I was having a conversation recently with a friend I hadn't seen in awhile. I was telling him about William's Lullaby and how long of a process it has been and how eager and excited we are to finish. I had mentioned to him how I had started writing the first draft of the script, then called Ducklings and Swans, when I was 17. He was confused by this. "It was different when you wrote it, right?" he asked. I explained to him that the crux of the story, the majority of it and especially the last 10 pages have stayed the same over the last five years. Again this baffled him. "When I was writing scripts at 17 they were about not knowing what to do after high school or the girl I had a crush on," he explained. He couldn't figure out where I would draw the inspiration from to write about parenthood and specifically the woes of being a single parent, especially after I further explained to him that my childhood was hardly Dickensian and I had been raised by two loving parents.
While the inspiration for William's Lullaby came from something far deeper than the simple father/son relationship that is portrayed on the surface the idea to bury the thesis in the framework of a father/son relationship came from many cinematic inspirations over the years.
Going back to 1979, there's Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman
A very emotional film following the struggles of a recently divorced man fighting for the custody of his son.
Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks showed a father/son relationship under strained and tense circumstances...
But one of the classic father/son imageries of cinema for me comes from Mr. Charlie Chaplin himself in, The Kid...
If you are feeling a little nostalgic when it comes to film after a night with The Oscars, lucky for you, Chaplin's entire masterpiece is available on Youtube:
The father/son relationship has been portrayed in films since the very beginning. And I think it's because there is something quite special in that relationship -- a child's desire to be like his father, a father's passion to give his son a better life than his own. William's Lullaby and the films I have listed above all portray fathers who are thrust into single parenthood, sometimes unwillingly and coping with it under heavy circumstances. Whether I wrote this at 17 or 25, single or married, parent or not, I don't think really matters. In William's Lullaby Thomas is written as a man who, although trying to understand his role as a father, really is lost -- and in some ways child-like himself.
There's something incredible about imagining the potential of a child, not yet tainted by the outside world. At a certain point, a parent can no longer protect their child from being hurt, from hurting others or themselves. It's with this idea that William's Lullaby begins.
N.
What are some of your favourite father/son moments in film? Comment below!
This week, we're taking a look at the casting process of William's Lullaby and what it was like for us to be first introduced to Toby Bisson, Richard Roy Sutton and the rest of our cast.
But first... We have begun colour grading William's Lullaby and it is incredible the difference it makes. I am very excited with how it is turning out and I thought I would share a little "colour test" with you to give you an idea of the subtle differences that alteration in colour can make to a scene.
Rewind the tape to May, 2011 and we look back at William's Lullaby in its infancy. We began a casting call for William's Lullaby in Toronto and Kingston (where we planned on shooting the film) using print media, radio ads and online casting calls. At that point, all other roles had been cast either internally or, in some cases, prior to pre-production even starting. We were specifically looking for our two leads; Thomas and William Splinter. The result were numerous video submissions from actors and non-actors across Ontario.
From videos and online auditions, we moved on to casting in person and saw nearly 50 people for both leads. We were looking for something very specific in both characters. Both had to be likeable and sympathetic to an audience; and furthermore they had to be believable as father and son.
In walks young Toby Bisson.
Toby will correct me on this (because the difference IS a big deal) but I believe he was six at the time of auditioning for us. He had caught our eye earlier when a video was sent in to us of him dancing to the entirety of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" (air guitar and all) with a closing line of: "I'm Toby Bisson and I want you to pick me for your movie." In truth, he had won our hearts from that point on. And that feeling was further reinforced when we met him in person. He is the William on the page and demonstrated both a youth and maturity beyond his six years that would be required to take on a project of this scope.
This was Toby's first movie role and for those of you that have been following us on FACEBOOK or TWITTER, you know that he has been doing extremely well ever since.
Later that same day, Richard Roy Sutton owned the room and who knew at the time that these two would soon be playing father and son. Well, we did. Very quickly too.
Richard brought with him credentials, experience and tools as an actor with many credits to his resume, a full reel and a previous video audition in which he had already read scenes from the script.
