Now just picture this without the snow and with a lot more leaves…
The Climb’s 1st Location Scout
January 5th, 2010 | Posted by in 17 West | Filmmaking | The Climb - (0 Comments)
The Making Of TACTICS: A Short Film
January 4th, 2010 | Posted by in 17 West | Filmmaking | Producing - (0 Comments)
Let’s go back 3 years…
Eric and I had just moved to Toronto and taken jobs in the film/television industry. We were also making the final arrangements to incorporate 17 West Productions. The basis of our company is simple. I write. Eric directs. However, a funny thing happened over the last few years. Our plan never worked.
Surface was our first collaboration. Eric decided to shoot the film in North Bay but at the last minute, I was forced to work and missed the entire shoot. The same can be said about 4 Stops. While I had the night off, it wasn’t ideal for me to be on the trains with them. The last thing you need is a crowd begging for attention on the subway. For Playing Through, I was seated in the director’s chair and Eric was always moving around behind the scenes. So in reality, we’ve never actually collaborated on a set.
Enter 2009 and more specifically, Tactics. For the first time, we were on a set doing what we love most.
The day began on a sour note for me. I had just finished working 14 of 16 days and got to sleep around 3:30 am. I blinked and it was 6:30 am. It’s important to note that I constantly brag about my limitless energy and addiction to working. But that morning I was angry at the world. This happens to me once or twice a year. I was completely drained and had no intensity or excitement at all. The lack of energy then leads to depression and I drag everyone around me down. (Sounds bad right? I snap out of it very quickly most of the time.)
Things worsened when I got outside and experienced the windiest day in the history of wind or days. It didn’t stop Eric from bouncing around though. I could easily understand why. Too long he has waited to get behind the cameras again. We haven’t filmed anything since June and Eric’s brain was about to explode with anticipation. It reminded me of how annoying I must be when the energy levels are at full blast. Honestly, my overall mood aside, I couldn’t wait to make a movie again. I love this stuff!
The crew assembled at our cast’s apartment. I don’t think there are many romantic comedies out there that have the luxury of casting an actual couple and filming in their home. Alyssa and Jamie single handedly saved us a production budget and a desperate search for chemistry. Above all else, they brought talent and even more energy to the team. The combined enthusiasm of everyone involved finally snapped me out of my ‘screw off’ attitude and my idiot comments returned. It was time. Eric was directing, our crew was ready, our cast was prepared and I was awake. Let’s make a movie.
This film had a very distinct style to achieve. You would watch this movie like a home video shot by our couple. There are a lot of logistics involved to make it work but Eric did a great job. Immediately, I abandoned my fear that the scares wouldn’t look realistic. Alyssa and Jamie showed that they have a knack for improvisation. Every take was the same and every take was different. It was nothing but fun from there.
This was our first film without a budget and without time constraints. It’s pretty liberating to be able to shoot 20 takes and not have to worry about bumping the schedule. There are instances where this can back fire on a film set but this wasn’t one of them. The film got funnier with every take. The entire set was light and relaxed and it was a perfect way to return to filmmaking. (Oh and by relaxed I mean roooooom tonnnnnnnne haha. Apologies for referencing an inside joke. You had to be there to appreciate how funny that was.)
As the day progressed, Eric and I fell into a groove. We were constantly bouncing ideas off each other without stepping on either my script or his shots. It’s great to be able to work that way. Personally, I loved my new roll on set. My job was simply to ensure that Eric wouldn’t be bothered by petty things. I have no problem admitting that I order pizza like a true professional. (I worked at a Pizza Hut for 4 years… Not a big deal.) Truthfully, it was nice to just be a writer/editor for a change. I had so much fun directing Playing Through but fell behind in my writing. I may direct again someday but it was way too much fun being on set that day with Eric at the helm.
