Don't Fear "The Reaper"
|
 |
|
|
L-to-R, Eddie Sturgeon, Rick Danford, and Noeland Collins hard at work preparing a shot for The Reaper |
|
Flying solo for the first time as "Enigma Films", horror filmmaker Rick Danford has embarked on his first cinematic project under the new banner. His short film, "The Reaper" began (and wrapped; Rick don't fool around) production over the July 10, 2004 weekend. Rick plans on using "The Reaper" as a film festival entry piece and as an investment tool to woo benefactors to fund his dream project, "All Hallow's Eve" - an ambitious horror anthology feature that will feature 5 horror stars: Tom Savini, Brinke Stevens, Debbie Rochon, Linnea Quigley,and Tiffany Shepis - all together for the first time. "All Hallow's Eve" will feature 4 segments to be written and produced by established local horror filmmakers: Rick Danford, Noeland Collins, and yours truly. For more info about "All Hallow's Eve" - visit the Official Website: http://www.enigma-films.com/all_hallows_eve.htm
|
 |
|
|
Chris Polidoro and Marcus Koch |
|
Shooting on "The Reaper" began on Saturday, July 10th, however I was unable to Assistant Direct (my position on the film) that day, but I heard the shoot went well. Mostly the crew tackled flashback sequences. Sunday saw the bulk of the film being produced, as a small army amassed on a Safety Harbor house.
The shoot went as well as to be expected, with some minor setbacks (such as a pesky "clean video heads" warning) that occasionally tripped things up. Thankfully, there were no major disasters; in fact Eddie Sturgeon and myself to the rescue as we fetched a pile of duvetyn (a black cloth that blocks light) from my house (from the "Filthy" shoot) to tape to the windows to simulate darkness - that saved hours of shooting time. Once the crew got into the groove at about 10:30am, things really began to fly. Takes were completed so fast that I barely had any time to write notes down.
|
 |
|
|
Damian Beurer and Krista Grotte |
|
Stars Krista Grotte ("Filthy", Necro Nancy of "The Nightmare Collection") and Damian Beurer ("We're Coming to Save You") were excellent, despite uncomfortable conditions (an extremely hot bedroom/mouthfuls of stage blood) - both were real troopers. Tech-wise, the production was in good hands with seasoned DP Noeland Collins behind the lens, and pro audio master Eddie Sturgeon manhandling all the production audio. Steve Snead worked with Noeland in lighting the rooms (way to bounce that flashlight, Steve!).
"The Reaper" was shot using Enigma Films' new Panasonic DVX100A 3 CCD camera which claims to simulate motion picture film better than most video cameras on the market. Familiar faces abound among the crew, with Jeania Ingle ("Filthy") handling the Production Design and the dynamic duo of Chris Polidoro ("Unearthed", "Afterlife") and Marcus Koch ("The Pledge", "Demonlition Derby" trailer). Damian's girlfriend Amanda was present to take the slack on P.A. duties (which included helping me tape up duvetyn), and talented photographer Toivo Voll was present snapping literally hundreds of outstanding production photographs. Incidentally, Toivo was wearing the coolest T-shirt I've seen all year - a HAL 9000 shirt from "2001 A Space Odyssey". Another outstanding crew member I met for the first time was Mary Moore Guyer, who was on slate duty.
 | |
|
Chris and Damian |
|
|
 |
|
|
Krista Grotte |
|
After a long day (14 hours...) we wrapped at about 10:30pm and everyone went home, tired but intensely happy at having worked hard to help Rick make "The Reaper" a reality. For more info on Enigma Films "The Reaper": http://www.enigma-films.com/reaper.htm
"Oddservations" is ©2004 by Andy Lalino. The Oddservations banner is a creation of Andy Lalino. All other graphics (unless otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2004 by Nolan B. Canova.
Now in our fifth calendar year