Richard's read was without a doubt the best we had heard. I recall Alex McLean, our co-producer (who read opposite Richard in his audition) commenting after he left the room: "He stared into my soul!"
Two days later and after many hours of auditions and discussion, we made the calls and Toby Bisson and Richard Roy Sutton joined the William's Lullaby team. They became a part of the pre-existing cast that included Kingston's Partners in Crime duo, Ila Lawton and Robert Lawton in the roles of Collette and Peter, respectively. Amy Healey (who also sat in on casting) as the gracious and motherly kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gibson. Peter Nielsen. Sandie Cond. Marc Veno. Gabe Meacher. Calvin Rea. Braedon Da Silva and many others.
Upon completion of the script, we had thought the roles would be impossible to cast and indeed they were our biggest challenge in the process (a five-year-old involved in intense scenes and carrying a feature-length film is not easy to find). But we had found our Thomas and William in Richard and Toby. And if we were excited with them then, our reaction after shooting the film in August 2011 was one of absolute glee and confidence.
It seems appropriate that this week we take a focus and look at music in film, and specifically, film scoring. I had a great session with William's Lullaby composer, Paul Barton this weekend. He has laid out a score from beginning to end and it is now about fine-tuning what is there and adjusting some of the works, but he is definitely rounding home on what is a monumental achievement for a young musician -- a complete, feature length film score!
And it really is beautiful. I can't wait to share some of it with you. Paul has perfectly captured the tension, mystery, beauty and tragedy that is William's Lullaby. How do you express grief through music? How do you describe the innocence of a child and contrast that with the jaded reality of an adult through musical phrases? Paul's done it. I feel confident in saying that I think it's really going to blow a lot of people away and I hope this turns out to be a big opportunity for Paul in the future. He has certainly put forward the effort.
As I write this, however, I find it hard to describe the working relationship between a Director and a Composer. In all honesty, it is quite a difficult process to come up with the score for a film. It's very difficult and rather strange to describe music that simply does not exist yet, and to try and have working discussions with another collaborator based on that. A lot of it comes down to expressing feelings and emotions, but that can be dangerous too. You can be too on the nose with a score and that is something we tried very hard to avoid with William's Lullaby.
I love music in film. I think it can make or break a film. Music can save a film that is headed for disaster. It can elevate to a level beyond what it was originally capable of. It can also ruin a potentially good movie. Wrong cues, over-scoring, under-scoring. It's quite a delicate process. It's no wonder so many young filmmakers gravitate to copyright music for their film projects -- only to be discouraged when they find out they can't use it. The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" adds just that perfect amount of spark, cheeky sarcasm and intensity to a scene about slimy Wall Street business dealers. Although Glee seems to be a little trigger happy with their iPod now, that opening scene in the pilot set to Earth, Wind and Fire's"Shining Star" had just the right kind of attitude to introduce you to a new set of characters. Or how about the brilliant use of Crystal Blue Persuasion in the latest episode of BREAKING BAD?
Or this unbelievable use of The Rolling Stone's "Thru and Thru" in The Sopranos:
I think Scorsese is brilliant with his use of licensed music, from the very beginning with Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore:
To his incredible choices of music cues in Goodfellas. Note this scene where with one music cue, one perfectly paced push-in and the brilliance of De Niro's silent acting, we quickly realize everything going through this character's head:
But using pre-existing music is all well and good. And there will be a touch of that in Lullaby. Those songs evoke feelings of their own and using them in a scene is a great way of making your audience feel a certain way based on that song. There has to be a reason you paid thousands of dollars for it, right?
What about an original score? That's tricky. We're now talking about music people have not heard yet; music that audiences will not have a pre-exisiting connection with; music that should not over-state or under-state a scene. I found this brilliant round-table discussion with the 2012 Oscar nominated film composers. If you have the time to watch it, or are able to play it in the background while you do your laundry, cook or read this and other articles, I recommend it:
These are the big guys! The masters. They usually stand before an orchestra of 100-200 musicians, in front of a gigantic screen projecting the picture-locked film which they play along to. An example of an orchestral film scoring session can be seen here:
Paul doesn't have the luxury of an orchestra like that. Our scoring sessions, and his work-flow is similar to the scoring of the Oscar-nominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild. It's quite incredible what technology can do now. Take a look:
Lots of surprises to come with the music of William's Lullaby. We are working hard to make it a very powerful and visceral experience for you, the viewer.
