First Day on First Movie

I hardly slept the night before.  I was so excited.  My wife had bought me a new pair of nice shorts and a golf shirt to match (and they were too nice of clothes to be used on a movie set!).  But it was a good thing to have shorts, because Day 1 of "The Keyman" was September 5, 2000, and it was 106 degrees.  As I write this, it's 99 right now and pretty unbearable.  I think my excitement got me through the heat.  During that time, we were also in one of the longest periods without any rain. 

I showed up at a recently closed hospital on the east side of Dallas.  It was a perfect location for what we had to shoot.  Lead actress Ellen Locy was first up, then second half of the day was Adam Baldwin, who had arrived two days before from Los Angeles.  The interesting thing about this story was that the lead actor and the lead actress had only one scene together and that wasn't scheduled until the third week.

I remember parking and seeing all the trailers.  Wow, when did they park these things?  Little dressing rooms... bathrooms.  How cool is this!

First shot was pretty easy.  Exterior, Ellen in vehicle pulls into "morgue" parking lot.  I had read somewhere that a Directing/Producing team made a tradition out of the producer clapping the first and last shot of a movie's shooting.  So I had our Producer Susan Kirr on hand to clap the first take.  (She did it again on the second movie "A Promise Kept.")  Doug Bruce, the 1st AD, had everyone ready to go.

After a couple of takes, it was time for the next shot.  Exterior car, dolly as Ellen sits in the car having just returned from the morgue.  She's upset and starts crying.  Now, I had read a lot about Spielberg as a director-- he's not an actor.  He "directs" his actors by who he selects in the audition-- in other words, very little directing of the actors.

So action is called and Ellen, sitting in the driver's seat, breaks down and cries.  We finish the take and she asks me "was that enough?"  "Too much?"  A voice inside my head said "how would I know?"  But I quashed that thought.  But the reality was the same... I really didn't know.  So being the brilliant director, I told her I thought it was fine, then said, try one with less.  Then after that take, try one with more.  Directing by bracketing.  Not so brilliant.  Later in the edit, for the sake of time, I cut this scene anyway.

Then we (thankfully) moved inside, out of the 106 degree heat.  We shot some more morgue scenes with Ellen.  Then we shot a big scene with Adam.  What was really cool here was that I was using my three year old son as a featured extra.  (Also later cut-- so yes I can tell people I cut my own son out of the movie).  My wife was on set of course, almost 9 months pregnant with my soon to be daughter.  What I learned then hasn't changed to this day-- she is not impressed by a movie set and would rather be home.  What is magic to many, is mundane to her.  So she doesn't visit my movie sets much.

Last scene of the day was Ellen, after getting beat up, talks from her hospital bed to another actress.  Everything seemed to go okay and we wrapped.  Two days later, dailies came back, and the DP had opened the iris all the way for that last scene to get focus, then forgot to dial it back.  So it was majorly blown out.  That scene got added to a "re-shoot" list and fortunately, we did get back to it.

The first day of "The Keyman."

(BTW, "The Keyman" get your DVD for only $10 at the SFilms store!  Free shipping right now.)

Remembering "The Keyman"

I wanted to make a movie.  I had tried writing screenplays but could never get past page 18.  I hated what I read and would lose heart.  When the idea came for "The Keyman," I was a new father, working at a production house doing commercials and corporate video.  What I discovered in this screenplay was that if I don't read what I wrote, I'd be able to push through.  The real writing, as they say, is in the re-writing.

So in 1998 and 1999, after finishing early drafts with a co-writer, I kept polishing and refining the script, until I got to draft 13.  In July of 1999, I incorporated and created the entity.  In early August, I left the corporate video world and began to focus on getting this movie made.  I remember talking to my first investor, telling him I believed I could have the funds raised in two or three months.

A year later, and I finally have just enough to begin shooting, so we enter pre-production in late July of 2000.  We came close to getting Mark Hamil in the leading role, but he had a conflict come up.  Then we talked to Adam Baldwin, who really liked the script and was eager to play the role.  Adam ended up doing an excellent job.

