by William Shakespeare? You better believe it. Broadway genius Julie Taymor (The Lion King) brings Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus to the screen as the sickest, most violent, most perverted, and most wonderful Shakespeare film ever made. Anthony Hopkins in Hannibal seemed like a pale echo of his blood-lusting character in Titus. Jessica Lange also stars. Sudden death, rape, dismemberment, maiming, and cannibalism are all part of the story. And it is not toned down because it is for a Shakespeare audience. This noses out Richard III as the best Shakespeare experience I have ever had. Much Ado About Nothing comes in third.
© 1994, 2000, 2001 Mark R. Leeper
One of the things I like to do occasionally in my film reviews is to reference to some very good film that I doubt most of my readers have heard of and to which I would like to call some attention. There are a lot of decent films, and a handful of very good ones, that at this point may exist only in the film libraries of obscure television stations, and when these few prints disappear the films will be gone. I would like to generate interest in some of these films, if not to help save them, at least to alert people that if they do get a chance to see them, it is a rare chance and you should give the films a look.
Of course, there are a lot of obscure films that are showing up on videotape today, many of them very poorly made films. It is ironic that some terrific films are being over-looked, but in each case I think I can understand why some producer would think the film would not sell well on tape. I still recommend these films highly. This list was initially composed in the mid-seventies, but in the interim I have been adding to it, and in some cases deleting. I have removed Quatermass and the Pit (a.k.a. Five Million Years to Earth), still in my opinion, the best science fiction film ever made, because it is no longer really obscure. I take some pride that my efforts to bring this film to people's attention may be part of the reason it no longer is obscure in the United States. Perhaps this list will help in some small way to make some of the other films more available and perhaps be discovered by new fans. Every one of these films has something unique that appeals to me. Not every film will appeal to every viewer. If these films had appealed to every viewer, it is much more likely they would still be around and popular.
It is of interest to notice how often the name Richard Matheson shows up in this list. That is probably as it should be. Matheson is one of the great under-appreciated names in fantasy, horror, and science-fiction. He has made a greater contribution than Stephen King, but most modern fans do not even know his name. This list was intended to bring attention to neglected films, but just as important, I hope it brings attention to a neglected man.
Faust (1926)
Director F. W. Murnau is best known for Nosferatu, the making of which was dramatized in Shadow of the Vampire. This is another fine film from him. There is a lot of good visual fantasy in this film version of the famous play by Goethe. There is a terrific image of the devil spreading his cape over a village, and many other visual surprises throughout.
The Man Who Laughs (1928)
The story, based on a lesser-known novel by Victor Hugo, could be better, but Conrad Veidt is terrific in the role of a man whose face is carved into an obscene, huge, involuntary grin. This makes everybody interpret him as constantly happy. Veidt conveys a full range of emotions through his eyes alone. The grinning Veidt was the visual inspiration for Batman's foe The Joker.
The Dybbuk (1939)
At times this is very slow, but also at times a very effective horror film. This was a low-budget film in Yiddish, but is now restored and subtitled in English. The "Dance of Death" scene has become an eerie classic. The story deals with a man's soul returning from the dead to possess the woman promised to him and whom he loved. Most of the filmmakers died in the Holocaust shortly after the film was made.
The Seventh Victim (1943)
Other Val Lewton films get more attention but this film is blacker and bleaker than anything ever done in film noir. This is a solid mood piece that stands above Lewton's other films. A woman searching for her sister runs afoul of murder and Satanists.
Night of the Demon (a.k.a. Curse of the Demon) (1957)
This film has gotten some attention because of an allusion in a song in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but at the time of the original writing it was rarely seen. Now it is a little better known, but still not to the degree it deserves. That is a pity because it is quite a nice, little supernatural thriller. It suffers a little from showing the audience too much too soon, but it still is suspenseful and well-written.
The Mind Benders (1962)
This film combines Cold War thriller elements with science fiction and a compelling human story. A scientist working on sensory deprivation commits suicide and is discovered to have been passing secrets to the Soviets. Was he to blame or could his mind have been twisted while under the influence of the sensory deprivation tank? The government investigator decides to experiment to find out. Another scientist working in the same field (played by Dirk Bogarde) is very devoted to his wife and family. Can the government investigators change that in his personality while he is in the tank? This film is well acted, enthralling, and atmospheric.
Night of the Eagle (a.k.a. Burn, Witch, Burn) (1962)
When Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont co-write a screenplay based on a novel by Fritz Leiber, you just naturally expect a good thriller. This story about an empiricist college professor discovering that his wife and several other professors' wives around him are actually witches. It is very well made and remains tense throughout.
Devil Doll (1963)
This is a wildly uneven film, but it has many very good moments. There have been several attempts to do stories of ventriloquist dummies who have lives of their own. This is the most intriguing treatment of that theme. For once the secret of what is happening is not a let-down.
Unearthly Stranger (1963)
A secret project is working on space exploration right in the heart of London. The approach to exploration is a novel one. Rather than sending the whole human into space, they are working on a sort of technological out-of-body experience. One can project one's mind to another planet and there have it take on physical form. The rub is that scientists on the project are being killed in some mysterious way involving super-high energy. And the wives of some of the scientists seem to have no background that project security can trace. The script is tense and the acting is quite good, with a cast that includes John Neville (A Study in Terror, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs). This film is so obscure that Leonard Maltin's usually very complete Movie and Video Guide overlooks it.
L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (a.k.a. The Last Man on Earth) (1964)
One of the more negative aspects of this film is that it started the whole sub-genre of living dead and zombie movies. It is a fairly effective adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, with the screenplay by Matheson himself. Matheson must have been disappointed with the film or with Vincent Price's performance since he had his name taken off of the film. He probably lived to regret that decision since this film is much more intelligent than most modern horror films and it is certainly better than the big-budget empty remake, Omega Man. One human remains alive while every other human dies of the plague, but returns as a sort of vampire. Now the one human rules while the sun is up, but at night is besieged by the dead. I saw it on a double feature with the above-mentioned Unearthly Stranger. Wow!
Crack in the World (1965)
The first and last ideas of this film are pretty silly, but in between this is a fairly exciting super-disaster film. A scientist uses a nuclear missile to open a passageway to the hot core of the earth. Like a crack in a car windshield, this fissure starts to spread threatening to break apart the whole world. Some of the visuals are spectacular. There is also some interesting human drama.
Dark Intruder (1965)
This film is only fifty-nine minutes long and originally was intended as a television pilot, but was released to theaters to play with films such as William Castle's I Saw What You Did - which it far out-classed. Leslie Nielsen plays a detective in late 19th Century San Francisco whose foppish appearance hides a man very knowledgeable and adept in matters of the occult and the supernatural. A series of weird unsolved murders and a friend's blackout spells may be connected and have some occult significance. Mark Richman and Werner Klemperer also star. The latter, best known as the gullible commandant from Hogan's Heroes, does a terrific job in a sinister role.
The Devil Rides Out (a.k.a. The Devil's Bride) (1968)
Richard Matheson's very faithful adaptation of the black magic novel by Dennis Wheatley takes a science-fiction-like approach to Satanism. It is fast-paced and at times fairly intelligent. As an economy measure they cheapened the effect of showing the devil by not using a lot of special effects with the ironic effect that he seemed much more immediate and corporeal. This is one of Hammer's best horror films.
Witchfinder General (a.k.a. Conqueror Worm) (1968)
A vital and well-made historical fringe-horror film about one of the great villains of English history, Matthew Hopkins. Even Vincent Price does a reasonable acting job. The original musical score is actually quite beautiful, though there is a version with an entirely different and much less enjoyable score.
