Take a moment and read some of these pretty interesting stories.
What benefits do you see from digital filmmaking?
Digital filmmaking is expanding creativity by putting filmmaking into hands of filmmakers other than the major studios. Slowly audiences are beginning to appreciate the excentric and unique aspects of low budget films. Gaining exposure to this audience while the digital medium is still young is very exciting.
There are not many digital film festivals for feature films. ‘Resfest’ is about the extent of it.
What problems do you see with digital filmmaking?
Digital film demands its own film festival. The low budgets involved can’t compete with the higher “low budget’ features made with film. Though high-tech in nature, digital filmmaking is actually a grass roots type movement, where literally anyone with an idea can make a film.
There is still quite a bit of film snobbery in the film festival market. Maybe it was deserved when VHS was the best consumer medium. Digital has raised that bar (as it pertains to video quality) and will likely raise the bar every year. Eventually, anyone who wants to, can afford to rent or buy high definition equipment and shoot a movie with equal quality to what the big studios produce today.
Where did the inspiration for your film come from?
I was living in a loft with my mother (I was young and poor – leave me alone). Digital video didn’t exist then but I wanted to make a film. I thought, “Why not shoot a 35mm film and have no edits? This would save production costs.” I set to writing a script where a camera is left on a bookshelf in my mother’s loft apartment and the actors play the scenes in front of this camera - like a play. There would be no pans, no edits (except wipes – since a film magazine is only 10 minutes).
The script was terrible. Years go by and every once in a while I break it out to clean it up. Originally it was called “Pointed Noses”. There was no murder, the characters were bland, and there was no plot.
I moved out of my mother’s apartment and began to base one of the characters on my new roommate. I also add the murder. With no camera movement I had to do something dramatic. I added plot. My mother still lived her loft, so I didn’t change the location.
The script reminded me or the film ‘Rope’ by Hitchcock. “Oh well” I think, “What else am I going to do?” What else can happen using one location? I wasn’t worldly enough to write about relationships. Heaven forbid! I resolved to ignore the Rope similarities and make my script the best that I could. Regardless, my script only had one thing in common with Rope - the murder at the beginning. Oh yeah, and the single shot, and it takes place all in one house. But there’s no party and Jimmy Stewart isn’t in it. So,
there! It’s completely different!
Everyone who reviewed the script didn’t believe the Nick character even though I was quoting my ex-roommate verbatim. He was horrible. He’d say and do the most horrible things but always have two or three women show up during the week. It was my duty as a writer to get it all down for prosperity. Now people were telling me that none of it was real???
I put the camera on a steadicam and toned the Nick character down. Everyone was much happier but somehow I felt cheated.
The new complaints were about ‘time’. “ Does the pizza guy take 35 or 45 minutes? How soon to the police arrive? Is that enough time for the murder to do X and Y?” It was very difficult to get an opinion that didn’t relate to when things happened. I have to give them credit - the film had no scenes and was one camera move. Reviewers weren’t used to this, which must have been why they were so concerned about ‘time’.
Last year (2001) I submitted the screenplay in the HBO Greenlight competition. The screenplay didn’t even make the top 250. The reviewers who rated the screenplay thought it couldn’t be made for under a million dollars and that the Nick character was unbelievable.
Aaaaaaa! Leave Nick alone! He’s done nothing to deserve this!
How did you fund the production of it? Government support? Self financing? Difficulties obtaining finance?
I mortgaged my house and spent $35,000 on the film. Later, I sold the camera and Steadicam. This brought the film’s actual cost to $18,000(US).
I had just been laid off from a software company in Seattle (no, not that one). Getting a creditor to refinance my house was a huge problem. I only had a few months of savings and the refinance came in at just about the time that my bank account went completely dry.
Eventually I found a mortgage company which financed my house. They sold the note to a bank which had turned me down a month before.
What support programs are offered to emerging independent filmmakers in your local area?
Media Arts Center in Seattle is the place most independents start. http://www.911media.org/ I am a member, but I have not used their services which mostly include production and rental services at a reduced rate.
What difficulties did you have while shooting? What advice did you learn from this experience which you can pass on to aspiring filmmakers?
I didn’t have enough gels (window tinting) for the windows. The problem with a lack of gels is that during the day I couldn’t get the interior of the house bright enough to match the light levels of the outside. My solution was to put the windows at 3 stops over-exposed and let the interior go dark.
Seattle is usually overcast in winter. I counted on this when I bought the gels. Of course, the first day of shooting was a bright sunny day. The days would be bright then overcast. It made for some pretty severe differences in aperture settings.
I’d put the gels up and take them off the windows. This took three hours to do (there were lots of windows). I tried to keep the camera off the windows as much as possible. This would resolve some differences in color temperature throughout the day. I wasn’t about to put up another layer of gels to keep the levels constant as the cloud cover changed. I simply didn’t have a big enough crew.
But, I got it to work.
My advice is to test, test, and test again. Know what you’re up against before you start shooting. If you’re renting a camera – rent it a week before and test it. Testing saved me several times, and almost all my close calls were related to ‘what was possible’ vs. ‘what the camera’s literature said was possible’. The limitations of equipment aren’t what it says on the box. You have to use you own eyes and ears to judge the look and feel you want. Testing is the only way you’re going to achieve something different.