First a little update. Mike Whissell and I met with Toronto foley artist, Devin O'Haire last Monday and had a good in-depth discussion about what the film needs and how we can give it the finished polish we're looking for. Things are looking up. And it's game on. Together, the three of us laid out the ground-work for a solid timeline to finish the film completely -- picture, sound, everything. I won't tell you exactly what that timeline is, because anything can change and we won't compromise the finish of the film if it means taking more time. However, we have what we believe is a solid time-line to complete William's Lullaby with certain milestones to hit along the way.
Foley will begin in about a week. For those of you reading this who are unaware about the process of Foley in film, I found this interesting video from my alma mater Vancouver Film School explaining it all. It's quite fascinating the amount of work that goes into sound design and creating everything that you hear in a film. Even a drama. We'll be venturing into this soon. Take a look. Or a "listen":
Second thing I wanted to do in this blog was provide access to some of the amazing write-ups that have been done about us in the last couple of weeks. Buzz is slowly but surely starting to build and people are beginning to hear about William's Lullaby from different sources of information. And there's plenty more to come. This is just the beginning.
FROM "THE TORONTO FILM SCENE"
"Toronto filmmaker Nicholas Arnold's latest endeavour 'William's Lullaby' has entered the sound-design stage of production and to get your anticipation up, they’ve just released a teaser trailer. Shot in Kingston, Ontario this past August, the film features a cast and crew of Kingston and Toronto-area artists and is aiming for completion in time for the 2013/2014 festival circuit... READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
FROM "(RE)SEARCH MY TRASH"
"Your upcoming movie William's Lullaby - in a few words, what is it about? Well, what can I say without giving anything away? In a nutshell, William's Lullaby tells the story of Thomas Splinter, a newly single father struggling to raise his five-year-old son. Thomas fears his abilities as a parent but makes a strong effort to build on his relationship and get his life back on track... READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
FROM CKWSFM.COM
"Nick’s latest independent film “William’s Lullaby” was made right here in Kingston in the summer of 2011, and will soon be able to be seen on the film festival circuit starting later this year. The movie stars two gifted Kingston actors, Richard Roy Sutton (“SICK”, and Lifetime’s “A Nanny’s Revenge”), and seven year old Toby Bisson (CTV’s “Saving Hope”, “Mikka”, and “Cracked”). The entire cast and crew are from the Kingston/Toronto area... READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
FROM KINGSTON THIS WEEK
"William's Lullaby, an independent feature film shot here in Kingston, has launched an online teaser campaign that has piqued the curiosity of many indie film lovers. A one-minute trailer has been released on major social networking sites, and is already creating a buzz. In one version of the dialogue-free video, viewers are shown snippets of a man...READ FULL ARTICLE HERE Pgs. 18, 40
Many thanks to Lindsay, Mike, Dave and Tricia for those great write-ups. Also thanks to all those who have retweeted us, mentioned us and plugged our teaser on Twitter. There's more to come so do check back on our social media sites as we begin to reveal more about the film.
WANT TO HELP PROMOTE?
If you would like to write about William's Lullaby and would like to request an interview with any of the cast or crew or would like access to promo materials for your blog, website, media outlet, please don't hesitate to contact us at williamslullaby@gmail.com
Lots of stuff happening with our cast and crew, as well as the film itself. To keep track of everything that's going on, make sure you're "plugged in" online!
Welcome back! Mike and I are headed into preliminary meetings this week with a foley artist who has worked on some great films here in Toronto. Hoping to get the wheels rolling on that in the next few days. Still prepping the film for colour correction and currently deciding on the right colourist/colour grading house for our needs. Some exciting updates regarding music -- but I'll save those ;) More on all that later!