Satan's Skin (a.k.a. Blood on Satan's Claw) (1970)
In some ways an imitation of the style of Witchfinder General. A 17th century English ploughman turns up the remains of a demon and the artifact exerts satanic influence on the children of the region. This is a very atmospheric film with an authentic historical feel.
Quest for Love (1971)
This film is loosely adapted from the short story Random Quest by John Wyndham. Colin Trafford (played by Tom Bell) is a leading scientist at the Britain Imperial Physical Institute when one of his experiments goes wrong. Suddenly he finds himself in a parallel London in a parallel Britain that has not been to war since the Great War in the early part of the century. In this world Trafford is not a physicist, but a popular playwright. He is also now married to a beautiful woman (played by Joan Collins) whose life he has made miserable with his selfish ways and his philandering. Can Colin convince the world he is the playwright while convincing his new wife that he is different? Then there are plot complications that lead to a fast-paced climax across parallel worlds. Denholm Elliot also stars in the story which is part science-fiction adventure and part love story.
Count Yorga, Vampire (1973)
This low-budget horror film redefined the concept of the vampire. As a reaction to the staid, hypnotic, and slow vampires of British horror films, this film makes most vampires fast moving, predatory deadly animals who hunt in packs. At the time this was pretty scary stuff and the film still has a lot of impact.
The Big Bus (1974)
Not very good as a science-fiction film, but it is science-fiction and it is a good film. Years before Airplane!, this film is along the same lines and very nearly as funny. This is a satire of disaster films as the evil villain Ironman tries desperately to destroy Cyclops, the first nuclear powered bus on its maiden voyage from New York to Denver.
Phase IV (1974)
Two mutually alien intelligences are seen in the beginnings of a serious war. It is really more about how each side collects information about the other and uses its physical differences against the other. Ants somehow develop a gestalt mind and prepare to make themselves the masters of the world. Visually very striking with direction by visual artist Saul Bass (best known for creating arresting title sequences for other directors' films). There is also some terrific insect photography.
Who? (1974)
This fairly accurate adaptation of Algis Budrys' novel had film stock problems and could not be released to theaters. That is a genuine pity. The Cold War story of the near future has a scientist important to military defense in a bad accident. The East Germans get a hold of him and return him to the West more prosthetic than living matter. Now the problem is, how do you prove that he is who he says he is?
To the Devil, A Daughter (1976)
In spite of some scenes that are overly graphic for some viewers and a low-key ending, this is a fast-paced supernatural thriller. The hero played by Richard Widmark is the disreputable author of popular exploitation books about the supernatural. The villain played by Christopher Lee is a stop-at-nothing idealist trying to save the world in a dangerous experiment using dark forces. The writing is crisp and unusual.
The Last Wave (1977)
Australian Peter Weir built his reputation on this strange, mystical film about a lawyer who finds he might be the fulfillment of an Aboriginal prophecy. Images of nature out of balance and an intriguing story make this film a real spellbinder. This is a hard film to pigeon-hole and the intelligence of the writing never flags. This is a film of the quality of The Wicker Man, but one which has gotten much less attention.
Dragonslayer (1981)
Lots of films try to do medieval high-fantasy, but this is probably the best. With the death of a great magician, his young apprentice must see if he has mastered enough of his master's art to destroy a terrific dragon who is ravaging the countryside. There are lots of nice touches in the script and years later the dragon remains the best ever created on film.
Knightriders (1981)
George Romero says he got this out of his system and never has to make another film like Knightriders. What a pity! This was one of the best films of its year. Superficially, this is the story of a traveling Renaissance Fair that features jousts on motorcycles. But it has some terrific characters and a theme of the struggle between integrity and commercialism and between idealism and practicality. And late in the film the viewer realizes that the film has also been doing something else all along - it would be a spoiler to reveal what. This is a neat piece of writing.
Lifeforce (1981)
Very few fans are willing to look beyond the naked woman and the zombies to see what is one of the most bizarre and audacious concepts for any science-fiction film. Vampires, we learn, are really beings that leak lifeforce into the atmosphere like a tire with a slow leak leaks air. They must replenish the force regularly or they die. Much as we put bacteria into milk to multiply and make yogurt or cheese, some huge, incomprehensible, amoral, alien race seeds earth with vampires. The numbers of these vampires will increase exponentially, leaking more and more lifeforce into the environment so the aliens can vacuum it up.
Brainstorm (1983)
Okay, admittedly I do not like the last third of this film. Up to that point however, it is magnificent. This is the film that they had to patch together because of the death of Natalie Wood. Up to that point it is a superb examination of how a new invention - the electronic communication of brain sensation, electronic telepathy - is going to completely change the human race. Most films do not portray the R&D environment very well, this one does it nearly perfectly. You could make fifty films and never use up the implications of the premise of this film.
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
I am not generally a fan of Ray Bradbury's poetic prose. In this film I can appreciate what he is trying to do and he does create good suspense. Jonathan Pryce really projects malevolence as the owner of an evil carnival. This may be one of the most artistic horror films ever made. This film has several very good scenes and no bad ones. I really like a scene in which the evil Mr. Dark is tempting the Jason Robards character.
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
Hong Kong for a while was making its own horror films for their own audience. Their films are fast-paced, usually liberally laced with comedy and martial arts, but also having some interesting horror concepts. No one such film is all that terrific (at least among the films I have seen so far) but some are astonishing and full of unexpected touches. Look for the Chinese Ghost Story films, Wicked City, and Mr. Vampire, which must have a different name in China since it is really about Chinese hopping hosts.
The Runestone (1990)
Not a perfect horror film, but one with an intriguing idea and some decent, humorous writing to go along with the horror. The ancient Norse hid a runestone in Pennsylvania to get rid of the thing. It is the key to releasing the Fenris Wolf and bringing about the holocaust of Ragnarok. The stone is found, setting in motion events that could bring the end of the world. Peter Riegert is great as a laconic policeman pulled into the proceedings.
The Rocketeer (1991)
Hey, my introduction to science-fiction was with Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe, who flew with a rocket pack on his back. Those serials were tacky. This is what they would have done if they had a budget. We have a stylish look at Southern California in the 1930's with airplanes, movie stars, gangsters, and Nazi agents. In the middle of all this Cliff Secord finds a jet pack that lets him fly like Superman does. This film was popular in Japan, but never found much of a market in its native United States.
Cronos (1993)
A strange but very good film from Mexico about an alchemist's invention that gives the user immortality, but only at the cost of making that person a vampire. An aging antique dealer finds the immortality device only to have it destroy his life. One of the most creative horror films to be made in years. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has a very creative eye.
Dellamorte Dellamore (a.k.a. Cemetery Man) (1994)
The Italians made the zombie movie that started the sub-genre, L' Ultimo Uomo Della Terra (a.k.a. The Last Man on Earth), so it is appropriate that they also made the film that put a bullet into the genre. This film lampoons all the conventions of the zombie film by just accepting them and taking them deadpan. Francesco Dellamorte manages a cemetery, so the important job falls to him to kill the dead when they come back. It is not the world's greatest job but someone has to do it and it does allow him to indulge in occasional necrophilia. A very strange film and at times very funny if you are not turned off by the subject matter.
Richard III (1995)
An alternate history science-fiction film by William Shakespeare? I generally hate modern dress for operas and plays set in the past. Here it adds new meaning to Shakespeare's play. By setting Richard III in the 1930's, it becomes a stylish film of a fascist takeover of Britain. Ian McKellen is always great, but has never been better than as the elegant, malevolent usurper of the throne of England.
