Craft Services -Or- "Would You Like Fries With Your Dialogue?"

Jim Geier
Producer/Co-Writer/Craft Services Manager

At least I know how I became co-writer for the movie: I talk a lot, and can string two (or two thousand!) words together to make a sentence. But how I got involved with the food thing is a bit more fuzzy. Basically, it appears to have come down to two crucial facts:

1) Johnny needed someone to worry about planning the meals, munchies, and drinks during the shoot; and...
2) I was breathing.

At first I was just going to do the planning and buying before-hand, and have one or more PAs on-set do all "the heavy lifting" during the actual shoot. This would let me stay at work and perhaps just do a little coordinating by phone if necessary. But so often PAs end up being assigned to a dozen different tasks each day, and I got to worrying about how well things would go without at least one person on-set every day whose primary concern was just the food. I really wanted people to enjoy the whole “Rapture” eating experience, rather than viewing it merely as something that kept them from starving. This way, I figured people would feel comfortable, happy, and well-cared for. Then we'd be able to spring the trap! ...Um, I mean [ahem] then they'd be able to do their best work. And perhaps more importantly, I wanted an excuse to see the movie getting made, after helping to write the darn thing! So I told my boss I'd be taking the first two weeks of July as vacation, told Johnny he'd have to put up with seeing more of me than usual, and got ready for the full Hollywood...uh, I mean, Cleveland... film-making experience.

I figured that taking care of things like munchies and bottled water wouldn't be too hard, since I could start stocking up on such non-perishables well before shooting began. (My "secret identity" as an engineer makes me like handling as much as possible before-hand, so less can blow up...uh, I mean, go wrong... at the last minute.) But as the first day of filming approached, I was nervous about some of the meals we'd be providing. A budget like ours had limited funds for food, and even with significant culinary donations lined up by Johnny and others, we still had a number of meals that were simply marked as “Cookout” or “Pizza And Salad”, our two generic fill-in designations.

Depending too much on cookouts – especially when we were talking about Port Clinton -- left me uneasy because there’s so much “real time” stuff that can go wrong: You need someplace to set up, someone who (unlike myself, at the time) knows how to grill, weather that decides to cooperate, etc. And as for “Pizza And Salad”: Well, pizza is one of my favorite foods, but I wasn’t sure how happy other people would be to have it for three or four days of the shoot. And then there were the vegetarians to keep in mind. And my hope to be able to take a couple days off so I could actually get some sleep during my vacation. And how would we deal with leftovers? And how much ice would we need? And what if there wasn’t enough food? Or they hated it? Or got botulism? And what about that whole global warming thing, anyway? And…

…But as it turned out, all the meals got covered more-or-less okay. (We ended up only needing to depend on cookouts for the first two days. And rather than having too much pizza, I think people probably would have liked one more pizza meal than we had.) Everyone was so gracious, and I had so much help from so many quarters, that I needn’t have worried in the first place. (Well, except about global warming.) The aid I received started with several of our Associate Producers:

- Wayne Orris helped arrange for meals in Port Clinton (which was especially important since I wasn't going to be in P.C. until the last two days of shooting).

- Ray Elkin helped plan and organize, did tons of buying that I couldn't get around to (including "day of" buying), provided supplies and utensils, and did grilling and cooking on the first two days of the shoot, as well as providing home-cooked vegetarian and "fill-in" food for other days. Ray had to work his "day job" through most of the shoot, but was indispensable even then, as he'd drop off supplies or go shopping before going in to work, and if necessary, be available afterward to help. And the two days I wasn't in Port Clinton, he ran the show.

- Kyle Znamenak -- yes, that Kyle, one of the stars of the movie! –- was always there to help with anything and everything, when he wasn’t acting. (And he tried to help even when he was acting, ‘till we told him, “No! You’re an actor, today! …Besides, you’d get mustard on your costume.”) From doing the grilling when Ray wasn't there – yes, he grills meat, he just doesn’t eat it :) -- to lugging water and ice, to arranging & replenishing the food & coolers, to microwaving leftovers, to watching over everything while I was out getting more water/ice/fill-in-the-blank, Kyle always made me and Ray confident that he had our back. (To the point that he was very appropriately granted the Associate Producer title in appreciation.)

