Shooting the Fury

Posted: July 16th, 2010 | Author: Aaron | Filed under: Green Ferocious | 4 Comments »

By virtue of the name on this website, Mitchel and I are very much interested in filmmaking. After several shorts over the years, we decided it was time to “grow up” and tackle a feature-length film. In late 2009, we began writing the screenplay for what would become “Green Ferocious.” After completing it, there was the obvious feeling of accomplishment, but what followed was an even more apparent feeling of “what do we do now?” After about a week of indecision, we finally came to the conclusion that if we are going to make this movie, we need money, and to get money, we’re going to have to showcase our talents.

Our plan was to create a short film, using two scenes from the screenplay, establishing our main characters and hopefully making something good enough to catch the eyes of potential investors. If all goes to plan, these investors will become totally enamored with our filmmaking genius, and bestow upon us the enormous amounts of money we need to bring our feature length film to life.

Ah, but the path to glory is always fraught with obstacles. Initially we had planned to shoot on June 9th, but after a test-shoot the weekend before, with Mitchel as the stand-in for our lead, we discovered that June 9th was nearly impossible. We still needed to storyboard every shot, fix our dolly track, find out what makeup was needed and an artist to apply it, finalize everyone’s wardrobe, assemble a crew, devise a shot list and shooting schedule, test our camera, finalize our equipment list, cast two more roles, sound-test our mics, figure out how to accurately depict a stabbing on camera, rehearse with our lead, obtain a shooting permit for the scene we would be shooting outside and finish up some graphic design work for a new client of ours. Ever the optimist I suggested June 10th. Ever the realist, Mitchel suggested June 26th.

So we took the plunge and decided we needed some bigger and better toys to play with. So this time around we opted for a Sony EX-1 camera with a Letus 35mm converter and lenses, giant lights, a dolly and more! The funny thing about renting thousands of dollars in equipment is everyone wants you to have a little thing called an insurance policy. Coordinating dates to pick up the camera and equipment is one thing, insuring those items is another. After some fancy dancing on our parts we finally finagled our way into a reasonable insurance policy. However, we then found out that in order to obtain our shooting permit, the city required us to have a one million dollar ($1,000,000) insurance policy; in case we blow up the entire street. Luckily, one million-dollar-policies don’t actually cost one million dollars, but aren’t necessarily cheap for two indie filmmakers with no money.

The day before the shoot, we finally had some decent rehearsals with our lead, squared everything away with our equipment, finalized our crew, shaped my hair into a legitimate flat-top and secured a bar for the first scene of the short….but no permit. So the day before the shoot, we were location-less. Trying to save our shoot, we dug into a bag of old tricks and decided to film at the infamous “abandoned train station”(as seen in 3 out of the 4 films currently on this site) effectively stealing the location. From there, all we could do was hope that local law enforcement wouldn’t spot us and shut down our shoot. As our lead Mike put it “Maybe the fear of getting arrested will provide the tension we need to make the scene seem real.” And oh, there was tension.

On June 26 2010 around 7:30 pm, with our fingers crossed, we loaded up Mitch’s truck and my car with equipment and headed over to the train station. Immediately we began pulling the equipment out of the cars to compose the shots. Mark surveyed the location and directed the placement of the lights as Steve, Ariello Mitchel and I hauled equipment. It took all 5 of us to pull the 45 thousand pound generator out of Mitch’s truck, which Mitch and I miraculously got in the truck ourselves hours earlier. We wheeled it into place and set up the sound deflector Mitch’s dad built for us earlier that day. When Mike showed up we began some walk-throughs and some quick rehearsals to get into character and make sure we knew our lines. It didn’t feel like a real shoot until Mark shouted “striking” and turned on the first light, illuminating the whole parking lot.

As Oranda applied the first makeup I’ve ever worn with what felt like a baby koala bear, Brooke circled, taking pictures. Right on schedule Jon showed up and got into costume. As I spoke with Mitch about the ridiculously loud generator, Oranda came up to me, “So, for Jon’s character, how long has he been dead?” I looked at her incredulously for a moment and told her no more than about 5 hours. With that, she turned and got to work on Jon’s makeup with Brooke’s assistance. As Mark, Mitch, Steve and Arielio finished up the last of the set-up, Mike pulled me aside and basically demanded that we do some actor-oriented relaxation exercises. As Mike made funny faces at me while stretching out his mouth muscles I felt extremely uncomfortable moaning out loud to warm up my vocal chords. Not surprisingly, the vocal warm-ups helped! I was able to project the deep and over-worked voice of Ezekiel, the character I was playing, the whole night, Even when shouting at the top of my lungs.