Kyua (a.k.a. Cure) (1997)
Even giving away the premise of this Japanese crime film probably gives away too much; however, since the film will probably almost never be seen outside of Japan, I will give the premise. The police have to solve a series of bloody murders, each with a different killer. The killers generally stay at the scene of the crime, but they have no memory of the crime, no motive, and are completely confused. Each case seems to be temporary insanity, but the pattern is too regular to be chance. By force of will, one person is influencing random people to become murderers. The process takes only an instant. Even knowing what is going on, the police are stumped as to how they can find the perpetrator and stop him.
Last Night (1998)
The film covers six hours, from six in the evening until midnight. Midnight is when the world comes to an end. How would you spend the last six hours of not just your life but the last six hours of the human race? The star, writer, and director is Canadian Don McKellar, who explores just that question in a film literally about the last night. This film is almost a loose and un-credited adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1953 short story, The Last Day. Still, McKellar manages comedy, drama, and a whole gamut of emotions.
Lake Placid (1999)
The fun of this film is not the monster, a giant crocodile, but the dialog as a mismatched group of investigators hunt for the creature in their local lake. The script writers formerly wrote for Northern Exposure and the dialog is very funny. The actual story of the film is decent, but that is not why the film is worth seeing.
Titus (1999)
A horror film by William Shakespeare? You better believe it. Broadway genius Julie Taymor (The Lion King) brings Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus to the screen as the sickest, most violent, most perverted, and most wonderful Shakespeare film ever made. Anthony Hopkins in Hannibal seemed like a pale echo of his blood-lusting character in Titus. Jessica Lange also stars. Sudden death, rape, dismemberment, maiming, and cannibalism are all part of the story. And it is not toned down because it is for a Shakespeare audience. This noses out Richard III as the best Shakespeare experience I have ever had. Much Ado About Nothing comes in third.
© 1994, 2000, 2001 Mark R. Leeper
Monday, September 24, 2001
Mob Daze
Submitted by Chris Watson
At some point in my first year of college, I had the bright idea of making a film. It didn't start with images of money or the idea of fame. I was simply lying on my bed and in the dark, despite the fact it was three o-clock in the afternoon, and a vision came to me of my fellow classmates on my dorm floor as wannabe mobsters. One of the guys had a thick southern accent. I had the thought of a real mobster talking about how to become a mobster, and he'd say "You have to change your accents." The guy with the thick southern accent, Josh, would say "That shouldn't be a problem." Not extremely clever, but it made me laugh. Then, the real mobster would tell them they need guns. Josh would say "We've got guns."
The real mobster replies, "Let me see them." Josh pulls out a box and opens it, exposing a box full of hunting guns. Two decent jokes inspired me to contact a guy I had written with on an old magazine called Insane. Together, we decided on a story that would lead up to a short. The goal was to write a short film that would have such an impact that people couldn't help but want to pay to see more. We would make the short film, write the feature script, and pitch it to anyone with money. I pitched the idea to a film student who happened to be on my floor. He seemed to be eager to do it, so my co-writer David Lawson and I rushed out a short film script. However, this wannabe film student was the first of many to flake out, but it wasn't hard to find another film student to replace him and get us another broadcast quality camera.
Unfortunately, the flake out trend continued when this so-called director also flew the coup. Luckily, I had picked up a guy with a reasonable amount of knowledge from a filmmaking list. He was from the United Kingdom and had enough guts to be willing to pay his own way over to serve as a two bit crew member on a short film by some inexperienced college students. So Dave Thomas was awarded the director job and would actually stick with the project for well over a year.
We now had a director and David and I were now forcing a feature length script into the works. We just needed to find a format to film on. It was obvious with my bank account being under $5,000 that we wouldn't be able to shoot on film, so I started asking around about digital video. It appeared we had our format because it could be broadcast quality and also meant that the movie could be shot for very cheaply. However, we couldn't afford to buy all the equipment.
I did what I would do many times over - I went to the internet for help. I went to every independent film site I could find and put up classifieds and e-mailed local filmmakers for help and tried to get anyone I could to contribute. I got a ton of replies but very few wanted to help once they found out it was low budget - truly low budget. A few did come on board, including two with Canon XL1's. I would keep in constant contact with them, and eventually I sent out basic contracts to anyone still interested. I made a classic and major mistake in not binding them to the entire time period of the shoot. I would later have people showing up for a day here and a day there but they were useless other than to give a crew member a break for a day.
Once the crew was assembled, I began an internet search for cast members. Again, I got several replies but very few came through in the end. One of the many things I did for the movie was create a Yahoo club. I created it for two reasons. One, it was free publicity. Two, I could communicate with cast and crew and not have to e-mail everyone individually. I got two good actors from this site. A young college student came across the site and sent me a message. Brock Short began talking to me on a daily basis and would soon move from a runner to having the lead role in the project. Brock would also introduce me to a funny individual named Rist Gilgen. Rist would go on to play "Brett" in the movie, while Brock would play "Mark."
Casting flipped back and forth all the way through filming. At one time, we had one hell of a lead cast for such a small film. We had Eric Edwards from Blade, National Lampoon's Senior Trip, and Sergeant Bilko, as well as Australian actor Johan Earl from Code Black. Also on tap was semi-famous comedian Rodney Carrington. Each was working for nothing. This was a dream come true for an independent filmmaker and we were just weeks from shooting. What could go wrong?
Well, plenty. Let me start by saying we had five leads. Bryan Waller is the only actor I haven't mentioned that was lined up to play a lead. Johan got in a motorcycle accident and was unable to come. Rodney Carrington had a big money project come up, and I made another huge mistake in letting someone who knew Eric personally do the negotiating with him. I would soon find out Eric wasn't going to show up on the day he was supposed to start shooting. I had several days notice with Johan. Rodney's agent told me about his deal about two weeks before production. Bryan Waller is a different story altogether and one that I'll never understand. We had one hell of a day where the hotel we had set up at backed out on us the night we were to start shooting there. Then, while Dave Thomas and I drove around looking for hotels to make deals with, I got a call from a guy who had said he'd pick up Bryan, except he flaked out at the exact time he should have been leaving. I drove to Kansas City at a very fast speed in the middle of a storm with Dave Thomas and I in reasonably cheerful moods. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and sat around, wasting our valuable time. Waller showed and it was obvious that he was some kind of rich snot that would be trouble on the set. We are poor filmmakers, to say the least, and we were taking an enormous risk. We didn't really have the money to make a movie or to drive ten hours to the middle of Kansas. We were just guys who all wanted the same thing and we came together to do it. There would be sacrifice among all of us, and it's a bond that still stands among us. However, Waller had a different personality. His first comments to us involved getting him ahead of schedule so he could go to a concert. Long story short, he would soon bail. On a good note, he did pay me forty dollars.
The drive back to Pittsburg, Kansas, our main location, was a long one. Dave and I don't remember much, but I don't think either of us will ever forget that day. It was horrible and Dave kept talking about how everything was going down the tank. I was upset, very upset, but it was more because of the hotel situation. When Bryan Waller stepped out of my truck, I told Dave something like "I don't want him." Granted, it took me a few minutes to get it to click in Dave's head, but I think he was right there with me when I mentioned his attitude. To make a long story short, we had lost our hotel and one of the lead actors. What else could possibly go wrong?
Monday turned out to be the day where Brock Short and I would chase down the woman with the biggest bottom in history so we could find out if our lead actor was coming or not. As it happened, David Lawson and I would be roaming around Wal-Mart in Pittsburg when we came across the woman we had been hunting. She told us about several funerals she had to attend, but that everything was okay with the actor. Later on, I got a message from her saying that the actor wasn't coming. Now we had lost a hotel and two lead actors.