But the help didn’t stop with our Associate Producers. Karen Joyce, possessed of multiple talents (including acting and makeup) and a face as beautiful as her spirit, was always ready to jump in when Ray and Kyle weren’t available, washing the fresh fruit, helping me clean, replenishing the coolers, re-arranging the ‘fridge so we could fit more leftovers in it, and so forth. And when we had more leftovers than we could handle, Karen was able to take them to the women’s shelter where she volunteers her time, so they wouldn’t go to waste. (Which did almost as much to make me feel good as just having her around did.)

And of course, there was Todd Metzendorf, our multifaceted EMT who ended up filling and lugging around the coolers for our multiple-unit days in Port Clinton (as well as taking our final leftovers for the fire fighters so they wouldn't go to waste). And Annie Kitral – that's right, Annie! – who helped lay out the food on more than one occasion, and who continuously buoyed my spirits with her grace and good humor. And Andy Sokol, who donated his self-built grill to the movie. And Kathy Fitzgerald and Anne Dombrowski, each of whom provided fresh fruit for the cast. And all the guys who lugged stuff in from my over-stuffed car every morning. And everybody who was so generous with the “thank you”s each day. And so on, and so on, and so on. Not to mention the businesses that so generously donated delicious food to our cause: C & Y Chinese Restaurant in Cleveland, Angelina's Pizza in North Olmsted, and the Subway sandwich shop in Port Clinton. My sincerest thanks -- and Johnny's, as well -- go out to each of you, cast, crew, and supplier. (And anyone I've forgotten to mention specifically.)

Certainly, there were things that could have gone better. I still kick myself over not verifying that Unit 2’s Lunch leftovers were getting put on ice for Dinner, that one day. And the grilled chicken on Day 2 wasn’t as moist as it might have been. And the vegetarians didn’t have as much variety in their meals as I’d hoped. And maybe we could have done with a little more fried chicken or pizza in place of a couple other meals. And my peanut sauce still needs work, and the whole Deja Blue water thing is best left forgotten, and…

Oh well, at least no one starved.

As for myself, I've said it several times since then: Despite a few moments when I wasn't the happiest camper in the world, the shoot was simultaneously the least relaxing and the funnest vacation I've ever had.

I'll close (finally!) with a few miscellaneous observations, recollections, and recommendations for anyone who decides to handle Craft Services in the future:

- You'd be surprised how much crap you can cram into a Honda Civic.
- But it still won't be as much as you'd like.
- Bottledwaterbottledwaterbottledwaterbottledwater. Preferably spring over purified (but in any case not Deja Blue). Some of it frozen, most of it refrigerated, and a bit left at room temperature for those who prefer it that way. Try to think of replenishing the coolers constantly.
- Besides the water: Lemonade 'cause it's nummy, Gatorade 'cause electrolytes are cool, and regular & diet pop/soda, because we’re brainwashed by corporate advertising (and need caffeine on occasion).
- Disposable foil roasters for miscellaneous uses, such as holding leftovers in the fridge and presenting fresh fruit on ice. Speaking of which…
- Ice. LOTS of it (especially when it gets in the high eighties or nineties, as during the first four miserably hot & humid days). But not so much so early that you end up having to leave it out to melt. (Plan to make a second ice run later in the day.)
- Pans of some sort – those foil roasters work well -- to lay the extra ice in because you DID get too much of it too early and had to let some of it melt, you moron! ;)
- Granola bars, Nutri-Grain bars, and Pop Tarts are okay, but people will apparently beat their own grandmothers to death for a few choice Clif bars.
- Munchies in several varieties, but especially Scoops. (As in Fritos.)
- Dip. (See above.)
- There are relatively few problems in the world that can’t be solved by good fried chicken.
- Funny memory: Being able to rattle off a few lines of dialogue to clarify something, and having JP wonder why the Craft Services guy knew the script so well.
- Pleasant memory: [Too many to list. Here's one at random.] Bagels & cream cheese from Panera Bread in the parking lot, serendipitously making a frustrating situation a little more fun.
- Pleasanter memory: Pizza & pool on our day off.
- Pleasantest memory: The mini-wrap party at the bar, drinking amaretto sours and watching Johnny not be the sober one, for once.
- A Final Question: Anyone need three left-over bags of charcoal and some lighter fluid?

Email from another actor - Ray Goodwin Jr.