He was in his element. The dude had a permanent grin on his face the entire time. I know for a fact he was a little nervous to direct again but after the first take he was back in a big way. It was the first time I had ever seen him direct and he didn’t disappoint. There were moments throughout the day when I thought about a statement he made a week prior to shooting. He said “After Tactics, I’m going to wait until the end of summer before I shoot another one.” His thought was justified. There is still a massive amount of promotional work and organization to do for Playing Through’s release. I think it took five minutes for him to change his mind. Anyone could have predicted that. I’ve met hundreds of creative people and there is one thing they all have in common. They all share a desperate need to create. Eric is no exception. We’re already discussing our next project.
The day absolutely flew by. Our crew was extremely small but everyone involved worked hard and laughed throughout the entire shoot. I have a theory that you can love your job but if you can’t stand the people you work with it’s still a pain to get up every morning. The memory of sleeping 3 hours was long gone for me. Everyone was having a blast. As for our cast, Alyssa and Jamie were never a concern for us. Alyssa is now 4-0 when it comes to 17W’s films. It’s getting to the point where I just assume she’ll be in every film we ever make. Jamie was absolutely incredible when it came to improv. There were so many subtle lines he would sneak in. These lines were constantly quoted by the crew. Between takes, I believe my exact words were “Quit fucking around and go say those funny lines I didn’t write!” Alyssa was as good as ever. She has a show stealing scene in the shower that I’m still laughing at. This film was about the unexpected and our cast delivered exactly that on every single take.
As the day came to an end I was completely exhausted. Actually, I think shattered is a better word for it. It took two minutes to fall asleep once I got to bed. 15 hours later, I came back to life. I put on my editor’s hat and Eric and I got to work. We watched every take and it was great to be able to plan how we will package the final film. While we worked we found ourselves discussing the different types of movies we wanted to tackle next. These conversations are the number 1 reason why I love filmmaking. For the first time we were talking about a big film that’s almost done, another film we just shot and future films that will raise the bar for 17 West.
What comes next will remain a mystery for now but it will definitely arrive sooner rather than later. I can’t wait to get back on a set and I know Eric can’t wait to direct again. The only difference is going to be the wake up call. It’s my company too and getting up at 6:30 is mean! I’ll be paying extra close attention to the call sheets from now on. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for more on Tactics including artwork, clips and the film’s home page.
Episode 1: America’s Funniest Home Videos
What does Bob Saget have to do with our new short film? Truthfully, our film is about a couple that narrates each others lives using annoying cartoon voices that all sound identical. Are you excited yet?
So what is Tactics exactly? The story begins about a year ago. Like many from the YouTube generation, I spend my “bored as hell” time watching endless videos and laughing my ass off. There was one specific evening where I spent a great deal of time watching people hide and scare each other half to death. There are at least ten billion videos of people reacting to those ghost emails. We’ve all been there. This is what makes AFV an awesome show to watch.
- Check out this video. I especially love how high that cat jumps in the air. Watch it again. That other cat did it on purpose.
- Also this video.
Okay I admit the last video doesn’t really fit the profile. I just thought it was a wicked idea. For me, it’s the anticipation and the scheming that makes these pranks priceless. True scare tactics is an artform I intend to master someday.
Tactics, the short film, was born that night while I watched countless videos of people jumping out of there seats and running for their lives. I pitched the idea to Eric and then to Alyssa and Jamie. It took a year to finally sit down and write something. Besides not having any free time to write, I also struggled to find a story to tell. Finding a concept is easy but wrapping a story around it is much more harder. (Microsoft Word maintains the previous sentence has grammatical errors. I disagree…
That little green squiggly underline can kiss my ass.)
With a script already in Eric’s hand we will hopefully get this one shot in April. While Playing Through essentially took a year to complete, Tactics should be wrapped by mid May. Not too bad.
I’ll be updating this blog regularly as things progress. In the mean time, why don’t you find a good laundry hamper or closet and scare someone to tears.
Here is the synopsis for 17W’s Tactics:
Tammy and Shawn are living together and loving every minute of it. The only problem is how much time they spend plotting to scare the hell out of each other. Who will win?
