Photo by Rodney BarryI recently had the opportunity to exchange emails with my friend Anne LeBarbera about her experience producing the short film, The Unaffected, a film made for the 2009 National Film Challenge (http://www.filmchallenge.com/) a sister competition of the 48 Hour Film Project. She had some interesting and insightful things to say.
Q. - Anne, please tell about yourself and your background as a filmmaker and what inspires you to be a filmmaker?
A. - I always made films with my brothers back in the days of video tape. Our first camera was one that came with our first VCR (which was huge). You had to connect the camera to the VCR which had a big handle on it and carry the whole set up with you as you filmed. And the only way you could edit was to borrow your neighbor's VCR to record from one tape to another. If you messed something up you had to start over from that point on.
And I was a theatrical costume designer for about 5 years when I lived in Michigan. So when I did not find a legal traineeship in Scotland and I had just gotten shortlisted for the BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum in London, I thought maybe film would be an option. One day my pub quiz team and I were bored with pub quizzes and we decided to make a film instead. So we just made one, On The Trail of the Haggis, which to be honest is not terribly good but was fun to make. I have a lot of stories to tell on that one. Like the fact that it was raining the entire time but for some reason the rain let up just when we were filming. Then once we made it inside it would start 'chuckin i doon' again as we say in Scotland. And the epic rain that summer (2007) shut down the trains for just one day in South Wales, which just happened to be the day that I had a Welsh actor needing to come up to Edinburgh for the day from Newport South Wales. We had to substitute another actor in the end because we could not find someone.
Anyway then I did some music videos which I love, produced another short which is still in post. I think we are waiting on some animation. And then I have done lots of these competitions too.
At first I was disoriented by being in Austin instead of Edinburgh but I am starting to get my sea legs. It is really hard to step from a situation in which everyone knows you to a place where no one does.
Q. - What is the National Film Challenge and how does it work? Website address?
A. - The National Flim Challenge is the sister competition to the 48 Hour Film Competition. The website is www.filmchallenge.com the great thing about it is that there is no local screening and they accept films from around the world so I asked if a North American team could submit on PAL and they said sure why not. This was great because my best camera is PAL format.
Q. - How large was your crew? Who was involved with making the project and how did they help? Please include a cast and crew credit list.
A. - We had 14 people on our crew total. (Most are Austin Film Meet members.)
Anne LaBarbera - Writer, Director, Editor, Producer
Mark Roethke - Director of Photography, Special FX
Louis Weyrich - First AD, Composer, Sound & Music Editor
Roxanna Collingwood - Line Producer, Actress
Rodney Barry - Stills
Karlo Montano - Sound Mixer, Boom Op
Jaclynn Pardue - Actress
Nick Newberg - Actor
Annette Newberg - Script Supervisor, Chaperone
Carlos Boillet - Gaffer
Adam Garrett - Best Boy
Sheila Bagir - Actress, Voice Actress
James McMahan - Actor
Bharat R. Mankani - Actor
Q. - How did you find cast and crew for this project? What challenges did you face while casting and crewing?
A. - I found a lot of people through Austin Film Meet. We had difficulty getting people interested because Austin Film Festival was on at the same time. Jeffrey Buras was going to be out Director of Photography but had to drop out because of Austin Film Festival. A lot of people were disappointed by that. But I was very pleased to get to work with Mark Roethke who I had not worked with before. Everyone on the team loved his work and he is constantly telling jokes and making little silly comments that keep everyone laughing. That is very important for a competition like this one.
As for cast, we did not do auditions and a lot of people who were going to come did not show. One of the roles had to be filled by someone who really did not have the experience necessary for her role but I think the film turned out okay. I was very pleased to work with Nick Newberg again. I first worked with him on The Probe for the 48 Hour competition. He was only 12 then and became like a little celeb among people who saw the film. He is 13 now and we filmed The Unaffected on a Saturday from 7am to 10:30pm. So Nick had school the day before and then worked literally the entire day and then came back late Sunday for a pickup. I think most adults could not handle that kind of schedule. And as always his acting was superb.
Photo by Rodney BarryQ. - Where did you get the inspiration for the story?
A. - Basically the elements and a little brainstorming. I came up with the idea of some sort of thriller aspect and people being controlled, I think Louis mentioned HARRP. I wrote really fast when I realized we had a concept. I just started writing. Other people were still talking to me but I was barely aware of them, I was in my little writing trance I go into. About half an hour later I told everyone that it was finished and most of them were surprised that I had even started. They were still brainstorming and I was in Anne Land. I do this a lot on these competitions. I have the script written within an hour of the elements being distributed. It always amazes people but for me that is just normal. The funny thing is that when we were editing it later, I barely remembered having written it and the storyline was like a surprise to me too. I thought 'Wow this is great, I love this story, who wrote this?' A little subconscious vanity I guess. That is what lack of sleep will do to you.
Q. - What did you find most challenging during the making of this film?
A. - The schedule. Karlo and Mark were only available to shoot on the Saturday which is why it was such a long day. We missed a crucial shot because we were so tired, the one of Nick bursting in the door. I tried to think of a way to edit around it but it just would not work. So I called Nick back for a pick up Sunday evening. I set up the shot and did the camera work and Rodney and Louis gaffed for me. And that was the sum total of people still present on set when we did this. It was just enough crew to get the shot. But this kind of stuff is what makes competitions fun.