Johnny,
Thank you, for making me apart of the Rapture project. You assembled a fantastic team both Cast and Crew for a wonderful experience. The crew was helpful, hardworking, and fun. The actors made a safe/supportive environment for each to start reaching their potential. My Appreciation, for the all the actors making a safe environment to trust one another, is deep. I learned something new from everybody on Set - how great it that! Annie especially, she is such a loving mentor/mother to us all and a loving soul. I made so many new discoveries in pursuing the craft of acting with Rapture… I feel like I’m on the tip of an invisible, undiscovered, Iceberg - and I just beginning exploration of it breadth, width, and depth... what a great feeling. Last but not least, you gave me the chance to FINALLY to do some Martial Arts on Screen – Awesome!! You have wetted my appetite for more and I see the direction and the skill sets I need to develop and refine to become top notch. Thank you for trusting in me. Allowing me an opportunity to choreograph a short scene was the icing on the cake. Please give my best and my heartfelt appreciation to everyone associated with this endeavor.

I hope to see you on set in the future,

Respectfully your,

“E” Ray Goodwin, Jr.

An email from main actor - George Tutie

Johnny,

I know this is kind of late and I'm sorry, but I felt I should thank you and everyone else for letting me be a part of this film. It was my first big project and you guys understood that. That made me feel very good. I'm not going to lie to you, there were times of frustration for me, but overall it was a very enjoyable experience. I liked meeting all the new people. Everyone was very nice to me and gave me tips on what I could improve and complimented me on things I did right.All the actors were great!Bryan,Anne,Kyle,Donna,Ray,etc.(sorry to people I left out)were all so great to work with.Even though I didn't have many scenes with Ray and Donna I loved working with them because I was able to work well off them because they gave me a lot to work with.Of course I can't forget Bryan,Anne,and Kyle.Anne was always great and always giving me pointers,Bryan was great bcause of his enthusiasm for his work,and Kyle just had this great personality that made me like working with him.Joseph,Karen and Christine were really great and helped me loosen up when I was getting frustrated.Especially Joseph. He is one funny guy!Johnny without you I wouldn't have had the pleasure of doing this project.Thank you again!I know Donna wrote a similar thank you, but I just really felt that I should write one as well.
P.S. Ihope post production is going well.
George Tutie

An email from an actress - Donna Williams

Being a director, sometimes it is hard to know if the actors enjoyed their experience with me, so when I received this email, I felt the warmth inside me and tears filled my eyes. I thank her for reminding me how fun it was during the shoot and thank her for being there through the shoot. Here, with her permission, I've posted the entire email for your reading.

Hi Johnny, I hope all is well. I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how wonderful of an experience I had while being a part of The Rapture. Even from the first moment when you had asked me if i would be interested in doing this project with you I was absolutely tickled. As time went on and the moment of our table read and rehearsals were upon us I was wondering if I would be able to deliver the type of performance that you wanted for your movie. There were some pretty heavy scenes in there and I did not want to cheat the movie of their powerfulness.

On the first day of shooting there was an electrical problem that left the actors waiting. This was a blessing in disguise! I can not speak highly enough of Annie for getting us together to run lines, practice scenes, work on background stories for our characters. She helped so much in the ways to remember lines, actions with purpose, living in truth of the character. She was and is amazing! So very generous with her time and talents. She was truly a gift to this project. Just a real and sincere and wonderful caring human being who is also extremely talented! Holy cow she's good! Just a delight to be around and watch her play. Incredible!

All of the actors were very generous and open in their scenes. I did not get to do much with George and Kyle and Mary and Tom, but I really enjoyed being able to watch them do their scenes and talk with them when I could, if only for a moment, they are really nice people.

I was very nervous about the whole "death and dying" scene with Brian. We really had not spent a lot of time together. And we were going to shoot that within the first two days! I had asked Peter for a closed set and that request was honored. Everyone, and I mean everyone, on that set was so professional. They knew that this was going to be a very emotionally charged and difficult scene and they respected every aspect about it. Even when Joseph had to re-aply my make-up he handled himself in the most respectful and professional manner possible. I must mention how giving and supportive Brian was throughout that scene. He really made it safe and possible for us to "go where we needed to go" to make the moment happen. The thing I was scared the most of has become my finest and proudest moment. I will cherish that always! This project enabled me the oppurtunity to see where I am in my craft and where I can go and where it is I need to go yet. I learned so very, very much being with all of the wonderful people that you had involved in this project. This will stay with me always.

Brandy is truly a great person. She is and was so much fun to be with. I feel as if we truly bonded as "sisters". We talked about missing each ohter on the days that we did not shoot together! I just got so used to having her right by my side that it has been a strange adjustment not to see her. She is a very talented and giving person as well. We ran scene after scene after scene together working on what our relationship was like as "sisters". We really delved pretty deep into things and I fell that all of that payed off. She is very talented and committed to her craft and generous with her knowledge. She was just so great to work with and I miss my seeester!