This week, I'll take another step outside the world of William's Lullaby (don't worry! Plenty more updates/trivia/stories from set/teasers to come!) and fill you in on what's going on around me in the world of film. A lot of my colleagues/friends are busy creating some pretty brilliant things of their own and I thought now would be a great time to let you know what they're up to. Some of these projects have a direct connection to William's Lullaby and I'll include that information below. So here we go:
Pretty Pieces - dir. Leigh Ann Bellamy
Leigh Ann, a Kingston-based filmmaker, writes, directs and stars in this short piece and I was lucky enough to see a preliminary cut of the film a few months ago. This has been a passion-project of hers for quite awhile and is based on a play which she also starred in. She adapted the script and shot the film in October of 2011. It is now making the festival circuit rounds.
A story of two people who desperately crave what the other cannot give.
William's Lullaby connection: Amanda Shaw served as Co-Producer on William's Lullaby. A few months later she worked as the set-dresser on this film.
Kenneyville - dir. Brooks Hunter
Kenneyville has been finished for some time now, but it's an important one to include on here. Brooks Hunter directed this tense thriller in 2011 as a metaphor for mental illness and the drugs/medication used to combat mental illness. Brooks seems to have also mastered the art of making a low-budget film look like it was made for more money than it cost to make the thing. The film is a pretty entertaining ride and certainly has its scare moments, but it's even more interesting once you read between the lines and discover the metaphor buried underneath the horror. Kenneyville is now available on iTunes: Buy Kenneyville Now
William's Lullaby connection: Stephen Lee served as Location Sound on both Kenneyville and William's Lullaby.
SICK - dir. Ryan M. Andrews
Sick just had its premiere here in Toronto at the Blood In The Snow Canadian Film Festival this past November and is a throw-back to the classic 70s horror in which character development and story took precedence over cheap scares. Andrews even mentioned films like The Exorcist and The Shining as well as TV series like The Walking Dead in his opening introduction. Sick is a huge collaborative effort from the Toronto indie film community and is definitely worth a watch.
William's Lullaby connection: SICK stars Richard Roy Sutton as Seph. Richard also takes the lead as Thomas Splinter in William's Lullaby.
Dana - dir. Mark Drewe, in collaboration with Tommy Chang
I've been looking forward to this one for awhile now. Dana is a short film that looks at an abusive relationship and what one man will do to protect his best friend. Dana is wrapping up post-production and should be popping up around film festivals soon!
William's Lullaby connection: William's Lullaby'sRichard Roy Sutton plays an aggressive and antagonistic role as Dave in this short.
The Golden Hour - dir. Jason R. Gray
Dana is a nice lead-in to Jason R. Gray's short as it is mostly the same crew, although different production company. This is a major passion project for Jason. He released the teaser trailer on 12/12/12 at exactly 12pm. Set to a beautiful cover of Blue Moon it's quite riveting and this will be one to watch for on the festival circuit.
Tension(s) - dir. Vincent Lecrocq
This action-thriller stars Louis Mandylor as an ex-negotiator of the Boston Police Force who is taken hostage in his own home. And it looks like it will live up to its title! I met these filmmakers following their shooting of this film and had the pleasure of story-editing a new script of theirs. I am quite looking forward to this one coming out.
William's Lullaby connection: Once again, William's Lullaby star Richard Roy Sutton plays opposite Louis Mandylor as one of the hostage-takers.
21 Shorts - A Kingston Collaborative Effort
I'm including this venture on here because I think it's quite an interesting idea. 26 short films from a variety of Kingston filmmakers shot in 26 weeks. This initiative is spear-headed by Kingston local Eric Ferguson and really is a fascinating idea. I believe they started shooting these in August and over the course of the next few months will continue to shoot one short film a week. This is true collaborative filmmaking and should provide a rich platform for the filmmakers of Kingston going forward.