Most people would probably have folded their cards here, but it had been a project on tap for too long to fail now. We moved the cast around so that the guy tapped to play an unnamed gang member was now playing "Dave." This wasn't a hard decision, since Dave Thomas and I had both wanted him as "Dave" from the beginning. However, he had to be back in Minnesota to do a play and we didn't want to rush the schedule. Nonetheless, we didn't have much of a choice. Brock and Rist were set in their parts but David Lawson was moved from "Mute Boy" to "Josh." I called David several months earlier and warned him to learn the parts for both "Mute Boy" and "Josh." I would then take on the role originally written for me, "Mute Boy."
The main cast was set and I had a couple of cameos set up that would knock the socks off the cast and crew. I knew several of them were fans of one actor in particular, and it was an actor I had talked about since the beginning. However, a small film called Bubba Ho Tep would cause me to lose not one, but two cameos. Then Campbell Cooley had to undergo surgery, leaving another role open. I was able to replace Cooley with "Maniac Cop" Robert Z'Dar, and would later replace one of the cameos with the great Joe Estevez.
One of our most notable cameos seems to be comedian Bruce Baum. Very few people fail to recognize him, and the way we got him tends to make people laugh. I was on the phone with my good friend Mike Schmille, who also subbed for us by playing another gang member, when he mentioned the fact that he was going to see Bruce Baum at a local stand-up club that night. We just happened to be filming a scene that was supposed to have a cameo in it the next day. I drove quickly to my house and picked up David Lawson, a rising stand-up comedian, and we headed off to see Bruce Baum. While in the truck, I called the owner and asked about tickets and then mentioned the movie. In turn, the owner helped us out and mentioned it to Bruce Baum. After the show, Bruce came over and looked briefly at the script. I remember telling him it was "the funniest script you'll ever read," causing David Lawson to glare at me. Bruce kindly did the cameo as he sat at a table with Mike Schmille, David, myself, and the real "Brett," while at a nearby table was a wannabe actress who had flaked out on us.
Although, casting and securing locations ended up being a major problem on the shoot, we still managed to survive through financial problems, casualties, missing people, friends not coming through, and crazy rednecks. Problems piled up, but we seemed to be able to either solve them or shake them off. We had survived the shoot, but now we have to finish the damn thing.
Our current problem is editing. The first idea was to have the director and I edit it along with a hack editor, but the director decided he had to return to the United Kingdom. The idea of the director editing it sounded logical, but there was the problem of different formats, and we'd also have to get a $5,000 camera to send over to him. So, the obvious choice was to turn to an editor who had sworn to get it out by, well, by the time I wrote this. In turn, I would help produce a film of his. As it turns out, I produced his film, but he was unable to deliver a simple trailer for Mob Daze in several weeks. So I called Robert Z'Dar and asked if he just happened to know someone. As it turns out, he did. Now I'm eagerly waiting to see what happens with it.
As it turns out, I'm glad some people actually wanted to make a movie bad enough that they'd actually show up and stick with it. I know most of the cast and crew struggled to stay on board during the shoot. However, we stuck with it, and now we have a film that no one can take away from us, good or bad. As for scraping together a cast at the last second, it seemed to turn out well. Robert Z'Dar, veteran of over seventy-five movies, called the cast the best he had ever worked with. He boasted on several occasions about the cast, and his business manager would later give me the same feeling. In the end, we had the best possible cast, both talent and personality-wise. Hopefully, the movie will be the same as I try to drum up as much advance publicity as possible, and also prepare for a small theatrical release.
At some point in my first year of college, I had the bright idea of making a film. It didn't start with images of money or the idea of fame. I was simply lying on my bed and in the dark, despite the fact it was three o-clock in the afternoon, and a vision came to me of my fellow classmates on my dorm floor as wannabe mobsters. One of the guys had a thick southern accent. I had the thought of a real mobster talking about how to become a mobster, and he'd say "You have to change your accents." The guy with the thick southern accent, Josh, would say "That shouldn't be a problem." Not extremely clever, but it made me laugh. Then, the real mobster would tell them they need guns. Josh would say "We've got guns."
The real mobster replies, "Let me see them." Josh pulls out a box and opens it, exposing a box full of hunting guns. Two decent jokes inspired me to contact a guy I had written with on an old magazine called Insane. Together, we decided on a story that would lead up to a short. The goal was to write a short film that would have such an impact that people couldn't help but want to pay to see more. We would make the short film, write the feature script, and pitch it to anyone with money. I pitched the idea to a film student who happened to be on my floor. He seemed to be eager to do it, so my co-writer David Lawson and I rushed out a short film script. However, this wannabe film student was the first of many to flake out, but it wasn't hard to find another film student to replace him and get us another broadcast quality camera.
Unfortunately, the flake out trend continued when this so-called director also flew the coup. Luckily, I had picked up a guy with a reasonable amount of knowledge from a filmmaking list. He was from the United Kingdom and had enough guts to be willing to pay his own way over to serve as a two bit crew member on a short film by some inexperienced college students. So Dave Thomas was awarded the director job and would actually stick with the project for well over a year.
We now had a director and David and I were now forcing a feature length script into the works. We just needed to find a format to film on. It was obvious with my bank account being under $5,000 that we wouldn't be able to shoot on film, so I started asking around about digital video. It appeared we had our format because it could be broadcast quality and also meant that the movie could be shot for very cheaply. However, we couldn't afford to buy all the equipment.
I did what I would do many times over - I went to the internet for help. I went to every independent film site I could find and put up classifieds and e-mailed local filmmakers for help and tried to get anyone I could to contribute. I got a ton of replies but very few wanted to help once they found out it was low budget - truly low budget. A few did come on board, including two with Canon XL1's. I would keep in constant contact with them, and eventually I sent out basic contracts to anyone still interested. I made a classic and major mistake in not binding them to the entire time period of the shoot. I would later have people showing up for a day here and a day there but they were useless other than to give a crew member a break for a day.
Once the crew was assembled, I began an internet search for cast members. Again, I got several replies but very few came through in the end. One of the many things I did for the movie was create a Yahoo club. I created it for two reasons. One, it was free publicity. Two, I could communicate with cast and crew and not have to e-mail everyone individually. I got two good actors from this site. A young college student came across the site and sent me a message. Brock Short began talking to me on a daily basis and would soon move from a runner to having the lead role in the project. Brock would also introduce me to a funny individual named Rist Gilgen. Rist would go on to play "Brett" in the movie, while Brock would play "Mark."
Casting flipped back and forth all the way through filming. At one time, we had one hell of a lead cast for such a small film. We had Eric Edwards from Blade, National Lampoon's Senior Trip, and Sergeant Bilko, as well as Australian actor Johan Earl from Code Black. Also on tap was semi-famous comedian Rodney Carrington. Each was working for nothing. This was a dream come true for an independent filmmaker and we were just weeks from shooting. What could go wrong?
Well, plenty. Let me start by saying we had five leads. Bryan Waller is the only actor I haven't mentioned that was lined up to play a lead. Johan got in a motorcycle accident and was unable to come. Rodney Carrington had a big money project come up, and I made another huge mistake in letting someone who knew Eric personally do the negotiating with him. I would soon find out Eric wasn't going to show up on the day he was supposed to start shooting. I had several days notice with Johan. Rodney's agent told me about his deal about two weeks before production. Bryan Waller is a different story altogether and one that I'll never understand. We had one hell of a day where the hotel we had set up at backed out on us the night we were to start shooting there. Then, while Dave Thomas and I drove around looking for hotels to make deals with, I got a call from a guy who had said he'd pick up Bryan, except he flaked out at the exact time he should have been leaving. I drove to Kansas City at a very fast speed in the middle of a storm with Dave Thomas and I in reasonably cheerful moods. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and sat around, wasting our valuable time. Waller showed and it was obvious that he was some kind of rich snot that would be trouble on the set. We are poor filmmakers, to say the least, and we were taking an enormous risk. We didn't really have the money to make a movie or to drive ten hours to the middle of Kansas. We were just guys who all wanted the same thing and we came together to do it. There would be sacrifice among all of us, and it's a bond that still stands among us. However, Waller had a different personality. His first comments to us involved getting him ahead of schedule so he could go to a concert. Long story short, he would soon bail. On a good note, he did pay me forty dollars.