4 Stops Director’s Notes
January 4th, 2010 | Posted by in 17 West | Filmmaking | Producing - (0 Comments)
GUEST POST by ERIC GAMACHE
A month before shooting SURFACE, Jay handed me a tiny script called ‘4 Stops’.
I had just come back from a casting session in North Bay. I read it standing in the middle of the living room with my bag still slung over my shoulder. I laughed out loud and immediately told Jay I was going to shoot it next.
A few months later, with Surface locked, I moved my attention to the little subway story. I spent an entire day ridding the subway, blocking the actions and shot listing the film. This is when I decided that we were going to shoot 4 Stops guerrilla style. While the cost of shooting on the subway wasn’t ridiculously expensive, it was too much for our non-budget film. This run and gun approach also informed the style of the film. There would be no room for mistakes and very few opportunities for multiple takes. Technically speaking, we shot the film on a consumer MiniDV camcorder my parents bought me during college. This also allowed me to pretend to be a tourist on the subway, should we have been caught. There was no way we could get a tripod on the train without standing out. We also couldn’t have any type of sound recording equipment. This meant we had to ADR the few lines of dialogue later. I would also have to shoot without a crew. This is what excited me the most about making this movie. It would just be me, the actors and a camera.
When it came to casting the film, I immediately thought of Alyssa LaPlume. We had just worked together on Surface and I knew she would be great in the film. As for her creepy counterpart, I was stuck. I was looking over headshots and resumes when I checked out a show by Rep 21 (Canadore College’s Theatre troupe). Jamie Mitchell was great on stage, funny and endearing, an every man. It just so happened he was also Alyssa’s boyfriend. What luck!
For me, rehearsal is an important part of Pre-Production. The actors and I go through the entire film and iron out the details, blocking, etc. When it came to 4 Stops, the process was vital. Things that are typically left to be worked out while shooting had to be decided before in the comfort of my living room. Using kitchen chairs as benches, we ran through the entire film several times. I even shot the rehearsals, testing camera angles.
Finally, it was time to shoot. After working a 14hr day on The Incredible Hulk as a VFX P.A., we all met at my place. We ordered a large pizza and our amazing makeup artist Alex Rotundo got to work.
Afterwards, we made our way to the subway. We had a little less than 2 hours to shoot the 4 page script. This would be pretty tight on a normal shoot but we had no control over anything. We needed an empty car and we needed it to stay empty for 5 or 6 consecutive stops. For anyone who’s even been on the subway, you know how rare that is.
Ding. The subway doors open and the car is EMPTY! Alyssa and I had gone a station behind Jamie, who was waiting on the platform of the following stop. Alyssa got into position and I got the camera ready. The train moved along. We approached the platform where Jamie was waiting to board. Would the platform be full of intoxicated partygoers coming home from a night on the town? Would there be subway employees waiting to board the train to get to another station? Finally the train pulled into the station. The platform is EMPTY! It’s a go. We only have one shot getting this shot (really?). Ding. The subway doors open. Enter Jamie, in character. The camera is running and Jamie plays it perfectly, just like we rehearsed. With a little luck we got the first shot in the can! It was as good as I had hoped. However, there was no time to celebrate. We only had an hour before the subway shut down for the night and a lot of stuff to cover. What a night.
2:33am.
4 Stops is officially in the can. Things could not have gone any better. In fact, I’m confident we could not duplicate those circumstances. We captured something interesting and exciting during our “in-the-moment” filmmaking.
Later that morning Jay watched the footage and confirms my suspicions, it looks good.
We cut the film that night and concluded the 48 hours of work it took to complete the film.
Click here to for Jay’s take on the movie.
17 West’s Newest Short Film Is…
January 4th, 2010 | Posted by in 17 West | Filmmaking | The Climb - (0 Comments)
Welcome to another new feature on The Athletic Nerd. In addition to the usual posts on Movies, Television and Technology, I will now post regularly on our upcoming productions. It’s good to be making movies again. I’m looking forward to writing about it.