Taking a moment to look out West, Vancouver actor and filmmaker Josias Tschanz tells a deeply personal story in this award-winning feature film which has been seen everywhere from the film festival circuit to the IFC.
Friends in Dark Places - prod. Paolo Malo
Still out West, Paolo Malo is racking up credits in the industry, working in every department from camera, cinematography, producer to director. This short film looks quite chilling. It was produced by Paolo and the cinematography is by him as well. It also stars the brilliant Flora Karas (also a Vancouver actress), who you may recognize from my short film, The Boy Who Knew which is featured in last week's blog post.
The Path - dir. Emily Jenkins
Emily is a force to be reckoned with. A Ryerson University student, she has produced, directed, edited, written, PA'd projects all outside of her school work-load. She even worked on Kenneyville featured above. She is churning out gold and along with Leigh Ann Bellamy, these are two strong women in film. This short film comes from Glass Eye Pictures a Ryerson University based production company.
Mikka - dir. Alexandre Carrière
Mikka has already been making the short-film festival rounds and is doing extremely well. At the OFF-COURTS Film Festival in France, Alexandre won for Best Quebec Director. The short film stars, Roc Lafortune as a dying man who, through a series of flashbacks, relives the last few hours of his life.
William's Lullaby connection: Toby Bisson graces the face of Mikka's poster and takes the title role. He also takes the title role in William's Lullaby.
Silent Retreat - dir. Tricia Lee
Silent Retreat is described as a quiet horror film, with very little dialogue as it is actually set at a silent retreat. This film looks quite haunting and is a unique way to tackle the horror genre. Keep your eyes out for this one.
Teach'er - dir. Cody Campanale
This award-winning short film comes from Cody Campanale, a prominent force in independent film in Toronto with a vast list of credits.
Solo - dir. Isaac Cravit
Solo is a new independent thriller from Director, Isaac Cravit, starring Degrassi's Annie Clark. It received some media attention during production here in Toronto -- and Degrassi fans will likely be keeping their eyes peeled for this film about a teenage girl, terrorized as she spends two nights alone on a remote island as part of her camp counsellor initiation.
William's Lullaby connection: William's Lullaby co-producer Amanda Shaw serves as Wardrobe Supervisor on this film.
21 Brothers - dir. Michael McGuire
This Kingston-made and Canadian-based WWI film currently holds the title of "Longest Single Shot Film in History" in the Guinness Book of World Records. The producers built the trench used in the film by hand, an effort that took over three months. This film is an incredible achievement and certainly puts Kingston on the map for record-breaking filmmaking. Worth a watch!
So there you go, folks! A look at what's going on with filmmakers past and present in the Canadian, independent industry. As you can see it's a big, small world! There's more I could be posting but this list is already getting quite long. So for now, check out the films listed above and support.
I remember seeing The Sixth Sense in the summer of 1999. It was the drive-in double feature. I was nine years old. First billing was Inspector Gadget for us kids, which we were likely to fall asleep to. I was still awake when it finished and what followed was a film that got under my skin and has stayed there ever since.
I never ended up making it through that first viewing. After a chilling scene in which young Haley Joel-Osment meets an unexpected midnight visitor in his kitchen, it was decided (most likely based on our white knuckles) that this film was not appropriate for young kids -- or rather me, as my siblings were likely asleep. It's true. The film had traumatized me. But there was something about it that stayed with me, and though I had only seen an hour of the film, I could not shake what I had seen. To this day, I'll admit that the hairs still stand up on the back of my neck if I'm walking into a dark kitchen in the middle of the night.
It may have been a year or two later, maybe even less, when I was finally able to convince my parents to allow me to see the film in its entirety. Seeing The Sixth Sense from beginning to end was when I realized that a horror film can be more than just a horror film; that a ghost story can be about more than just the ghosts; that the reason why this film scared me went beyond some of the frightening sequences it featured.
I have since watched The Sixth Sense hundreds of times. I've read the screenplay over and over, and know the story by heart. A lot has been said about M. Night and I'll be the first to say that, along with directing one of the best films I've ever seen (The Sixth Sense) he's also directed one of the worst (The Happening). But whether The Sixth Sense was a one-hit wonder, or a fluke, or not -- it is a gem of a movie that I believe will remain a classic much like The Omen or Rosemary's Baby. And it has greatly influenced my filmmaking.