As Mark and Mitch made the last adjustments to the camera and dolly setup, Oranda announced she was done with Jon. As he turned to look at me I saw a man who had been dead for 5 hours and not a second more. Mitchel and I both looked at Oranda in astonishment. Oranda, you are amazing. Finally, all the pieces were in place and we were ready for our first take. Mike and I got into position, Mark pressed record, Mitch said action…and the generator short-circuited, causing the lights to shut off. Panicking, we all ran to the generator and soon discovered we couldn’t have all the lights on at once for more than about 5 minutes. It took about 15 minutes and 4 full-out sprints by Arielio figure that out. Arielio, you are amazing.

This time, with everything finally in place, we did our first take. Thanks to some rehearsals it went pretty smoothly from there on out. I tend to be a control-freak in these sorts of situations, but with Mitch at the helm I could focus on seriously shaking Mike. However, no matter how many times I heard Mike scream, every time he ramped up for the next one, it took all I had to hold back my laugher. Mike, you are amazing.

The Initial shots took the longest and required Jon to lay in the trunk for extended periods of time. For continuity purposes (and because it was just easier for him to stay there), Jon ended up lying in the trunk for nearly 2 hours straight. Jon has a history of subjecting himself to physical torture (on Mitchel’s and my behalf) and this short was no exception. Jon, you are amazing. Thankfully when that portion was done he was able to enjoy some of the pizza Brooke got delivered to us and nap on his skateboard (something Jon does very well and very often – nap).

Once all the shots outside of the car were done, it was time to move inside the car. First we had to rearrange the lights and it was at this point that I realized the extent of Mark’s cinemagraphic knowledge. He immediately knew where he wanted to place each light, as well as what lenses (in conjunction with Mitch) he would be using for each and every shot. After all the set up was complete, it was pretty funny trying to fit 3 large men and two medium sized ones in one tiny VW (thanks for letting us use your car, Steve). In the end it made more sense for Steve to lower the mic through the sun-roof while standing outside. At one point he even speed-walked alongside the car holding the mic as Mike drove forward slowly to give the impression the car was moving (Steve, don’t worry, your true praise is coming).

Our only major enemy during the whole weekend (other than lack of sleep) was time. Even with all the planning we had done, we were still rushing to make it to the bar by 2 a.m to film the next scene. As soon as we were done at the train station, we jammed everything into Mitch’s truck with pit-crew speed and 6 car caravanned it over to the bar.

Finally reaching the Grand Inn-Bar and Grill in Covina, we once again acted as the “Euphoric pit-crew,” and transformed the bar as best and fast as we could into a film set. Once again, Mark pulled the strings of the light set-up while collaborating with Mitch on what focal lengths would be used for what shots. Setup took about an hour (much to my chagrin) but we were finally ready to go. I surveyed the scene one last time, Brooke took a couple of pictures of my goofy expression, Oranda touched up my makeup once more and Mitchel called action. Luckily, we had rehearsed the scene many, many times and we pretty much had it down. Although, the first time I went to take a drink of my delicious beer, it overflowed and spilled all over my custom jump-suit; just one of those nights.

To make the bar scene look believable, we were in desperate need of some extras. Thankfully our amazing friends Neil and Jerry were kind enough to come to a bar at 2am and help us make a movie, sitting silently in the background pretending to talk. Jerry literally “mime-talked” to Jon until 6 am. Jerry, you are amazing. Sadly, the first night, Neil wasn’t in most of the shots, so he spent the evening asleep in a booth waiting for his scene (but your praise is coming as well).

As the first “night” drew to a close and turned into early morning, we were running short on time. Sadly, I could only go through my lines one time for each angle facing me, for a total of three takes (editing it now, that is not nearly enough). But we had little choice, so around 7am and after a speedy clean-up, we sent everyone home.

After failed attempts at sleeping, Mitchel and I reviewed some of our footage, practiced breaking a bottle once more with Mark, learned how to use the camera-car-mount with Steve and prepare everything else for that coming night. We knew the shoot would go smoother based on the shots we had to cover, but I was worried about the crew’s energy level. All we could do was pack up the truck once more, and head out into the night, hoping for the best.

Despite my fears, the entire crew showed up in good spirits at the train station to get a few shots we missed from the night before. The only real challenge was the use of the inaccurately named car-mount. The mount itself mounted poorly to the hood of Steve’s car and the only way we could get the shot was have Mitch stand on the hood like Spider man and hold the camera, in case it fell. Because of this death-defying stunt, Mike could only go about 12 miles per hour, which was no problem for him seeing as the whole night, despite being told to go faster, he refused to drive any faster to “protect” Steve’s car. Surprisingly, other than that the pick-ups went smoothly and we left for the bar on schedule.