The drive back to Pittsburg, Kansas, our main location, was a long one. Dave and I don't remember much, but I don't think either of us will ever forget that day. It was horrible and Dave kept talking about how everything was going down the tank. I was upset, very upset, but it was more because of the hotel situation. When Bryan Waller stepped out of my truck, I told Dave something like "I don't want him." Granted, it took me a few minutes to get it to click in Dave's head, but I think he was right there with me when I mentioned his attitude. To make a long story short, we had lost our hotel and one of the lead actors. What else could possibly go wrong?
Monday turned out to be the day where Brock Short and I would chase down the woman with the biggest bottom in history so we could find out if our lead actor was coming or not. As it happened, David Lawson and I would be roaming around Wal-Mart in Pittsburg when we came across the woman we had been hunting. She told us about several funerals she had to attend, but that everything was okay with the actor. Later on, I got a message from her saying that the actor wasn't coming. Now we had lost a hotel and two lead actors.
Most people would probably have folded their cards here, but it had been a project on tap for too long to fail now. We moved the cast around so that the guy tapped to play an unnamed gang member was now playing "Dave." This wasn't a hard decision, since Dave Thomas and I had both wanted him as "Dave" from the beginning. However, he had to be back in Minnesota to do a play and we didn't want to rush the schedule. Nonetheless, we didn't have much of a choice. Brock and Rist were set in their parts but David Lawson was moved from "Mute Boy" to "Josh." I called David several months earlier and warned him to learn the parts for both "Mute Boy" and "Josh." I would then take on the role originally written for me, "Mute Boy."
The main cast was set and I had a couple of cameos set up that would knock the socks off the cast and crew. I knew several of them were fans of one actor in particular, and it was an actor I had talked about since the beginning. However, a small film called Bubba Ho Tep would cause me to lose not one, but two cameos. Then Campbell Cooley had to undergo surgery, leaving another role open. I was able to replace Cooley with "Maniac Cop" Robert Z'Dar, and would later replace one of the cameos with the great Joe Estevez.
One of our most notable cameos seems to be comedian Bruce Baum. Very few people fail to recognize him, and the way we got him tends to make people laugh. I was on the phone with my good friend Mike Schmille, who also subbed for us by playing another gang member, when he mentioned the fact that he was going to see Bruce Baum at a local stand-up club that night. We just happened to be filming a scene that was supposed to have a cameo in it the next day. I drove quickly to my house and picked up David Lawson, a rising stand-up comedian, and we headed off to see Bruce Baum. While in the truck, I called the owner and asked about tickets and then mentioned the movie. In turn, the owner helped us out and mentioned it to Bruce Baum. After the show, Bruce came over and looked briefly at the script. I remember telling him it was "the funniest script you'll ever read," causing David Lawson to glare at me. Bruce kindly did the cameo as he sat at a table with Mike Schmille, David, myself, and the real "Brett," while at a nearby table was a wannabe actress who had flaked out on us.
Although, casting and securing locations ended up being a major problem on the shoot, we still managed to survive through financial problems, casualties, missing people, friends not coming through, and crazy rednecks. Problems piled up, but we seemed to be able to either solve them or shake them off. We had survived the shoot, but now we have to finish the damn thing.
Our current problem is editing. The first idea was to have the director and I edit it along with a hack editor, but the director decided he had to return to the United Kingdom. The idea of the director editing it sounded logical, but there was the problem of different formats, and we'd also have to get a $5,000 camera to send over to him. So, the obvious choice was to turn to an editor who had sworn to get it out by, well, by the time I wrote this. In turn, I would help produce a film of his. As it turns out, I produced his film, but he was unable to deliver a simple trailer for Mob Daze in several weeks. So I called Robert Z'Dar and asked if he just happened to know someone. As it turns out, he did. Now I'm eagerly waiting to see what happens with it.
As it turns out, I'm glad some people actually wanted to make a movie bad enough that they'd actually show up and stick with it. I know most of the cast and crew struggled to stay on board during the shoot. However, we stuck with it, and now we have a film that no one can take away from us, good or bad. As for scraping together a cast at the last second, it seemed to turn out well. Robert Z'Dar, veteran of over seventy-five movies, called the cast the best he had ever worked with. He boasted on several occasions about the cast, and his business manager would later give me the same feeling. In the end, we had the best possible cast, both talent and personality-wise. Hopefully, the movie will be the same as I try to drum up as much advance publicity as possible, and also prepare for a small theatrical release.
Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Six Cotton Balls (Or How to Make Your Own Show)
Submitted by Kian Ahmadian
I was standing in my kitchen, when I looked down at six cotton balls stuck to a piece of white paper on my counter. They didn't work as art and had been there for months. Suddenly, and slowly, names began to occur to me, and individual personalities began to form. It was then that I realized I had a show to do, called Meat Insomnia.
The first step in making your own show is having a good idea. Ideas are the most mysterious piece of the puzzle. They can't be manufactured - but when you have a good one, you'll know it.
The second thing you need is a collection of smaller ideas for stories. In the beginning, murky pieces will come to you, but the better you get to know the characters, the setting, and the atmosphere, the more stories will come out from around every corner. Now it's your responsibility to organize all this into individual episodes that will flow and work in a satisfying way.
The third part is finding the right actors for the roles. I was lucky - my actors had been living in my kitchen for months; all I needed to do was work on impersonating their voices. Being able to look at and hear your actors at work will lead to even more ideas. Some things won't work, and will have to be thrown out, while new and better things will come naturally in the form of "accidents," as the best things in life always seem to do. Nevertheless, it's all gravy.
Now it's time to make the show! When you're working with actors without audible voices, you may need to pre-record the dialog. In my situation, I drive over to the all-new Evil Troll Studios in sunny Southern California, where owner, operator, and engineer Paul Calder is happy to lend his expertise. Paul records my dialog sessions onto a hard-drive, using Digital Performer, one character at a time. The tracks are then burned onto a CD, and imported to an audio editing program, where they are broken down line by line.
The fourth step is the filming itself. Although most sitcoms are filmed in traditional three-camera setups, when you're working on a small budget, and your actors can't move, a single digital video camera would seem the way to go. Scenes may be shot in sequence, or character by character, whatever feels right for the mood of the show. Footage can then be transferred into a computer, using a method such as firewire, for use with a digital editing program, such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro.
This brings us to the fifth step, editing. The great part about non-linear editing is that picture, dialog, sound effects, and music can be moved and shaped easily and with freedom. Thoughts are able to flow. Things suddenly begin to take shape, and each episode blooms, right there, in front of you.
So that's it. That's all there is to it. You can see the fruits of my labor for yourself at www.meat-insomnia.com. Meat Insomnia just started a run of eight episodes, with a new episode premiering every Friday night. Totally free of charge, of course. So check it out, and see the show spawned from six cotton balls stuck to a piece of white paper.
I was standing in my kitchen, when I looked down at six cotton balls stuck to a piece of white paper on my counter. They didn't work as art and had been there for months. Suddenly, and slowly, names began to occur to me, and individual personalities began to form. It was then that I realized I had a show to do, called Meat Insomnia.
The first step in making your own show is having a good idea. Ideas are the most mysterious piece of the puzzle. They can't be manufactured - but when you have a good one, you'll know it.
The second thing you need is a collection of smaller ideas for stories. In the beginning, murky pieces will come to you, but the better you get to know the characters, the setting, and the atmosphere, the more stories will come out from around every corner. Now it's your responsibility to organize all this into individual episodes that will flow and work in a satisfying way.