The haunting atmosphere, colours and even music in my short film The Boy Who Knew are inspired by the overall design and feel of The Sixth Sense and I watched M. Night's masterpiece quite a bit during my directing research for that film.
Even The Boy Who Knew features an ending (although much more subtle) in which the protagonist, alone, comes to a revelation which brings the story together -- much like the over popularized ending of The Sixth Sense.
For me The Sixth Sense is on my list of influential films because of how well it executes a very real theme through the horror/thriller genre. I love films that have a supernatural edge to them but are based in reality -- and this is The Sixth Sense through and through. The film, in a nutshell, is about a young boy who has the ability to see the dead. What the film is really about is communication -- amongst the living. Who can forget this unbelievably powerful scene. It has been a long time since a "horror/thriller" has featured incredible writing/acting such as this [MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ... although not the big one]:
The film is riddled with symbolism and moves at such a steady pace. It knows where it's headed and as an audience member you feel like the storytellers are in complete control of their masterpiece.
I'll talk about quite a few films that have inspired me in this blog, but from a creative writing and directing stand-point, it's safe for me to say that The Sixth Sense is one of my greatest influences.
Hopefully we'll be able to post exciting updates on the progress of the film very soon. Mike Whissell (sound designer) and I are still hard at work fine-tuning some of the more intricate details of the film. Mike and I are itching to get a foley session going which will happen soon -- and we'll post an update once it does.
Paul Barton is progressing with the score and doing a fantastic job. I had the opportunity to meet with him in Kingston, ON over the holidays and heard a good chunk of what he had been working on. I am incredibly excited to share it with all of you. Those who have spoken to me in the past know how much music in film is important to me. And this film is no exception. It is called William's Lullaby, after-all.
This week, I wanted to take a moment and talk about how this all started in the first place. I will start off by saying that I think every artist has "their way." I don't believe there is a right or wrong way of going about creating art. I guess I'm saying that because I don't want to make it seem like I am putting myself on a pedestal as an 'expert.' In these blogs, I can only say what has worked for me as an artist.
Took a few days off this past week to work on an small outside project. While I did, I learnt a lot about the importance of prep and planning and it got me thinking about the beginning months of Lullaby.
Naivety was my best friend as a young filmmaker. Truly. Having that childlike naivety as a teenager is what allowed me to tackle some of the daunting projects I did back then. When I was fourteen-years-old I had the audacity to think I could make a feature length film with a cast and crew of over 100 people by the time I graduated school. Any film instructor would tell me today that in order to do so I would need a budget in the hundreds of thousands, a professional crew, gear, training etc... in other words, they would give me limitations. And on some level, they are right. Those are some of the things you need to produce a professional piece of work. But where there is a will, there is most definitely a way. And when you find you are restricted with your resources, planning becomes your best friend.
See, I was stubborn. Back in 2004, I hadn't made a dramatic film before, let alone a feature. A few docs here and there and a multitude of backyard films starring my siblings, sure. But nothing of this magnitude. Yet, I refused to take no for an answer and despite people telling me to start small, I committed to creating The Vicious Circle -- a feature length film on bullying and hatred.
I may have been naive, but I wasn't stupid. I had an inkling of how daunting this project was and knowing this, I gave myself the time to pull it off right. Four years really. When a merry band of high-school go-getters and I finally brought the project to life in our tenth grade year, we cast the film over a period of two months... 6 whole months prior to shooting it in the summer of 2006. During those 6 months we rehearsed heavily with our cast and planned every detail of the shoot, so that when July 1st, 2006 rolled along we were ready.
Waylon Baur and Anthony Kinsella in a 2006 rehearsal for "The Vicious Circle."
Of course, we were still kids. Things still fell apart, we made tons of mistakes, but we managed to pull through and premiered the film on September 28th, 2007 to a sold out room in Duncan McArthur Auditorium in Kingston, ON.