Another LA actor with the same manager as Adam contacted us about the crazy homeless role.  They sent his demo tape.  I was concerned-- he played mostly detective types and was too cleaned up, as it were, to play a dirty, crazy, homeless man.  But Tom Wright ended up being one of the best surprises in the whole movie, playing "Popeye."

We signed with a distributor in the summer of 2001, and scheduled to go out on the foreign market in October of 2001.  Timing wasn't great, being one month after 9/11.  We did sell to some foreign countries, but for US-- we got told the subject matter was just too sad-- that it wasn't a "Friday night rental."

Later, in an effort to get it out, I renamed it "Finding Redemption: The Keyman," but we still couldn't get a US distributor to back us.  I made a limited number of DVD's that I sell out of my office (if interested, only $10, click here.)

Tom Wright said at a public screening of the movie that this film had a soul.  And I think he's right.  It certainly has touched quite a few people, from the letters and email I receive.  I've been thinking a lot lately what I'm going to do-- and I'm thinking about shooting some new stuff, incorporate with the movie and release it.  When I shot the film originally, the target audience was secular.  But it's all about forgiveness and would be great for the church, but would require a little re-editing.

Plus, we shot in 35mm, and I never made a inter-positive of the print, which I would love to do.  So who knows, maybe we'll release the new version of the movie sometime soon. 

Cam Tech Specs For My Movies

For all the filmmaking geeks out there, here's what we used to make my films:

The Keyman -- Shot on 35mm film using the boat anchor Arri BL4 camera. Heavy, but effective. Remember, as opposed to the electronic world where three years ago is obsolete, the film camera's basic design hasn't changed in like 80 years. We rented our camera, grip and lighting from MPS Studios in Dallas.

As far as special equipment, we used a fisher 10 dolly (the most common in the film industry). I used a crane for the cometary scenes tat open and close the movie. To that point, in my corporate/commercial career, I had used a lot of remote cranes-- it was interesting to use the big cranes that can accommodate the operator and assistant camera on the head of the crane.

A Promise Kept/The Gunman -- For this movie, again we rented from MPS, but we were shooting in Austin. And again, shooting 35mm. Our main camera was the Arri 535 and boy was it nice. Here's a picture of me holding it out of a very small helicopter, shooting the aerial that makes the last shot of the movie. The crew put *two* safety lines on the camera, and *one* on me. Nice camera. On stunts, we sometimes had a B Camera, and it was the BL4. And for the big courthouse, exploding gut scene of Steve Krieger, we had a C Camera, and it was "the pencil sharpener", the Arri 3C.

Here is the 535 pointed towards the lovely Mimi Rogers, who was absolutely wonderful to work with. We had a nice G/L package from MPS in the form of a three-ton package with lots of HMI's. For special equipment, we had the dolly, and for three days, we used a steadicam.

Striking Range -- Back to Dallas, and again 35mm and renting from MPS, we went back to the BL4, but we ran it on a Steadicam almost the whole time. And Big George Neidsen got quite a workout. For some off speed shots, we rented the Arri 435, a MOS camera (seen here with Lou Diamond Phillips). We had both overcranked and undercranked effect shots. We circled a building at 2 frames a second (seen in the movie's opening) while coming out of that at times to slo-motion. I love that effect (which now is easy in Final Cut Pro to emulate.)

Before shooting began, I ran numbers on 35mm versus HD. It was going to cost more for film, but at that point (2005), HD still had a perceived lower value, especially among the foreign buyers. So I chose to stay with 35mm.

The Imposter -- I had shot two cameras for "Inspector Mom" on Lifetime and had really grown accustomed to shooting an A and B camera. Now, HD had come a long way. It was time to try it. I considered the Varicam, but with our budget, I don't think I could have swung the Pro35 adapter for using prime lenses-- which is critical in my opinion. So I talked with Ron Gonzalez, my Director of Photography and put it quite simple: One varicam, no bells or whistles or prime lenses, or two HVX200's with redrock adapters and primes? We both wanted the depth of field of the prime lenses. So that's what we did. And I ran an A and B camera almost the entire time and don't know that I'd do it any different in the future. Ron now has a Red, so I'll have to find a cheap second Red for the next movie.

