Created Independently

The most hectic weekend of them all. Day five and six are just a blur to me now, but somehow everything worked out. After losing our locations on Thursday night, finding new ones on Friday, and then dealing with a sudden scheduling conflict at 7pm the night before the shoot, I was surprised that anything managed to happen at all.

Yet, miraculously, despite conflicts and tight schedules, we managed to make shit happen. Thanks to our ever imaginative and quick thinking D.O.P. Bruce Harper, who squeezed every iota of potential out of our minimal lights in a short period of time, and due to the patience and good nature of our actors, ”Tim Bortins” and “Elevator, Elevator” were shot on Saturday and look amazing. I also think that in these two days we has some of the best blocking and ad-libbing moments experienced yet, and it was great to see things just swing into place. Everyone kept their heads, and we managed to have a rockin’ good time.

A special thanks also to Erin Marchak and Dusty Mancinelli from Hamilton-Mehta Productions for getting us permission to use 720 Bathurst as one of our locations, and for lending us the key. You are awesome.

Finally on Sunday we got to be more adventurous with “Interviewer vs. Documentary Filmmaker“, where we had a fight scene choreographed by Lucas James, got fake blood splattered on the ground, and made a dash for it with continued shots from our “Throw It” sketch, as Throw It girl ran around in Kensington Market, China Town, and in front of the Bathurst Streetcar (I kid you not). It was a lot of fun and completely weird overall, and I’m glad we’ve done it. Here are some pictures from the shoot – enjoy!

Male Official (Jason Riddle) from Tim Bortins

Documentary Filmmaker (Darren Glass) knocked down by the Interviewer (Ryan Graham)

Photos by Bruce William Harper

In keeping with our mockumentary theme, Pat and Paul wrote in a clever mock advertisement selling “Novel’s in 8 Seconds“. Because Lola Linden knows what you want: Girls. With Glasses. And she can sell you intellectual sex appeal with her brilliant new cd, which “gives you all the benefits of skimming, without all the hassle of pretending to read”.  Briana Templeton did an excellent job in this role, as we threw the camera and a bunch of lights inches from her face and told her to act. She exceeded expectations, and did a great job in her first performance on film.

Special thanks also have to be given to Caversham Booksellers, Toronto’s number one mental health book store, that allowed us to shoot in their store and play with the kids toys on the shelves afterwards. We are a mature bunch

We ended the day at Ezra’s Pound, that lovely coffee shop on Dupont and Spadina, where we grabbed the last of our footage and a couple of delicious cappuccino’s. Ryan Graham, Hayley Crooks and Lucas James all made an appearance, and I’ve got to say, watching a man eating a watermelon has never been more fun.

Lola Linden (Briana Templeton) - Bruce plays with the lighting

Photos by Bruce William Harper

Day three we shot “Crying Man“, a farcical mockumentary about Norman Wright, a man who has a condition where he cries onomatopoeically like a cartoon baby. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but our actors Andy Ingram (Crying Man), Alexis McDougall (the girlfriend) Ryan Graham (Interviewer) and Jason Riddle (the friend) really pulled off the realism in this piece, and were hilarious to watch.

We also got to shoot in some amazing locations, starting with our own apartment and continuing at The Central (a bar in the annex that allowed us to shoot on their second floor) and The Royal, an amazing indie cinema downtown. Everything looked amazing, and we got an authentic ‘documentary’ feel.

Crying Man (Andy Ingram)

The Central - a great bar in the annex

Photos by Bruce William Harper

Day Two started in the morning with “Hockey Interview” – a mock interview in which a hockey player (Lucas James) experiences as moment of existential crisis. We snuck into the arena – a big, beautiful arena where we were technically not allowed to film since we hadn’t filled out any paperwork, but where they let us shoot anyway (yay) –  and set up. It was a great location, and we had so much fun that Pat and Paul decided to write an additional sketch on the spot, which emerged as a shouting match between two lonely hockey fans from opposing teams.

In the evening we had our first, and only, “studio” experience. Our friends Howie and Sara, the Executive Producers of this little experiment, let us in to their studio/home as one of our location. We threw up a flats, stuck on the white house sign, stood up the flag, played with the lights and voila! We had a Press Room for our sketch “Ladies and Gentlemen“, in which the Press Secretary of the United States makes a startling announcement.

This sketch was a lot of fun to do and, despite all my worries, it ended up looking incredibly realistic. This is also the only time that we will have such a controlled environment (especially for sound!), and it was exciting to create the ‘room’ from scratch. Andrew Kines (Press Secretary) and Ryan Graham (Vice President) were a hillarious duo as well, and brought life to the characters with their saucy wit.

We also began filming “Throw It“, a short piece similar in tone to Norman McLaren’s “The Neighbours”, in which a girl obsessively chases a tennis ball across town.

Throw It Girl (Helen Kotsonis) - trapped behind bars

All photos by Bruce William Harper

Day One was amazing. We got all our actors and gear together, and threw them all on top of the roof of a public toilet. Not bad for a first day of shooting! Everyone was very open to the idea of doing an Arts Chat interview on top of this brick structure, previously known as a washroom, and we set up our chairs, coffee table, and the signature blue coffee mug without a hitch.

The day went really well, and I was impressed with the willingness of our cast and crew to clamber up a tree onto the roof and do a crazy comedy sketch with us People in the neighborhood were wonderful as well, and very receptive to our filming there. I heard one mother tell her daughter to bike around our area so as not to disturb the filming, and a bunch of kids sweetly agreed to play ball on a different end of the park.

However, it was the finale that really gave us a chance to experiment, as we staged a ‘performance art’ piece called “Shouty Man” done by our fictional character, Divan H8. Shot in front of Honest Ed’s and that church on Spadina, we captured him shouting at crowds at the top of his lungs on three cellphones, a digital camera, a blackberry, and our panasonic GH-1. It was exhilarating to take hold of that cellphone and surround him for the full 180 degree effect, capturing him from about five different angles. Everyone on the crew got in on the action, and we have some amazing raw footage to show for it.

A special thanks to Russel McLeod who did an great job playing the role of Divan H8, and who bravely shouted at the Saturday evening crowds on Bloor when we asked him to. It was awesome.

Well, two days of auditions have past. I have to say I’m amazed at how much talent there is in Toronto. We auditioned as many people as we could – which was less than half the people who applied – and every person made a mark. The hardest part of this process is going to be figuring out which people fit the scenes best, and making the cuts.

It was inspiring to see how many people just want to do something different and original though, and watching people respond to the text. Updates coming soon about our future cast, and congratulations to everyone who auditioned – you were great!

A big thanks also to FIXT Point studios, who lent us the space. They’re an amazing group of people, who have just opened their show A Tale of A Town in collaboration with Passe Muraille theatre. Funny, tender, and based on true stories and interviews collected from people who live there, it takes us on a magical journey revealing the ever-changing culture of Queen St. West. Check it out at https://thetaleofatown.wordpress.com/.