Actor and Musician, Jim Patterson, speaks at the 2007 premiere of "The Vicious Circle"
Had we not planned -- truly done our homework -- over the course of our making of the film, I think The Vicious Circle would have fallen apart for good and never seen the flicker of the silver screen.
A film about kids, made by kids -- that was always the goal, and that's how the film will forever remain. Of course now that I have gone through school, learnt about filmmaking and begun to hone my craft through other projects, there are times when I look at The Vicious Circle and re-cut it in my head, even re-shoot it with more purposeful cinematography. I re-write the script in my mind. But I'll never touch it. Though it may not be a great showcase of my skills today, it is a wonderful time capsule of where I was creatively at age 15, as well as what being a teenager is like through the eyes of teenagers -- quite literally (only fifteen/sixteen-year-olds peered through that lens.) And I like to think that there's something quite powerful in that.
Of course, pictures are always better than words. Here's a fun video that showcases the achievement of a group of teenagers, who did their "homework," and pulled off something memorable.
In the years since, I have directed more, worked on numerous projects and learnt more about my craft. Part of the reason I am so excited about Lullaby is that it truly showcases where I am at today with my filmmaking and storytelling. It is beyond what I have done before, professionally and creatively, and this again goes back to strategic homework and planning.
Between 2010 and 2011, it had been about a year and I hadn't directed anything. I did one quick short to keep my brain working, but other than that -- nothing. There came a point where I had to ask myself what I was doing -- what was I waiting for? I had a script. One that I had written while still in High school. Surprisingly, when I asked myself if I felt I could direct that script tomorrow, the answer was 'yes.'
So what was I doing??
I was allowing $$$, $$$ to get in the way! Looking at the script again, I realized that, although being a complex story, it didn't require much to bring to life -- small cast, minimal locations. I looked back over an email Mike had sent me in 2008 when I wrote the first draft of the script. His email read:
"Nick, I just read the screenplay, I think it's great. I would love to work on it -- I don't know how we're going to do it. We'll need to do a lot of planning, but someway we'll make it work."
That's the spirit!
Ensuring that, years later, Mike was still on-board, I took the plunge and in January 2011 committed to shooting William's Lullaby in late August. In the meantime I would plan and do homework like I never had before. Although William's Lullaby was already raking up dollars double that of The Vicious Circle, we still had to think creatively and economically with our pre-production.
One thing I did for the first time on this project, and will now continue to do for the rest of my directing career, is storyboard. I have storyboarded scenes/sequences in the past before, but never the entire film. Because I knew we would be shooting the film with little resources, a small crew, and a jam-packed schedule, storyboarding every shot of the film was, for me, an exercise in patience and truly helped me study every word of the script I had written. I was thinking about every shot of the film months prior to being on set. When the time came for me to stand and direct, I would know my script like the back of my hand. I would reach this level of understanding through hours and hours of storyboarding as I prepared for shooting.
The result was an enormous binder filled with over 400 frames. It became my bible on set. I would walk around with it and use it as a constant resource for myself and my actors. If ever there was a question as to why we were doing a certain shot, what it meant in the grand scheme of things, or what was ahead visually -- it was answered in the storyboards. Having done this much homework also allowed me to improvise on the day, if ideas came up from cast or crew or we wanted to try new things. I was comfortable enough in my planning to know when to be adventurous and try something risky.
This experience was invaluable and the result, I feel, is a meticulously-put-together film that is purposeful and well thought-out. I will storyboard again and again, on every project I direct, no matter how big or small. Perhaps I'm just a visual guy -- but this way of planning really works for me.
Of course, I could go on and on, talking about planning and homework. I could talk about re-writes, for which there were many. Rehearsals. Wardrobe/camera tests. Set sketches. Camera schematics etc... and perhaps I will down the road.
Bottom line is, when you are against the odds with a project that seems larger than life or perhaps unattainable and beyond your means, giving yourself the time to strategize and make it happen is the key to success -- for me anyway.
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