ALTERED MOVIE MAGIC
Sometimes, in making movies, big or small, the magic just happens. Of course as a Writer we write for it, and as a Director and Producer, we plan for it. As an Actor, we hope for it.
But with all the planning and hoping, it still is an amazing feeling when the alchemy of light and talent come together to create a few moments that you can share and be proud of pretty much forever.
The movie “Altered” is filled with such moments, and I think those who are a part of it are sensing the rarity of what is happening. We push at all times and in every shot to find it… but the things that take it to that other level are sometimes just waiting to discover us as opposed us trying to force them.
This simple scene, a man truly battling the elements – cold, water, and time – as he battles himself, was captured with the talents of Imoto Harney behind camera. At another of our amazing Gary, IN locations to shoot other scenes, I was lucky enough to see this waterfall created by relentless rain and the broken structure of the massive factory we were in.
At 33 degrees, the steam coming off my body and filling the room is generated only by the heat of my body. And though most of my time these days is spent planning, directing, and editing, instead of working out, I hoped I could still punch fast enough to look okay.
Both Imoto and I loved the starkness of the doorway framed in the broken wall of glass and metal. Without even scouting the interior, I asked Imoto to set her camera, give me a couple focal lengths, and to keep the camera locked. Honestly, I was a little worried that after the pace we had been going that I wouldn’t be able to physically translate what I thought the scene could be into the camera.
With no warm up – literally and figuratively – I ran into the scene, dodging the rusty metal, pipes, and glass around me, stood under the freezing water, and aiming at individual water drops, started throwing punches. I seem to always move really fast once the camera is rolling… and this scene is the result of a hard ten minutes of shooting.
Less than a minute and a half long, but this little bit shows so much about the character I portray in the movie. So thrilled to be able to have my thoughts and much of my vision and ideas captured and polished with the talents and skills of my crew, and none more so than with Imoto.
We’re a long way from having a movie, but I can tell you that there are scenes after scene with glimpses of the magic we dream of all through what are making. Violent, relentless, emotional, and beautiful; it’s not like any movie we’ve ever worked on and probably not like anything you can imagine yet.
Reality Changes 2012
Kely