*What inspired you to create your first feature film and where did the idea for it come from?
D.L.: I’d have to say I was first inspired to make a feature back in Jr. High when I got out of writing a book report on ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by shooting an abridged adaptation with my friends. But I was inspired to write Sympathy, Said the Shark after two larger budgeted projects failed to raise their entire budgets. I was extremely frustrated with the system, so Casey Morris (producer) and I decided that money would no longer be the ultimate roadblock (although it’s always an obstacle). SSTS became our hell or high-water project. Apparently that mentality did the trick.
The idea itself came from several sources, one of those being Perspective. I found myself being quick to judge and wanted to get to the root of the problem. We are all shaped by our subjective view of the world. It makes us very reactionary. And sometimes the smallest things that we don’t see or don’t know could change our feelings towards a person or a situation. Who’s right and who’s wrong. And it’s never simply one or the other. So I wanted to tell a story where the viewer’s opinion was constantly changing and evolving based on new light that wasn’t available to all of the characters in the story itself.
Our three main characters have all wronged each other but they also strongly love each other. The film needed to be intimate and visceral so that every revelation or fear felt magnified, felt like the would in real life. A fitting cinematic device for this seemed to be shooting the majority of the film from the explicit POVs of the main characters. And every time we switch POVs there’s a slight overlap where we catch something—a look, a phone call, a bloody wound—that the previous character missed. This device also helped us keep the film visually interesting even though it took place in only one location.
M.F.: Before Sympathy, Said the Shark, Devin and I were a fairly prolific duo, pumping out a short film or an episode of a web series every 2 or 3 months, but they were mostly small projects that took just a day or two to shoot. We knew our work was getting better and we wanted to do something bigger, but we needed a feature script that was realistic for us to shoot on an ultra-low budget.
Devin was inspired by other indie filmmakers who had successfully made feature films for under $100,000 and he decided then and there that we would make a low-budget feature within the next 12 months. Within 3 months he had a script that played out almost entirely in one location (a house), essentially in real time, which was a great start at keeping the budget down.
*How has the world of indie filmmaking changed throughout the years?
D.L: Five years ago (probably less) we couldn’t have made this film on this budget. Plain and simple. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera didn’t exist and other advancements in technology have brought down prices in everything from hard drives to wireless transmitters. The huge success of a few micro-budget films has also changed the way people (agents, actors, crew) view micro-budge films in general. They don’t immediately tune out or hang up when you tell them you’re shooting a feature for 65K. Of course it still takes great lengths in order to convince them that you can properly execute and produce a film that will look and feel like a million bucks. I’m mind-blown that we got the brilliant cast we did for the mere pennies that we had to offer them. Indie filmmaking over the last few years has strengthened the belief that big things can happen with little money, which leaves it all up to the script, the story, to get people to sign on. Which is how it should be.
* Who came up with the creation of the POV rig built around the Pocket Cinema Camera? Why?
D.L: The POV helmet rig was born out of necessity. My goal was to make the POV shots feel as real as possible, and Mark’s (cinematographer) goal was to make them look as cinematic as possible. I wanted to be able to see the arms and legs and wounds of whoever’s POV we were in and allow the actors to interact directly so that their performances weren’t hindered. We decided on the POV helmet rig because the camera could hang in front of someone at eye level and they’d maintain most of their mobility.
When searching for the right camera the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera absolutely nailed all three of our three main factors: Cost, weight, and quality. The camera is lighter than any DSLR I know of, which is very important when mounting it to a helmet that someone will wear while performing long five minute takes, and the image has a distinctly cinematic quality that makes it feel more like film than any DSLR (or GoPro). And last but not least, even on our shoestring budget we were able to afford two pocket cameras. For our prototype POV rig we just bought a motorcycle helmet off of Craigslist, drilled a hole, and then hung the camera from a single Israeli arm. That was enough to know that we were on to something. From there Mark personally took the rig from toaster to Terminator by attaching all kinds of gadgets and stabilization gear.
M.F.: Devin knew he wanted the film to be presented from the characters’ POVs. He did some research and sent me some videos of POV style shooting mostly shot on DSLRs or GoPro style cameras. He also sent me a video of a DIY helmet cam rig that mounted a Canon 5D and a small field monitor on a motorcycle helmet. It was a very simple build and not what we needed, but it helped me get my head around what our helmet cam would need. We didn’t need a monitor, but I knew we had to mount a camera, 15mm rods, a remote follow focus, HD video transmitter and a power source. It also had to be light-weight, balanced and durable enough to survive stunts. In a few weeks we had a working helmet cam, and our camera of choice ended up being the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. We also mounted a Bartech remote follow focus, and a Paralinx Arrow wireless transmitter.
We had to have the remote follow focus and HD video transmitter because I would need my hands to be free while I wore the helmet. I had to play each of the characters and for the male characters I would look down at my hands and body, so I couldn’t have a hand on the lens pulling focus. We needed the Paralinx Arrow because my first AC had to pull focus off a monitor sometimes as far as 50 feet away from me as I was running around our set. He had to have the highest quality image possible to insure perfect focus at all times. Between the Paralinx and my Panasonic BTLH 2170 monitor, he was able to keep things very sharp.
* Any other cool DIY gadgets you all use and/or created while shooting?
D.L.: On a $65K budget pretty much everything feels DIY, but in particular, we had a few key story moments where cars pull up to the house or drive and the headlights needed to really blast our actors through the windows in order to stop them in their tracks at specific story moments. Car headlights weren’t high enough or powerful enough so our gaffer, Paul Monroe, hooked up two lights to a stand and then that stand to a track, so that the lights could roll up fast and swung around on a dime. It sells perfectly.
M.F.: The biggest advice I can give any indie filmmaker is to have a great script that is realistic to shoot. People bite off more than they can chew and end up cheating themselves in the end. A good story doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive to create. The other advice I have, is get a great crew. We had a very small crew, but every person did the work of two or three people. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such amazing and passionate people.
* What industry tip(s) can you share in regards to creating a successful indie film?
D.L.: It’s too early to call our film successful, although I guess getting any feature made is a near miracle, so my advice would be: Create. Go out and shoot short films, webisodes, and music videos until you have discovered your core creative force. A team of people who are talented, dependable, and a blast to work with. After that you will be able to shoot a feature for far less than you ever imagined. Just make sure you also choose the right project for your means. You couldn’t shoot The Avengers for 100K but you can make a damn good film for dinner money.
* What's next for you guys? Any other cool projects we should know about?
At the moment SSTS fills most of my horizon—I’m also editing the film as well—but my short techno-horror film The Instadamned (also shot by Mark) is currently being developed into a feature and Zak Bagans (executive producer) is in production on a very moving and harrowing documentary about the infamous “Demon House” in Gary, Indiana.
M.F.: We want to do another feature for sure. In the meantime we are all back to our day jobs, which for me is directing and shooting television shows. I just wrapped season 2 of KNIFE FIGHT for Esquire Network and will start season 2 of WHITE COLLAR BRAWLERS next month.
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