The third part is finding the right actors for the roles. I was lucky - my actors had been living in my kitchen for months; all I needed to do was work on impersonating their voices. Being able to look at and hear your actors at work will lead to even more ideas. Some things won't work, and will have to be thrown out, while new and better things will come naturally in the form of "accidents," as the best things in life always seem to do. Nevertheless, it's all gravy.
Now it's time to make the show! When you're working with actors without audible voices, you may need to pre-record the dialog. In my situation, I drive over to the all-new Evil Troll Studios in sunny Southern California, where owner, operator, and engineer Paul Calder is happy to lend his expertise. Paul records my dialog sessions onto a hard-drive, using Digital Performer, one character at a time. The tracks are then burned onto a CD, and imported to an audio editing program, where they are broken down line by line.
The fourth step is the filming itself. Although most sitcoms are filmed in traditional three-camera setups, when you're working on a small budget, and your actors can't move, a single digital video camera would seem the way to go. Scenes may be shot in sequence, or character by character, whatever feels right for the mood of the show. Footage can then be transferred into a computer, using a method such as firewire, for use with a digital editing program, such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro.
This brings us to the fifth step, editing. The great part about non-linear editing is that picture, dialog, sound effects, and music can be moved and shaped easily and with freedom. Thoughts are able to flow. Things suddenly begin to take shape, and each episode blooms, right there, in front of you.
So that's it. That's all there is to it. You can see the fruits of my labor for yourself at www.meat-insomnia.com. Meat Insomnia just started a run of eight episodes, with a new episode premiering every Friday night. Totally free of charge, of course. So check it out, and see the show spawned from six cotton balls stuck to a piece of white paper.
Tuesday, May 15, 2001
No Budget Nightmare
Submitted by Natalie McRae
I came into the film industry completely by accident. Last January I was finishing up a class in music production and was setting up my career to follow that path when my teacher asked if I would help out with an independent film he was involved in. The production manager he hired was busy with another project for the first part of shooting and they needed someone to fill her position in the meantime. I took the job without hesitation, thinking, "How hard could this be?" Well, it was a lot more work than I expected, but I loved it. There were dozens of picky details to look after, a few tense moments before and during shooting, and, of course, the long days - or nights, in our case. We shot through the night for two weeks. It was totally fun, and we had a great group of people. I learned so much and hoped that I would get another chance to work on a film.
My opportunity came about a month after we finished the shoot. In mid-March I was reading a local arts paper when I saw an ad for a director's assistant and a production assistant on a local indie film. No pay, but I was anxious to work on another project and build on my resume a bit. So I met with the director and was hired as his assistant.
I was impressed with him at first. He is a very high-energy guy and genuinely enthusiastic about his script - two important qualities, I think. However, right off the top he talked about doing his movie for no money. He told me about all the people he knows who were happy to donate their time, skills, and property to him. Then he asked me if I wouldn't mind finding funding. That was a bit of a surprise, but I looked into it and found a few places that might give us some grant money. One source had an April 2nd deadline which gave us just over a week to put together all the paraphernalia they required, so we were a bit rushed. Still, it was all packaged up on time except for the required clip of any previous work the director had done. That is where everything stalled. The director said that he was just going to send the application in without the clip, and I told him it was no use - they would just toss his application in the trash without it. So he said he wasn't going to bother sending it in at all, then, because he didn't feel that he had anything worthy. After that episode he returned to his stance of doing the film with no budget, and he told me the legend of El Mariachi.
Next up was the cast and crew meet-and-greet and script read-through. It was scheduled to be held at a local media co-op, which we scoped out one afternoon. The director planned to use the co-op's A/V equipment to show some clips from scenes he had shot in the fall. Where was this footage when we were applying for the grant? He also planned on serving appetizers, which we went shopping for a couple of days before the meeting. His idea of appetizers was a tray of the large muffins from Costco, which he planned to cut into quarters. I told him that I was against that idea, but he said that's what people had to expect when they're working on a no-budget movie. I disagreed and suggested that maybe his girlfriend, who is doing the catering for the shoot, could cook up a dinner for everyone since the meeting was from 5-9pm. But he didn't agree, and we left Costco with the muffins.
At this point I was getting uncomfortable with his approach to the actors and crew. He was intent on the point that he was going to do this film for no money, and I felt he was taking advantage of everyone's generosity with their time, talent, and equipment.
But the meet-and-greet and read-through turned out to be a fun evening. The director had forgotten to get the keys to the media co-op, so we moved the meeting to a local tavern. It was a really lovely place, and we had the entire top floor to ourselves, complete with a fireplace and sofas. The director paid for a couple of pitchers of Coke, except for five dollars worth when one of the actors chipped in. I was amazed when the director took the five dollars, but it furthered his point about spending no money on the movie.
A few days later, the director asked me to come with him and one of the actors to go location scouting. I picked the director up at work at four-thirty and we met up with the actor and were on our way. We drove around the city for five hours, stopping here and there so the director could videotape the areas and discuss the scenes that would be shot there. Then he said he was done and wanted to go home. No food, no drinks. Just a very theatrical, "Thank you so much for your time and patience and goodnight." My stomach was not impressed. If I ever work on a movie for free again, I am going to have a contract stating that I am to be fed every three hours. And I'm going to charge for mileage.
I also need to mention that, while we were driving around, the director was asking the actor if he could get a plane to do some aerial shots for a couple of the scenes. The actor explained that his pilot's license had expired and he had to pay $500 and put in a few hours in the air with a supervisor to renew it. The director asked if he could come up with a camera while the actor was putting in these hours, and they could do the aerial shots for free, since the actor needed to fly anyway. To my amazement, the actor said he'd see about arranging that with the supervisor.
Following that debacle, several administrative issues started coming up. As we approached the first day of shooting and were getting everything ready I brought up the subject of insurance. The film involves several stunts, as well as borrowed high-end vehicles and sound and video equipment. The director avoided talking about insurance until I told him I was going to phone around for quotes. At this, he launched into a tirade about how our society has become rampant with lawsuits, and how ridiculous it all is. I agreed, but pointed out that although everyone is his friend now, that would not be the case if someone got hurt or if equipment got broken. I also said I was not willing to be held personally liable for anyone's safety, nor for any damage to the equipment.
It was then I told him that I no longer had time for his project. I did find someone to take over my job, and warned her about things that needed to be addressed - like the insurance. Hopefully she has better luck than I did, though I don't see the movie being shot any time soon.
As for me, I'm currently without a project, though I have signed on as a permitee with the Director's Guild and have put in some time with them. I do enjoy the work - it's a fascinating industry and I've met so many really talented and interesting people, and learned so much. I can't wait to have another film to work on, though you can be sure I'll be a lot more cautious about signing up.
I came into the film industry completely by accident. Last January I was finishing up a class in music production and was setting up my career to follow that path when my teacher asked if I would help out with an independent film he was involved in. The production manager he hired was busy with another project for the first part of shooting and they needed someone to fill her position in the meantime. I took the job without hesitation, thinking, "How hard could this be?" Well, it was a lot more work than I expected, but I loved it. There were dozens of picky details to look after, a few tense moments before and during shooting, and, of course, the long days - or nights, in our case. We shot through the night for two weeks. It was totally fun, and we had a great group of people. I learned so much and hoped that I would get another chance to work on a film.
My opportunity came about a month after we finished the shoot. In mid-March I was reading a local arts paper when I saw an ad for a director's assistant and a production assistant on a local indie film. No pay, but I was anxious to work on another project and build on my resume a bit. So I met with the director and was hired as his assistant.