My favorite camera out of what I used? Well, certainly, the one with the most bells and whistles is the Arri 535. The viewfinder had the Arri glow feature which was novel at the time. It was lighter than the BL4 which counts for something on a 12 hour day. But, even after preaching film over HD for many years, I loved shooting HD. The pictures were better than I thought and the work flow was MUCH easier. And I could shoot and shoot and shoot... With film, there's this pressure as soon as the motor cranks up on the camera. Every foot that flows through the gate is $$$. That pressure was gone for HD.

PSA

I had the fortune to shoot a national commercial, really a PSA (Public Service Announcement) for KidsAndCars.org. They are an organization dedicated to educating the public on the dangers of leaving children in and around cars unattended. I first met up with them back when I made my first feature film "The Keyman." (For those who saw it, you know why).

So this new spot is about the dangers of power windows. Through the years, power windows have led to many children's deaths and even now, with some safety features in place, still results in over two thousand emergency room visits every year.
The big push is to have automatic reverse windows like garage doors and elevator doors. A few automobiles have this feature. While shooting, Kevin Deen, the general manager of North Hills Lincoln-Mercury was kind enough to provide us with a car that has this important safety feature.

Here is the 30 second version. Travis Petty DP, camera is the Red, provided by 12Forward in Dallas. Grip and Lighting by MPS Studios.

Film 102 - The Idea Phase

Okay, so a few days ago I covered a brief overview of the six phases of filmmaking. This little article will go more into depth on phase 1, The Idea.

I do get asked where/how I get my ideas for the movies. Ideas come from a variety of sources and experiences. Usually, I will write the idea down. Then I start chewing on it mentally. Usually for a movie, I'll merge several ideas. I might chew on an idea for years before scripting begins. Usually ideas are generated by the "What if..." question to something I read, or see, or experience.

For example, for my second movie "A Promise Kept," five years before the script, I had a client who's eight year old daughter was abducted from a soccer field and murdered. We did some stranger danger videos back then. But I always asked myself, "what if it happened to me? What would I do?" Also, a few years before, while doing jury duty, I remember taking a lunch and thinking about how they paraded Ted Kaczinski down the steps of their courthouse with a bulletproof vest. I was thinking a head shot and it's over. I combined those two ideas and you'll see them in the movie.

Another example was the first movie "The Keyman." I did something stupid... a mental lapse that ended up being okay. But I asked myself "what if it hadn't turned out okay? What would happen?" That thought process became the script.

A rare, very rare example of a totally different source- one night I had a dream in three acts. I wrote it down. Combined it with another idea I had. Then wrote the script. Right now, that script is being shopped to a studio. You never know.

So now the idea is there, what do I do? When I was first starting to write, I liked the program Dramatica by Screenply Systems. It made me look at structure, plot, character and arcs. Inside and out. Then I like to outline. For me, this step is crucial and I do it on every script. I love Screenplay System's StoryView, but any outline will do-- even Word. In Storyview, I start with roman numerals I, II and III for the Acts. I write a sentence that describes what happens in each act. Then I go to sequences... Here I write out action for what would happen in a sequence or series of scenes. Then I get to scenes inside the sequences. What's great here is that I can use script formatting that will convert over to my scriptwriting software.

When it's all outlined, I export to Movie Magic or Final Draft and begin the actual script. I'm somewhat ADD and need lots of white noise-- so I write best at a restaurant. For a morning writing session, I get there at breakfast and plug in and write until 11 or so. For a afternoon session, I get lunch, plug in and write till four or five. A great day is as many as 20 pages. A normal day might be four or five pages. This is a fast pace-- mainly because it's already been exhaustively outlined. A first draft takes two or three weeks (after a couple weeks of outlining).