The Climb is a movie I wrote close to 4 years ago about 2 homeless people and their struggles on the streets. At first glance, the movie sounds pretty familiar but we have a couple surprises in store that I hope will entertain. The two main characters in the story are among my personal favorites as a writer. The story itself is a series of conversations leading to an emotional showdown between the two. I’m keeping most of the story details a secret for a while longer but there is more on the way…
Pre-production on the film began this past August with a September shoot planned. However, Eric and I decided it was best to hold off to avoid rushing the film. So The Climb was put on hold…
Until today!
This morning, we had our first official production meeting and mapped out the entire project with shooting set to begin this May. I couldn’t be happier.
Our first order of business was to finalize a rough budget and schedule. After that we tackled locations, wardrobe, props as well as many of the tiny details you need to think about well in advance. By the time the meeting was over, we had gone over every aspect of the production in detail.
It’s good to be back.
Our cast was in place in the fall and I’m pretty pumped that everyone is still able to work on this project with us. We’ve worked with Michael Clarke and Alyssa LaPlume before and they are extremely talented actors.
Location Scout #1
One of the main locations in the movie happens to be a few blocks away from my apartment so Eric and I grabbed a camera and went out in the snow to take some pictures.
It was cold and windy but the pictures will serve as a great starting point for planning the look of the film.
I’m going to be updating this blog constantly with new information on the film and I encourage anyone with questions about the production to comment or email me at jason@17west.ca.
I’m also going to start posting updates on another project 17 West is involved with. A musical being produced in Sudbury entitled, Strings.
Stay tuned.
4 Stops Too Many…
January 4th, 2010 | Posted by in 17 West | Filmmaking | Movies | Producing - (0 Comments)
A few years ago, 17 West produced a short film called Surface.
It was our first official project and we pulled it off rather smoothly in our second home, North Bay.
While post was wrapping up I was starting to get the itch to write again. Back then I was still a freelancer at work. This meant working a lot of late nights and weekends. (As a side note, I’m not a fan of 10:30 Canuck games. I love the city but I can’t stand the Pacific time zone.) I was reaching the point where I wasn’t writing much and becoming more and more frustrated as a result. I needed to write something but it’s never quite that simple for me. When I write, I tend to plan a lot in advance before I actually hit the keyboard. There was no time for that so I decided to write a few tiny stories here and there.
4 Stops was the first.
Back then, I was faced with an hour of public transit every night. As dismal as that sounds, it provided me with an opportunity to read and engage in one of my favorite past times;
People watching.
Who wouldn’t be fascinated by random events only seen on subways, buses and street cars? I don’t even feel bad. When I see two people arguing on the train, it’s better than any book I’ve got resting in my lap.
Oh and by the way, does anyone else hate it when people read over your shoulder?
It’s my book not yours! Sometimes I feel like I should be asking them if they are finished before I turn the page. It’s literally gotten to the point where I hide the spine of my books just to see if anyone shifts their position to discern what I’m reading.
When I’m not fighting the war on reading material, I’m wishing for confrontation or anything interesting to occupy my attention. Watching two people argue is a great example. I suppose when you want to rip your girlfriends face off you don’t care who is listening. Like many who ride the trains, I’ve seen full out battles. It’s awesome.
A few months ago, I was sitting next to the doors when we reached Bloor station. This is one of the busiest stations in the city. There is always a lineup to get on and things always get entertaining when the conductor starts to close the doors. I think they do this on purpose to entertain themselves. On this occasion, a punk kid barreled through the crowd and sat down in the last possible seat. Little did he know that one lady he pushed was a walking ball of rage. She ripped into this kid mercilessly. He actually started yelling back. These two went back and forth for a decent amount of time. When she was finally finished with the idiot I thought everyone would burst into applause. I even considered rocking the slow clap but thought better of it.
However, my personal favorite is also the rarest. The Transit Pick-up.