I think Mark would say the special effects were the most difficult. He panicked when he saw that opening shot that he had to put the space ship into because it had to go behind the pole which took a lot of work. It took him hours but I think the effect really raises the quality of the film simply because it is hard to achieve. When he was done with the shot it looked amazing. I was on the floor still doing the offline and he played it for me on his computer. Just for fun I said, 'No, I still think the ship should have gone in front of the pole.' Eventually he found that funny. Eventually...
Q. - What did you find most rewarding about this film project?
A. - Working with the people. Like I said working with Nick again was great, I have a feeling that he is going to be very successful some day and I will get to brag that I worked with him. Mark was amazing and I had only even talked to him once before he joined the team. I had not worked with Rodney either and he managed to get stills of me that I don't find horribly offensive. I hate being photographed. Roxy did a great job of being a line manager. I have been stressed recently and not able to hold a thought in my head for more than a few seconds so I really relied on her.
Q. - What did you learn while making this film?
A. - Really you learn something new with every film. I always feel like my skills improve by working with people I have not worked with before. I think all the crew were new to me on this one so I had the opportunity to pick up techniques from a lot of people.
Oh I should have mentioned somewhere that Karlo is an amazing sound guy. Mark and I reviewed a tape at one point and forgot to cue it back up. We lost some footage but Karlo had recorded back up files for sound so we took what visuals we had and stretched is best we could it was the webcam seen. When one was talking we showed the other one it worked okay but would not have been possible without Karlo.
Q. - If you had been given an extra $500 to spend on this film project, what would you have done with the money and why?
A. - Probably on a dolly. Mark asked for one and I just could not find the money for it. I think the film looked great but I would have liked to have given him what he was asking for. But in the end we probably would not have had time to set it up anyway.
Or even better I would have kept the $500 for myself. LOL
Q. - How do you feel about the final film? What about it do you like the most?
A. - I love the film. We need to do some more editing and color correction but it is great! The best part of the film is the scene where Flash comes in and then they have to get on the computers to save the world. We shot that scene literally 10 times and never got the whole thing clean. I had wanted to get that in a one-er but it never worked and we had to move on. But it edited together nicely and Mark's camera work was excellent. Louis' music also helps that scene along and the acting problems we were having were far less noticeable once we edited that all together.
Q. - Did anything interesting happen during the shoot?
A. - Yes, one funny thing about the shoot. We had no locations going in to the shoot so Mark posted on Craigslist.org and on Couchsurfing.com. Someone from Couchsurfing.com got back to us just as we were starting to film. He had the weirdest place, which was the building site in the film and inside his caravan that the house was built around was the hippie room in the beginning. It is painted like the inside of a womb. LOL
Q. - What are the advantages of making a film on such a tight timeline?
A. - Just that it gets done so quickly and you have something to show.
It was excellent to have a First AD who would stand up to me too. We did not plan ahead for it but Louis just fell into the role. I was spending too much time on the first scene and he noticed time was getting away from us. He just said 'Alright, I am going to be the First AD. You have spent too much time on this, lets move on or it won't get done.' I am so glad that he stepped into that role. A good First makes everything work. I mean people get really annoyed with them because they are always telling you what you don't want to hear but that is the point, that is why they are there. They are like a parent.
And the camaraderie. I am already missing Mark's little silly jokes and its not like I can call him up and say 'When you're not busy, can we spend every waking hour together for about three days again?' These competitions give you a chance to bond with your friends in a way that you don't normally get to. It is great!
Q. - What advice do you have for other filmmakers interested in participating in the National Film Challenge?
A. - Just do it. Even if you don't have a huge team. I saw Alfonso Cuaron one time at BAFTA in London and he told everyone that you can make a film without crew, without actors, without a director, but the one thing you cant make a film without is a camera. So if you have a camera, you can make a film, even if you can't find anyone else to help. Just go for it. But a team helps, and makes it more fun.
Q - What project will you be working on next?
A. - (If I can find funding)
Well I have my feature that I co wrote with Jeffrey Buras called GOTO 1980 we are looking for funding for that. If anyone wants to exec produce that let us know. It is about web designer and his girl gamer friend from 2010 who accidentally send themselves to 1980 with a time machine that promptly gets destroyed by someone and they have to find their way back. They enlist a group of 1980 style phone phreakers and computer nerds to help them get back. While they are there they have adventures, fall in love, and get some unexpected help from a hippie. There is really something in it for everyone. I could see it making lots of money and/or being a cult classic some day.
I am also going to put together a little YouTube PSA about Borderline Personality Disorder with my friends from a support group. If you don't know what that is the character played by Wynona Rider in Girl Interrupted has it. But out film will be more informative on the subject when it comes our.
Borderlines sometimes get a bad rap. Some psychologists won't treat us and that is all because there is very bad misinformation about us and most of the YouTube videos about borderline are very emo and depressing and frankly scary. They leave you with the impression that we all spend our time cutting ourselves with razor blades and such and many of us don't even self harm in that way. We are going to make a wee film that just shows us for who we are. We are really excited about the project.
There are lots of other shorts I want to do and I will be directing a music video in about a month.
Q. - How can fans keep up-to-date on news about you and your projects?
A. - http://www.youtube.com/user/AnneLaBarbera
Q. - How was the Austin Film Meet useful in making your film project a reality? Did you make any useful connections through the group that helped?
A. - Yes, the Austin Film Meet was really where we got most if not all of the team members. They were all Austin Film Meet members and/or recruited by Austin Film Meet members.
Thank you Anne for a great interview!
Did you help with The Unaffected? Do you have something to share about your experience? Have something to say about the film? Please post it in the comments below.
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