2011 – FIN!
It is hard to describe a 15 year build up of expectation. Part of me swore up and down the film will be finished, while another part looked upon the matter dubiously. Surely there was some reason why it wouldn’t be done this year, or even the next year. Who was I fooling?
Drew had done some work on the sound, but because of my modest payment, I realized this could easily turn into a year project for him. I realized this when he actually said it. So what was to be done? What was another year on a 15+ year project? That thought kept me up at night. I needed a deadline.
In February, I invented a deadline of April 30th. I waited for Drew to start laughing or yelling, but he didn’t seem too concerned. Upon consulting with Steve, he said we could reserve two screens at Living Room Theaters where he worked. May 12th would be our screening date for cast/crew/friends. It’s a nice modern theater nestled in the middle of downtown and serves good and cheap international eats (www.livingroomtheaters.com). If that put me a little on edge, ordering 250 invites with the May 12th date printed on it, put a dark pit of panic in my stomach.
On the weekends Steve and I hunkered down in the bowels of Mission Control, making a last pass through color. Steve also had a hefty list of FX shots to complete. One effect was the special POV of the creature. We had plenty of discussion on the matter, but no firm consensus on what it would look like. Now it was time to produce. Here is what Steve came up with:
Before
After
As we moved toward the end of March and into April, Drew finally began to express apprehension. He was a perfectionist and didn’t want to cut corners. In addition to balancing our sound levels and fixing bad portions of dialogue, he was designing the creature sound. However, we didn’t have much time for tinkering and I was biting my nails pondering the many ways disaster could present itself.
With the deadline looming, Drew was doing wonderful work. The dialogue levels were becoming uniform. The various layers of the creature sound were being built. After listening to his first draft of a major creature scene, I stopped worrying. Here’s a small sample:
At 2:30am on May 12th, after Steve had just finished soldering wires together in order to make our second theater capable of 5.1 Surround Sound, the two of us sat alone in the theater and watched our movie on the big screen for the first time. If there was a problem, we wouldn’t have time to fix it, so we were both a mess of exhaustion and worry.
We managed to get to the end of the movie with only one flaw. One scene had two of the same shot right in a row. Oh well. It would seem a little odd to the audience, but very minor. We both could live with it (it would be fixed later).
I drove home just before dawn, like I had done many times before when we had worked late at Steve’s house or at Mission Control. But this time I was going home with the movie essentially finished. As the streetlights flickered past, I reflected on random events over the past decade and a half: chasing my brother though the streets with a camera, nearly being hit by a bar owner, wrapping up extension cords that had been pulled through pools of piss, all night shoots struggling to finish before dawn, the many faces that came and went, but mostly the ones that stayed the longest and believed in my project: Steve, my parents, my brothers, Brad, Kristen…
The next day I arrived at the theater at about 5:30pm and was met by everyone I knew. It was as if I had shown up to my own funeral. It was awesome. All these people had heard me tell of the movie I had been working on for years upon years. Now they were about to see my finished film. It was a monumental night for me and I was going to savor every moment.
At 7:00 Steve and I gave an introduction in the first theater, briefly talking about our long journey and thanking the big contributors: Tomas Hradcky, Pedram Shohadai, Brad Goodman, Kristen Brown, Drew Canulette and the co-owners of Mission Control – George Mitchell and Mike Quinn.
At 7:15 the movie started and Steve and I headed over to the second theater and gave another introduction.
Between the two theaters we had 120 people watching the film. As both screenings ran, Steve and I moved from theater to theater gauging the audiences’ reaction throughout. It was the most fun I had had in some time. The movie played well in both theaters. I don’t think the night could have gone any better.
Here a some pics from the premiere:
Dad and my brother Tim, who played Monkey in film.
My brother Jeff, who plays Sully in the film. And David.
David and Steve
The day after the premiere, I gave my two week notice at the space station. I had never met my boss in person. She was just a voice on the phone or an Instant-Message entity. As my fellow employees talked in hushed tones about the Indians taking over, I sent my “imminent separation” email and happily counted down the days until I was finally free.
I write now from Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City. I spent the summer organizing a list of film festivals and preparing DVD’s (with Steve’s help). There are many all year round and I’ll be submitting to the ones I think might accept us. Most cost at least $30 to enter, so I am being discriminate in the ones I choose. It’s enough for me that the film was finished, but it would be really nice to see some success for it on the festival circuit.
It’s 12:15 AM and I am riding my motorbike through unfamiliar streets in Saigon. I take rights and lefts at random for a time, then try to find my way back home. I am in no hurry. The streets are clear, cool air massages my face, and the alien architecture illuminated by street lamps captivates me. There is a story out here somewhere. And one of these nights I will find it.
Only this time it won’t take me 15 years to make.