Thanks for making her my sister!

I feel that Ray also did a wonderful job as well. Man that guy can be intense! Wow! Talented! Also very giving in his knowledge as well. I know he took his time to share with the guys on sparing and characters. I know that they really appreciated him for that. From the first time that I met Ray at the martial art class we hit it off and seemed to have this bond which worked out great for the film because that enabled both of us to trust one another with where we felt we needed to go with the scenes. The scene after the "cat fight" was another intense and emotonally charged scene. All three of us knew that we could trust one another and take that scene to as high as we could with it because it was such a pivotal point in the film where Mia knows that she has to betray her true love. She knows that she has to lose everything with Job in order to save him. None of us had worries. We knew that we could rely on and trust one another to do what we needed to do and go where we needed to go. That is another of my favorite scenes.
The crew was great! I made so many friends through this experience. My life truly is richer for it. What a wonderful job you did in picking the people you did to work with. I have too many fond and awesome memories to mention! This would turn into a novel if I did! I simply could not have asked for a better experience, better people, better memories. All others will pale in comparison to this one. This was my first great film that I did. Great in meaning how much I loved what I was doing! Loved it! Loved the people and could not wait to get up the next day so that I could come and play again!

This has really been a life changing experience. I now know that when called upon I can perform. I know that I have much to learn yet and always will, but I 'm so excited about finding out more and trying more and doing more!!!!!

For the first time my father is actually supporting me in my decision that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life!...Tremendous, emotional, amazing...I didn't know if he ever would. Thank you. I think that he could see the excitement in my eyes and felt the energy from this and believed.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Loved it, love you, simply lovely! You and Peter and Cynthia and Sarah and Andy and Joseph and Jason and Mandy and Marc and J.P. and, and , and everyone...all just wonderful and talented people. And I mean everyone...too many to list, but all equally important never the less. I will cherish this always. So again I thank you my friend, I thank you! What an amazing journey and I am so glad that I got to share it with you, and the entire crew! Can't say enough about the awesome and committed group of people.

Thanks for letting me play!

XOXO, Donna (Mia)

The Rapture
Through the eyes of the head medic
Todd Metzendorf

I am a fulltime firefighter / paramedic and this was my first endeavor into the film industry thanks to Johnny Wu. Let’s just say I hope to be back for more. I would like to thank the whole cast and crew. Every time I had a safety concern or wanted to check someone out medically from something I observed, they were all very cooperative. All the actors showed up in top physical condition which made injuries minimal. The days were long and hot, mostly filming 12-14 hour days. There were occasional jokes pulled on people, but that just helped keep people sane. With the heat, we kept craft services hopping. Going through hundreds of bottles of water and they met the task every time. Although sometimes the food was cool, thanks to the director holding filming longer then anticipated, the food was always good and plenty. They even made sure to deal with some special needs of people. Thanks for keeping us going all 13 days guys!!!

It took a few days, but by the second weekend you could see the crew bonding and becoming more family like. This helped things move more smoothly the second week at a more critical time. The second week we were out of town in Port Clinton. By being more of a family atmosphere, it made it easier for the crew to deal with being away from home. The actors mostly change from movie to movie but hopefully Johnny will keep this crew mostly intact for the next movie so it won’t take as long to become “family”.

The actors for this movie showed passion and dedication. They showed up everyday well prepared and ready to go, which made for fewer takes per scene. I even saw several one take scenes, How often does that happen? Watching the actors intensity and facial expressions while acting was amazing. I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw a few future big screen stars.

There were several days of wire stunts. The wire team gelled after the first weekend. They always set up the rigging in a timely manor and safety was their main concern, double and triple checking the rigging and harness prior to every stunt. The only problem with the wire stunts, was getting the actors out of the harness. They loved the stunts so well, they kept asking to practice more or do one more take “for safety”.

After the wire team was ready, the lighting and camera team moved in to get ready. Although they ran into several building concerns, natural light issues, and some electrical problems, they always found a way to work through it with few filming delays.

Now the fun work is done and the main work is starting. It is now time to edit, piece together, add effects and make the movie. With the intensity and dedication I saw on set, I have no doubt the editing process will be the same and the end result will be an amazing movie. Thanks to all for making my first movie a great experience and I can’t wait to see the final product!