I was impressed with him at first. He is a very high-energy guy and genuinely enthusiastic about his script - two important qualities, I think. However, right off the top he talked about doing his movie for no money. He told me about all the people he knows who were happy to donate their time, skills, and property to him. Then he asked me if I wouldn't mind finding funding. That was a bit of a surprise, but I looked into it and found a few places that might give us some grant money. One source had an April 2nd deadline which gave us just over a week to put together all the paraphernalia they required, so we were a bit rushed. Still, it was all packaged up on time except for the required clip of any previous work the director had done. That is where everything stalled. The director said that he was just going to send the application in without the clip, and I told him it was no use - they would just toss his application in the trash without it. So he said he wasn't going to bother sending it in at all, then, because he didn't feel that he had anything worthy. After that episode he returned to his stance of doing the film with no budget, and he told me the legend of El Mariachi.
Next up was the cast and crew meet-and-greet and script read-through. It was scheduled to be held at a local media co-op, which we scoped out one afternoon. The director planned to use the co-op's A/V equipment to show some clips from scenes he had shot in the fall. Where was this footage when we were applying for the grant? He also planned on serving appetizers, which we went shopping for a couple of days before the meeting. His idea of appetizers was a tray of the large muffins from Costco, which he planned to cut into quarters. I told him that I was against that idea, but he said that's what people had to expect when they're working on a no-budget movie. I disagreed and suggested that maybe his girlfriend, who is doing the catering for the shoot, could cook up a dinner for everyone since the meeting was from 5-9pm. But he didn't agree, and we left Costco with the muffins.
At this point I was getting uncomfortable with his approach to the actors and crew. He was intent on the point that he was going to do this film for no money, and I felt he was taking advantage of everyone's generosity with their time, talent, and equipment.
But the meet-and-greet and read-through turned out to be a fun evening. The director had forgotten to get the keys to the media co-op, so we moved the meeting to a local tavern. It was a really lovely place, and we had the entire top floor to ourselves, complete with a fireplace and sofas. The director paid for a couple of pitchers of Coke, except for five dollars worth when one of the actors chipped in. I was amazed when the director took the five dollars, but it furthered his point about spending no money on the movie.
A few days later, the director asked me to come with him and one of the actors to go location scouting. I picked the director up at work at four-thirty and we met up with the actor and were on our way. We drove around the city for five hours, stopping here and there so the director could videotape the areas and discuss the scenes that would be shot there. Then he said he was done and wanted to go home. No food, no drinks. Just a very theatrical, "Thank you so much for your time and patience and goodnight." My stomach was not impressed. If I ever work on a movie for free again, I am going to have a contract stating that I am to be fed every three hours. And I'm going to charge for mileage.
I also need to mention that, while we were driving around, the director was asking the actor if he could get a plane to do some aerial shots for a couple of the scenes. The actor explained that his pilot's license had expired and he had to pay $500 and put in a few hours in the air with a supervisor to renew it. The director asked if he could come up with a camera while the actor was putting in these hours, and they could do the aerial shots for free, since the actor needed to fly anyway. To my amazement, the actor said he'd see about arranging that with the supervisor.
Following that debacle, several administrative issues started coming up. As we approached the first day of shooting and were getting everything ready I brought up the subject of insurance. The film involves several stunts, as well as borrowed high-end vehicles and sound and video equipment. The director avoided talking about insurance until I told him I was going to phone around for quotes. At this, he launched into a tirade about how our society has become rampant with lawsuits, and how ridiculous it all is. I agreed, but pointed out that although everyone is his friend now, that would not be the case if someone got hurt or if equipment got broken. I also said I was not willing to be held personally liable for anyone's safety, nor for any damage to the equipment.
It was then I told him that I no longer had time for his project. I did find someone to take over my job, and warned her about things that needed to be addressed - like the insurance. Hopefully she has better luck than I did, though I don't see the movie being shot any time soon.
As for me, I'm currently without a project, though I have signed on as a permitee with the Director's Guild and have put in some time with them. I do enjoy the work - it's a fascinating industry and I've met so many really talented and interesting people, and learned so much. I can't wait to have another film to work on, though you can be sure I'll be a lot more cautious about signing up.
Tuesday, May 08, 2001
The Enemy Within: British Guerilla Filmmaking
Submitted by by Peter Courridge
Introduction
My name is Peter Courridge, one-half of Telsa Productions. The other half is Peter Davis. We are both students at the East Norfolk 6th Form College (ENSFC) in Norfolk, England. This is the story of how we created our film coursework The Enemy Within. It is basically a ninety-second trailer done in the style of the gangster/thriller film conventions. We hope it'll provide an amusing insight into student filmmaking. Without a doubt, it was a memorable production for reasons both amusing and frustrating.
The Plot
A lone man is on the run. He has been given a briefcase and has no idea of the contents. He is then kidnapped, watched, and chased by gangster style agents. It couldn't be a bigger cliché if we tried! Usually Telsa's productions are entirely original material. But in this case we had to "recreate conventions" and therefore accept no responsibility for the overwhelming "cheese" factor of our production.
The Cast and Crew
Peter Davis and I wrote, directed, edited, and produced The Enemy Within. Mike Dicker stars as the man with the briefcase and Phil Thompson is his accomplice. Agents include Ross Smith, Adam McGee, Nathan Lacey, and Phil Hill.
The Shoot
Hostage Scene - April 5, 2000
At lunchtime, Peter Davis, Mike Dicker, Ross Smith and I filmed the kidnap sequence in a science lab. The science lab was equipped with blackout blinds. Mike sat on a stool in the middle of the dark room. Peter Davis pointed a single light down on Mike while I filmed Ross doing the interrogation. However, Ross, is actually harmless and pointed that out to Mike during a take: "Please don't do that because I am actually weak. I have about as much anger in me as a piece of cardboard that's been chewed." Everything went well, until next week.
Castle Shopping Mall - April 12, 2000
I got permission from the local shopping mall in Norwich to film there for a day. But before we even got there, things started going wrong.
9.55 AM - Leaving College
Peter, Ross, Mike, Phil, Adam, and I, along with our friend Sarah, who came along for the ride, set off from college to the Yarmouth train station in costume with our bags and camera cases. Our train was due to leave at 10:20 AM. Unfortunately, our bus was late and we arrived minutes after the train left for Norwich.
10:25 AM - Stranded
The crew was now stuck at the train station for an hour until the next train came. To save time I decided we should film while waiting for the next train. The first shot, in the men's bathroom was a scene where Adam, Nathan, and Ross had to kick in the stall doors. By the time the first shot was complete, Adam had broken his shoe and Mike had purchased some condoms. We were all a little excited, especially Adam, who couldn't stop firing his gun. He even asked the woman at the ticket office if she'd like to be in our film. Naturally she declined. As we discovered later, it wasn't a good idea filming there.
11:25 AM - On the Train
Another not so bright idea: filming on a train full of passengers. I thought it would make for a good shot. But the conductor stopped us, and rightly so since we had no permission. We said no more about it until we reached Norwich.
11:45 AM - Norwich Station, Reported
At the Norwich station I asked the same conductor if we could shoot here. It was our intention to do a couple of shots before we moved on. He made our situation clear. We had been reported by the woman at the Yarmouth ticket office for carrying "authentic firearms." These were cheap cap guns. Besides, who were we kidding? It was obvious we weren't real gangsters. The conductor claimed we were close to having the police waiting for us at Norwich. Whether this was true I have no idea. I said no more about it and got everyone to hand back their "authentic firearms" before proceeding to the Castle Shopping Mall.