But the real writing is in the rewriting. But that ends the Idea phase. Next up is Phase 2: The Development.

Too Much Stuff

Well, I took the last load of office stuff from storage to our new place today. I've got boxes and stuff everywhere. I have a big problem throwing anything away. I've got all the props from all the movies. With each movie, we add a whole lot more boxes.
Special Effects wizard Steve Krieger came over to help some. He said he gives a lot of props to a Dallas Prop firm. But what if I need those props later in another movie? I'd have to pay??
On The Imposter, I did finally reuse a few props. With bringing back Popeye (played wonderfully by actor Tom Wright) from The Keyman (my first movie), I pulled out some props. The old red torn jersey on a stick that makes a flag on Popeye's cart carried the continuity.
And of course "The Oprah." She's been in every movie.
Anyway, boxes everywhere. The landlords are going to give me a small amount of warehouse space so I don't have to throw too much away. It will be nice to have a less cluttered office.

Title Issues

Sometimes I think I'm good with titles. Then I look at the track record. Movie #1: The Keyman. Not a great title, but works. I remember on the set, Adam Baldwin, Tom Wright and I brainstorming other title ideas. But nothing better. Then I renamed it later to just make it feel new to get it out to a new distributor, "Finding Redemption." To avoid confusion, I then made it "The Keyman: Finding Redemption."

Movie #2. PURE MOTIVE. Now there's a decent Friday Night Rental title. I came up with this one because my mentor, Dr. Mike Riggins, had talked about how there is very rarely one pure, solitary motive for doing anything. So I wrote the script Pure Motive and started working on casting. Had a meeting with a BIG TIME casting director (she's casted some of the biggest movies of all time), and she said for low budget indie, she didn't want to do a plot driven thriller. Hmmm... The script isn't really a plot driven thriller.
So I remember driving with Jill up to Colorado and we came up with "A Promise Kept." Much more character driven sounding for getting actors, then for the distributors who want a Friday Night Rental title, we can go back to Pure Motive. Problem was, later distributor #1 didn't pass PM title idea along to distributor #2, so for US video only, APK is "The Gunman" which is wrong on several levels. Oh well. So the movie company was setup as Pure Motive LP, the movie shot as "A Promise Kept" and it's on DVD as "The Gunman."

Movie #3
So I thought I would try wrapping a deep theme into the popular horror genre (for which I know nothing and don't like them, but they're selling). I researched and had a whole blood disease called "Porphyria" that is genetic string going. Called the script "Bloodlines." Then took most of the horror out and made it a low budget action movie more than anything else. Sony renamed it "Striking Range." That's better than Bloodlines anyway. So I had all the distributors go with that title.

Movie #4
I wanted to do a movie about a fallen Christian rock star. And I wanted to do a comedy about a church staff that would employ some of the same elements (flights of fantasy) that "Scrubs" uses. Then I thought I could combine them. I started writing the script and my working title was the Christian Scrubs idea. Then more and more of the comedy and Scrubs-like stuff got cut out. As I neared the end of the first draft, my title was "Son of Thunder." Which incidentally was the *worst* title idea ever Producer Jeff Rodgers quickly told me. But the characters name was Johnny. His bandmate was James. James and John. Sons of thund... oh nevermind.
So the whole movie was about the concept of the word "Believe." How about that as a title? So second and third draft was "Believe." And the movie company was setup during this time (Believe Movie LP). But I didn't like the title. To 60's-ish.
Then as we talked to Kevin about starring, I listened to more of his music and The Imposter was a great song and perfect for the movie. I talked to Kevin and he said he didn't mind. So now the script was "The Imposter."

And we've kept it there. Although I did have a pretty well known Christian filmmaker say that I should really consider changing the title because it gives too much away. Newsflash-- the VO at the BEGINNING, Johnny tells one and all, "*I* was the Imposter." So I think we're okay there.