One of the only major adjustments for the evening was that Jerry was unable to make it the second night. With some coaxing, Steve agreed to not only be an extra, but be a full on actor in our slo-mo sequence. Before the shoot, Mitchel and I put Steve in charge of all the equipment in its various locations. So in between takes, he would position the boom, adorn the headphones, check the sound levels, and simultaneously know exactly where each piece of equipment was. At one point Oranda needed scissors to make a “blood-packet,” (a darn good one at that considering we did not warn her ahead of time that we needed one) and I asked him where I would find the scissors. He literally said, “in the front pocket of the black backpack under the table behind the crate that holds the cables…. Steve, you are amazing.

Before we could really shoot the slo-mo sequence we needed a few more extras in the background. Also with some coaxing, we were able to convince Arielio to be the bartender and Jon to be one of the bar patrons. Feeling like we needed one more, Brooke volunteered to sit at the bar as well. Not only did she take great pictures over the entirety of the two nights, secure our food (without food, I am personally useless), cater to Mike’s and my whining the second night, but she sat at the bar for nearly 6 hours in the same exact spot. Brooke, you are amazing.

Finally, with everything in place we began shooting the slo-mo sequence. It went smoothly (no pun intended). We shot the entirety of the sequence without sound, and at times that hindered the believability of the performances. To compensate Neil (our only other professional actor) decided to put some real energy into the takes, including screaming during a few shots. It honestly helped and we soon discovered his energy increased the authenticity of all the takes. Neil, you are amazing.

As we rearranged the bar to prepare for the final shot we were struck by a terrible realization. We forgot the vacuum!! In order to shoot the bottle break and not upset the owners of the Grand Inn, we needed the vacuum. There was no way Mitchel or I could go. But suddenly, a miracle. Megan had come down from Santa Barbara to help us with the shoot and take some additional photos. Not only were her photos also great, she volunteered to schlep back to Mitch’s place and pick up the vacuum. Without her, we would not have been able to shoot the final shot of the movie. Megan, you are amazing.

With the vacuum in hand and all the other shots taken care of, we prepared for the final shot of the movie; the bottle break. It was then, as I watched Mark lifting the seriously heavy camera up that I realized something. Over the span of two nights, everyone had taken a break even if it was for a few seconds. Even I allowed myself literally 1 minute to eat a slice of pizza… but not Mark. After every shot, Mark stopped the camera, surveyed the set, rearranged the lights, repositioned the camera, changed the lenses and shot the next take. Over the span of two nights, Mark never stopped, never sat down, never complained. He knew every inch of that camera (a camera we had never used before) and without him we would not have been able to make the short. Mark, you are absolutely amazing.

As I stood poised with the bottle in hand, everyone knew that we only had one chance to break this bottle and one chance only. Literally everyone held their breath as Mark pressed record, I lifted the bottle, and swung it down with what I hoped to be the right amount of force. Success!! The bottle broke perfectly and stayed intact enough to keep the continuity of the short intact. We were done!!! It was time to clean up and for Mitch and I to return all the equipment.

As we said goodbye to everyone I was a little overwhelmed with pride and thankfulness. I still can’t believe how incredible and helpful everyone was. Our crew, our friends, stood beside us at crazy hours of the night and actually helped make our dream possible. With every ounce of seriousness, Mike, Mark, Steve, Arielio, Oranda, Brooke, Megan, Jon, Neil, and Jerry… you guys are amazing. Thank you. (And an extra thank you to Brooke and Megan for the coffee and breakfast burrito Monday morning…you two are the best!)

Finally, after 4 months, I was allowed to shave my ridiculous beard and flattop, Mitchel was able to get a couple (and I mean a couple) hours of sleep, and he and I were allowed to breathe for about a day.

The next day as we sat in front of Mitch’s computer for the first time and looked at the footage, I took a quick glance over at Mitch; he didn’t break his gaze from the monitor for one second…and that’s exactly how he always is. There are so many reasons for me to be thankful for Mitch, but at that moment, the one thing that stood out to me was his focus on our goals. Sometimes, when I feel crazy for wanting to make movies, or start a band, or start a company, or juggle, or run for president, or take over the world and I begin to doubt what we’re doing….I look over at Mitch and can I see that he’s just as crazy as me and at the end of the day he wants the same things I do. Mitchel, you are okay… I guess.

Check out more images from this shoot here!

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