News about the track came in a few days before production. Apparently, a friend of a friend of a friend taught gym at a high school deep in the valley, and would be willing to accept a bribe of $500 in exchange for unlocking the stadium’s front gate. The hot tub store and the three identical houses were found under similar circumstances, mere days before shooting, though for these we were able to talk the owners into letting us use them for free. Sometimes, if you just ask nicely, people are incredibly willing to do you favors.
The shoot went wonderfully and still with much difficulty. It was at once exhausting and exhilarating, both demanding and rewarding. We had fun and found ourselves pushed to what we felt was, at the time, our greatest possible potential. There was laughter and a liveliness to our days that was, and still is, rivaled by perhaps nothing else in the world. We worked with an ignorance to the outside world and to that which our normal daily lives used to be, and would surely once again become. We raced tirelessly to the end, cramming all that we could into 5 days, surviving off of craft service peanut butter sandwiches and taquitos, and when it was over, we slept with a sense of accomplishment and utter love for the opportunity to be a part of something so undeniably special, an experience that would stay with us forever.
The Stryder Brothers.
After the shoot, by the time reality settled back in and the processing and telecine sessions rolled around, we had become rather seasoned in the whole haggling process. It became very clear that most aspects of filmmaking were negotiable, and we would take full advantage of that. As long as we were honest about our budget (or lack thereof) and could convince people that the project was a noble endeavor with genuine talent attached, we found that even the most expensive line items could be acquired for reasonable rates. We often lied about our phony student status to get better deals, we made up stories to the cashiers at Target as to why we were returning such an inordinate amount of gym shoes, and we pulled every favor we could possibly think of.
Post-production consisted of three major favors. A friend and editor, with an Avid in his home, agreed to assemble the movie for us (a process that took a total of only nine hours due to the detailed planning and economy of our shooting style). The film’s sound design was completed by another friend, a musician, who was in the middle of engineering an album, and, as a result, had access to an entire recording studio complete with a full ProTools set up. And, the film’s wonderful music was being composed and recorded in Iowa, by an old friend from college. With the exception of a case of beer here and there, there were no costs accrued during the entire post-production process.
Wrap...
Making “The Fourth” was an intense learning experience. It was certainly the most professional filmmaking I’ve ever been a part of, but also the most difficult. Since that film, production has gotten a little easier (stress, a LITTLE easier), more contacts have been made, past mistakes have been corrected, and I’ve acquired a better overall understanding of the process as it seems to work in Los Angeles. But independent filmmaking is really just an act of survival. It’s an uncompromising fight to accomplish something incredibly unrealistic, taking whatever steps necessary, by any means possible, to see it through to the end. It’s a medium of passion and commitment, of freedom and self-expression. And, looking at it in that way, it is important and—I think even my college professors would agree—it is artistic.
[Editor's Note: The Fourth is nearly 20 minutes long and was completed for $12,000 on 35mm film.To see the Flash Version of The Fourth and Justin & Jared's follow-up film, The Shadow Effect (which is the only film to ever earn a '10' final score here at MFM), go to this issue's article on Unveling Our Top Short Films.]
Jared Varava is a Los Angeles based filmmaker. He's directed several short films, commercials, documentaries, music videos, and he's been approached to make features about campus security stoners and gang members who win roshambo championships, but unfortunately--for fraternity houses everywhere--these films didn't really work out. He and his brother are currently seeking funding for a feature film based on "The Fourth".
