“The costumes were actually the biggest part of the budget. We couldn't fake those so we visited a lot of vintage clothing stores until we achieved a confluence of look and cheap. We had to build the robot from scratch, but Home Depot sells cardboard boxes and duct hose really cheap!"
“For locations, we struck gold with Eric Vejby's (co-writer, co- producer) parents’ house -- a mid-century suburban tract house. We shot the exterior as is, framing out the modern cars on the street. The kitchen was also perfect as it was, we didn't touch, move, add or paint a thing! The actors just walked in there in their 50s clothes and it was like a time warp. We even shot the school room scenes there, converting the rumpus room (and you know a house is the 50s real deal when it has a rumpus room) into a school room by adding a fake cardboard chalkboard, a desk and an American flag.”
“We had to make the movie look like it was from the 50’s by manipulating the look of it. Even if we spent thousands on the sets, props and costumes, it wouldn't really matter if it looked like a digital movie shot in 2008. I couldn't shoot on film (too cost prohibitive), so I decided to shoot on BetaCam SP. Of course, the fact that I had a friend who owns a BetaCam camera didn't make the decision difficult, but I really did want a softer look to the movie and, even though I had access to high def digital cameras, I thought they would look too crisp and sharp.”
“The manipulation of the image occurred in both production and post production. On the set, it was really about lighting. Those old education movies were often done on the quick and cheap, so the lighting was rather primitive. The BetaCam footage was digitized and imported into Final Cut Pro for editing. In postproduction, we ran the footage through a film-look process and desaturated the color a bit, emphasizing a nice yellow tint I had given it in the lighting. The final touch was adjusting the brightness (up) and contrast (down) to give the effect of multi-gen prints void of quality control. Post time was about three days.”
“The entire cast was made up of friends and family. Normally, that is a big red flag and I avoid it at all costs. NEVER underestimate the need and importance of a trained, professional actor. But for this movie, it was really about look. Tom Acord, who plays the professor -- and looks like he just stepped off a Yahtzee box --, is an actual professor of music and is a classical vocal performer, so I felt he could take direction and deliver the dry performance needed. Eric ("Bob") and Deborah ("Doris") both had some acting experience and their performances really needed to be more mannered than realistic which is something they understood and could deliver.”
Why did you choose the LA Shorts Fest to submit to and what do you want to accomplish with this festival or festivals in general?
“I chose to enter the film in the LA Shorts Fest mainly because of the festival's reputation. The amount of years they have been doing this, the AMPAS accreditation, the attendance figures, and the quality of the films they premiere. Also, being a shorts-only festival means LA Shorts obvious understands the value of and respects shorts as a viable genre unto itself. In addition, I was really impressed with their website. I know that may sound irrelevant, but their website portrays a very creative, well-run organization. The presence of social networking showed me they foster and value relationships and networking (as I do) and the video archive provides for additional online exposure for filmmakers and their work even after the festival has ended.”
LA Shorts Fest 09 offered 9 days of screenings, parties and informative discussions on developments in the short form film industry. All participants were offered the chance to promote their films online as well as onsite and to promote themselves to industry leaders, managers and union representatives. LA Shorts Fest will start the submissions process for next year’s festival in April 2010.