I’ve seen two separate attempts and both ended horribly. It’s so awkward watching these guys approach women who just want to be left alone. I have to give them credit though, it takes a big set of wheels to try and pick someone up on a bus. I could never pull off a Transit Pick-Up. It’s too risky. However, this doesn’t mean there haven’t been instances where I seriously considered trying. One day last summer, I had a terrible stomach flu and had to leave work early. The road home back then began with the Scarborough RT. For those who haven’t been blessed with this riveting experience, it’s a rickety train that makes 5 stops and takes 20 minutes to do so. I’m waiting on the platform when an incredible looking girl shows up carrying a suit case. I figured she was just getting home from a trip because buses routinely stop at the Scarborough Town Center. She walked all the way over to where I was standing. We exchanged a quick smile but at this point I’m trying to forget the piercing pain in my stomach. Gross. The train arrives and we get on. I sit on one end of the train and she sits on the other. I’m in complete agony but I still managed to get caught staring at her. (She was hot what else was I going to do?) She isn’t giving me a dirty look though, she is actually smiling. Am I supposed to go over and talk to her? I don’t have nearly enough courage for that.
Forget the stomach flu for a second. Am I really bold enough to stand up, walk over to her and start a conversation? Are you insane? Who does that? (I considered it.) Anyone who says I’m an idiot for not making a move is full of it. Put yourself in that position. The only way I’m going over there is after I’ve destroyed a 26er of rye. What if I made a good impression and then proceed to yack all over her bag. Maybe I could have offered to buy her a new one and our first date would be set. Maybe not.
Regardless, I decided to eliminate temptation and stop making eye contact. This wasn’t easy and I kept getting caught. We get to the end of the line at Kennedy station and I make my way down to the subway. There is a train waiting so I head in and sit where I can put my feet up and ease my stomach a bit. Guess who wanders into the same car as me? This time she sits facing me so I have no choice but to look at her every time I raise my head. The situation got worse when a stomach ‘attack’ began. It was so bad, I actually decided to leave the train but the stupid DING, DING, DING subway tune kept me in my seat. I get caught looking at her again. What can I say? I’m a sucker for brunettes. She smiled at me again. I started worrying about another scenario. Any other day I would have wished for it but tonight, I’m dreading it. What if she comes over to me?
“Sure we can grab a drink but we have to stop by my place first so I can unleash hell in the washroom?” Screw that. I took out a book and pretended to read. For 3 stations I read the same page over and over trying to forget the immense pain in my stomach.
Finally, my stop arrived and I got up to leave the train. I took one last look and she smiled again. I remember thinking that it was a waste. Even though I was never going to make a move, it got me thinking about what could have happened. Then I started thinking about what was going through her mind. Was she smiling to be polite or was it deliberate? Women can be devious manipulators so how am I supposed to know? Did she want me to talk to her or was she thinking ‘I hope this pale faced creep leaves me alone… He looks sick’? I left the train in a hurry. I stopped at the drug store for some much needed medication, called my parents for advice (about my stomach, not the girl) and went to bed. The next day I felt infinitely better but I was still thinking about my little adventure the night before. I don’t even care if I simply read too far into it. I thought about it enough that it became a fully developed idea for a short film. That afternoon, it became a script called 4 Stops. I decided to make it very simple. One guy gets onto the subway and sees a beautiful girl. Does he talk to her? Can he pull off the transit pick-up?
That night, I gave the script to Eric thinking he would read it, laugh and move on with his life. I had no idea he would spark to the story like he did. He mentioned immediately that he was going to direct it. I’m pretty sure I tried to talk him out of it. Good thing I didn’t. I love that NOT talking to a girl can be turned into a film. Even the smallest events can be turned into an entertaining flick. It’s my job to make them interesting on paper. This is a major reason why I’m so addicted to writing. Every script is a challenge.
Speaking of challenges, that was one of the most gut wrenching experiences I’ve ever had on the trains.
That stomach flu sucked.
PS: Are subway drivers called conductors or did I just make that up? A train is a train right?
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