Otherwise, if it’s different… it’s called an accident.
What other films have you made?
I’m made lots of music videos and some shorts. They’re all for my own entertainment, and half of them are not my own music. Legally I don’t think I’m allowed to show them. This is my first feature and the first thing I’m showing to an audience.
Were there any technical issues that arose during filming which altered the script or story in any way? How techniques did you have to employ to overcome this?
Certainly! Several:
The script was much more murder mystery like. There were clues and misdirected clues all over the place. Problem was – the property person was not very experienced and was much more concerned with arranging pillows than putting props in the right places. Most of the major clues I had to make and place myself. I didn’t bother with any of the misdirected clues / props.
I originally intended for the camera to find really odd angles. In this case, the focus puller was inexperienced. I decided that I’d rather have the actors in focus. I simplified the shots so he could follow focus easier. This was a good decision on all accounts. The severe camera angles would have been distracting to the story. I’m very happy with the way it turned out.
I originally intended to have more close-ups. But there was one problem which I still can’t solve: How to get from a wide shot to a close up without cutting. There were two options: To block with the close-up actor next to the camera or to push the camera in on the actor to a close up. The problem with pushing is that focus changes at an infinite number of points between that start and end position. If the focus goes soft then sharp it looks really bad. If it stays one or the other it’s fine. Since my focus puller
had never been a camera operator before in his life I decided against this option. We were operating from a Steadicam and focus is never static. The only way a push could have done properly is if everyone hit their mark. Of course, that never happens.
Which leads me to the other possible solution: Panning to a near actor. This means the blocking has to be choreographed with the camera. If you knew my cast and the 10 pages a day schedule we were under you wouldn’t do much blocking either. We’d run a rehearsal then start shooting. If I was able to shoot a close-up by chance - I would. I didn’t have time to organize actors into hitting their marks. I was pretty happy if they remembered their lines. We filmed 6 to 8 takes per scene. I’d always ask for two ‘print’
takes before moving on to the next shot.
Any funny anecdotes while shooting?
No. Next question, please. J
Ok, ok. Maybe not funny, but amusing at my expense:
It was a Friday, the first day of shooing. We were planing to shoot 5 pages a day on the weekdays and 10 pages a day on the weekends. The weekday shooting schedule was from 7:00PM to 11:00PM. All the actors had day jobs so I arranged the schedule around them.
I had just helped the gapher (incidentally, this was the only day that he worked) set all the lights for the scene were the Lotus Esprit pulls into the driveway. I also placed scaffolding alongside the driveway so that the camera could hover above the car like a ghost.
I had been there all day setting up for the first day. “Action” It’s a simple shot. The camera moves from a window looks down the driveway in one direction and turns the other way. “Damn!” I see the shadow of the steadicam. “Cut! Hold on” I tell everyone.
It was 9:30PM.
I practice the shot a few more times. “Ok, let’s go. It took about eight tries to get the shot right. I see the assistant camera operator in one, I bump the camera in the other, and the scaffold gets in the shot. I didn’t even have any actors to contend with. I was shooting a damn driveway for God’s sake!
It’s 10:00PM.
With the crews help I moved the scaffold to the other side of the driveway. The actors were ready and I started the shot. The Lotus pulls away from the scaffold and heads into the garage… eight more times.
10:30PM
I’m doing math in my head. “The day started at 7:00PM. It’s now 10:30 and I just completed an eighth of a page. Extrapolate that over time and I get….. I CAN’T DO MATH IN MY HEAD!! Who am I kidding? I need to simplify the problem. If I completed a page a day…. We’ll be done in 110 days. Shit!”
I put the Steadicam down and started to cry. No one knew I was crying, but I was.
That lasted about 20 seconds. “Ok, Marc… you started this project. No one else seems worried. They have faith in you. Just get through this first night and figure it out tomorrow - IN PRIVATE!”
We stayed that night until 1:00AM and got two pages done. It was a bit of a relief from the first two shots, but I did finally manage to get the schedule to 10 pages a day on the weekends, which were the only full days we had.
Are you working on another film at the moment? Can you give us a synopsis?
I’m currently in the process of writing another low budget screenplay. Most of my screenplays are larger budget. I’ve found that if I talk about something I spend more time talking and less time working on it, so I’d prefer to work. Besides, it may be very different from what I describe once I’m done with it.
Could you describe the festival scene in your area for digital filmmakers? Is it highly competitive? How do they operate?
Seattle International Film Festival has had one Seattle film play in their the festival That’s it! One! - Ever! The Seattle International Film Festival is anything but a local film festival. There used to be an Independent film festival here but it no loner exists.
What centres or organisations in your area work to enhance training and work opportunities for emerging filmmakers, writers, directors, etc?
I don’t know of any. Seattle government website has quite a bit of information about filming in Seattle. Seattle really does try to vie for business. All said though, Seattle is in the wake of LA and Canada for film projects. The largest filming community Seattle has had was when Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks were filming. Since then it’s waned to almost nothing.
That is, unless you want to count, “Real World – Seattle”?
Me neither.
Any other comments you'd like to make?
Yeah, don’t tell anyone about the crying incident.