12:05 PM - Castle Shopping Mall
Events went smoother for a while. Filming in the mall was interrupted by the occasional security check, but largely we were left alone. Except when Adam attracted some unwanted attention in the shape of two large middle aged ladies. I felt very cautious looking around the balconies. We were attracting a lot of attention. I didn't want to lose any equipment while filming. Thankfully, Sarah kept an eye on our bags while we ran around filming. Our chase sequences looked good, with one minor defect, Ross can't run. After a couple of hours we packed up and went to KFC.
3:30 PM - Home, Disaster
We took two cameras with us. To my complete horror, the main Hitachi camera had not recorded a thing, with exception of the bathroom scene back at Yarmouth. A whole day of footage was lost. I called everybody to break the news. Mike and Peter were still both in good spirits.
The Re-shoot - May 2000
With the re-shoot, we couldn't go back to Norwich, so made use of the local harbor. Nathan Lacey now had full-time job and Adam McGee was on vacation. So we ended up replacing them with Philip Hill. The re-shoot went well except when Mike jumped over a concrete wall and sprained his ankle. We also had a lot of fun trying to get Mike, to say his one line. He had to dangle the briefcase over the harbor edge and say "tell me what's in this." Simple enough but here's how it turned out on camera:
Mike Dicker and Peter Courridge are both giggling.
PETER
Ssh. You can't do it can you?
MIKE
Yeah.
PETER
Alright. Alright. Go for it then.
MIKE(quietly)
Tell me what's in this.
PETER
That's pathetic.
MIKE
Ah, f*** you. Tell me what's in this.
PETER
One more time, louder!
MIKE
F*** sake.
PETER
Louder, come on!
MIKE(grits teeth)
Tell me what's in this.
Philip Hill(mocking in the background)
Tell me what's in this!
PETER
Don't grit! Just Shout!
MIKE
TELL ME WHAT'S IN THIS!
PETER(lighter tone)
That's good, excellent, well done.
The Aftermath
Happy days! Of course it was all done in good spirit. I hope this has given some insight into the world of "guerilla" filmmaking. It's obvious, we still have a lot to learn. Since The Enemy Within was completed, Peter Davis and I formed Telsa Productions and have been making short films ever since. Now we stand at a crossroad in our lives. University. But with any luck there'll be more films made before we actually have to get a real job.
Introduction
My name is Peter Courridge, one-half of Telsa Productions. The other half is Peter Davis. We are both students at the East Norfolk 6th Form College (ENSFC) in Norfolk, England. This is the story of how we created our film coursework The Enemy Within. It is basically a ninety-second trailer done in the style of the gangster/thriller film conventions. We hope it'll provide an amusing insight into student filmmaking. Without a doubt, it was a memorable production for reasons both amusing and frustrating.
The Plot
A lone man is on the run. He has been given a briefcase and has no idea of the contents. He is then kidnapped, watched, and chased by gangster style agents. It couldn't be a bigger cliché if we tried! Usually Telsa's productions are entirely original material. But in this case we had to "recreate conventions" and therefore accept no responsibility for the overwhelming "cheese" factor of our production.
The Cast and Crew
Peter Davis and I wrote, directed, edited, and produced The Enemy Within. Mike Dicker stars as the man with the briefcase and Phil Thompson is his accomplice. Agents include Ross Smith, Adam McGee, Nathan Lacey, and Phil Hill.
The Shoot
Hostage Scene - April 5, 2000
At lunchtime, Peter Davis, Mike Dicker, Ross Smith and I filmed the kidnap sequence in a science lab. The science lab was equipped with blackout blinds. Mike sat on a stool in the middle of the dark room. Peter Davis pointed a single light down on Mike while I filmed Ross doing the interrogation. However, Ross, is actually harmless and pointed that out to Mike during a take: "Please don't do that because I am actually weak. I have about as much anger in me as a piece of cardboard that's been chewed." Everything went well, until next week.
Castle Shopping Mall - April 12, 2000
I got permission from the local shopping mall in Norwich to film there for a day. But before we even got there, things started going wrong.
9.55 AM - Leaving College
Peter, Ross, Mike, Phil, Adam, and I, along with our friend Sarah, who came along for the ride, set off from college to the Yarmouth train station in costume with our bags and camera cases. Our train was due to leave at 10:20 AM. Unfortunately, our bus was late and we arrived minutes after the train left for Norwich.
10:25 AM - Stranded
The crew was now stuck at the train station for an hour until the next train came. To save time I decided we should film while waiting for the next train. The first shot, in the men's bathroom was a scene where Adam, Nathan, and Ross had to kick in the stall doors. By the time the first shot was complete, Adam had broken his shoe and Mike had purchased some condoms. We were all a little excited, especially Adam, who couldn't stop firing his gun. He even asked the woman at the ticket office if she'd like to be in our film. Naturally she declined. As we discovered later, it wasn't a good idea filming there.
11:25 AM - On the Train
Another not so bright idea: filming on a train full of passengers. I thought it would make for a good shot. But the conductor stopped us, and rightly so since we had no permission. We said no more about it until we reached Norwich.
11:45 AM - Norwich Station, Reported
At the Norwich station I asked the same conductor if we could shoot here. It was our intention to do a couple of shots before we moved on. He made our situation clear. We had been reported by the woman at the Yarmouth ticket office for carrying "authentic firearms." These were cheap cap guns. Besides, who were we kidding? It was obvious we weren't real gangsters. The conductor claimed we were close to having the police waiting for us at Norwich. Whether this was true I have no idea. I said no more about it and got everyone to hand back their "authentic firearms" before proceeding to the Castle Shopping Mall.
12:05 PM - Castle Shopping Mall
Events went smoother for a while. Filming in the mall was interrupted by the occasional security check, but largely we were left alone. Except when Adam attracted some unwanted attention in the shape of two large middle aged ladies. I felt very cautious looking around the balconies. We were attracting a lot of attention. I didn't want to lose any equipment while filming. Thankfully, Sarah kept an eye on our bags while we ran around filming. Our chase sequences looked good, with one minor defect, Ross can't run. After a couple of hours we packed up and went to KFC.
3:30 PM - Home, Disaster
We took two cameras with us. To my complete horror, the main Hitachi camera had not recorded a thing, with exception of the bathroom scene back at Yarmouth. A whole day of footage was lost. I called everybody to break the news. Mike and Peter were still both in good spirits.
The Re-shoot - May 2000
With the re-shoot, we couldn't go back to Norwich, so made use of the local harbor. Nathan Lacey now had full-time job and Adam McGee was on vacation. So we ended up replacing them with Philip Hill. The re-shoot went well except when Mike jumped over a concrete wall and sprained his ankle. We also had a lot of fun trying to get Mike, to say his one line. He had to dangle the briefcase over the harbor edge and say "tell me what's in this." Simple enough but here's how it turned out on camera:
Mike Dicker and Peter Courridge are both giggling.
PETER
Ssh. You can't do it can you?
MIKE
Yeah.
PETER
Alright. Alright. Go for it then.
MIKE(quietly)
Tell me what's in this.
PETER
That's pathetic.
MIKE
Ah, f*** you. Tell me what's in this.
PETER
One more time, louder!
MIKE
F*** sake.
PETER
Louder, come on!
MIKE(grits teeth)
Tell me what's in this.
Philip Hill(mocking in the background)
Tell me what's in this!
PETER
Don't grit! Just Shout!
MIKE
TELL ME WHAT'S IN THIS!
PETER(lighter tone)
That's good, excellent, well done.
The Aftermath
Happy days! Of course it was all done in good spirit. I hope this has given some insight into the world of "guerilla" filmmaking. It's obvious, we still have a lot to learn. Since The Enemy Within was completed, Peter Davis and I formed Telsa Productions and have been making short films ever since. Now we stand at a crossroad in our lives. University. But with any luck there'll be more films made before we actually have to get a real job.
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