Wire-fu for The Rapture

Andrew Sokol
Wire & Stunt Coordinator
Fight Choreography
Safety Coordinator
‘Set McGyver’

Well, I thought The Chase was over the top with three “simple” project goals:
1. Choreograph a 2-3 minute fight
2. In an elevator, oh, and
3. At least one of the fighters will be wired for ‘Matrix’ like fighting
4. And leave room for 4 cameras in the elevator

We did it and had loads of fun doing it.

The “A Joker’s Card” project Johnny Wu asked us to wire two fighters to fight each other at the same time. Well, Wayne Orris saved the day by fabricating a ceiling track with dollies that allowed two pulling teams to track with the fighters as they moved along the track. Fortunately, we didn’t even have a single mid-air crash other than the scripted type.

“Hey Andy…” Johnny starts and I sense another Laws-of-Physics bending idea coming my way. Sure enough, some of the fight scenes in “The Rapture” will bend yet more Laws of Physics. Since we are trying to minimize the amount of CGI we have to figure out how to wire up the two main characters to fight in the style of the Matrix except one actor will have a 14 foot long tail and the other a 14 foot wide wing span physically attached to them while they fight. Two problems here: wire entanglement and actors crashing into eachother.

Man, I’m gonna need help with this one. Good thing we have a great props and FX guy Tom Luhtala! Another key to this is Christine Chapman in Wardrobe & Make-up. Throw in Wayne Orris who will fabricate an overhead frame which will maintain fighter-to-fighter orientation and we should have this challenge licked.

While all this is being done, our actors are busy with various Martial Arts Masters in Cleveland, Canton and Columbus to horn their fighting skills.

The yank and fly you see in the teaser trailer worked well. Six takes went as planned, almost. On one take, a bronze swivel failed, sending Chandler Chapman flying toward the pullers behind him. It turns out the swivel casting had a bubble inside which could only be detected by x-ray imaging. That swivel was the one and only component that wasn’t safety wired because it needed to swivel and a back-up wire would have prevented that. This goes to show you: DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! Even with our experience, the unexpected can happen. Fortunately, Chandler is okay with no permanent damage done.

As the shoot date approaches the action sequences are jelling nicely. Fight timing is getting closer and closer. In the final fight scene between E and the Chimeras we create a timeframe offset. E is so enhanced that he moves 3 times faster than the Chimeras. This allows E loads of time to anticipate and react to the kicks and punches thrown at him. He actually uses Jonathan as a shield moving him into the way of the other attackers. E is so fast that this fight takes place in the real-time frame kept by a set of silver balls E tosses up in the air and catches after the first clash. Should be a neat visual result.

Stay tuned. We’re working hard to bring you a polished anime action flick!

Now Johnny, about that exploding water cooler gag…

Scoring the teaser

Aryavarta Kumar (aka Arya)
Composer and Music Supervisor


If you haven't already seen the teaser, I encourage you to watch it before and after this post so that you might get an idea of how certain parts of it came together.

It happened one night in April when Johnny sent me a message saying we needed to create the teaser....urgently. All the video was shot, so all that remained to do was edit it together in a coherent manner that would attract investment and/or interest from everyone who watched it. But where do we start? That was the dilemma Johnny presented to me. We had a rough framework of how the teaser should sound and had talked about the idea for a few months, but now we had to make things happen.

We knew we wanted Taiko drums to present an Asian feel for the teaser and we knew the start would essentially be large hits of the drum before speeding up to the finale. So in about 15 minutes, I put together an mp3 of the intro sequence with large Taiko hits and sent it over to Johnny. He edited together some scenes and sent it back to me. This time there was some extra video with no music on it, so I used that as a guide to develop the next musical segment of the teaser. What I wrote then extended past Johnny's video segment. Over the next day or two, we largely completed the teaser.

It was this back and forth process that eventually developed into the teaser. We were feeding off each other's ideas (visually and musically) to create flow. It was a very interesting way to work and certainly the piece that I wrote helped shape the teaser as you see it.

I won't talk much about the actual instruments used here, but suffice it to say, that having an almost exclusively Taiko drum musical track creates a unique atmosphere that draws attention. Exactly what we wanted for the Rapture.

After composing the piece, I worked with Richard on designing the surround sound aspects of the mix. The drums and hits were divided between the speakers in such a way so that it sounded very dynamic. But we had to mix this in with dialogue as well to make sure that any lines weren't drowned out by loud Taiko drums. Richard and I have a good working relationship having worked on the Surround Sound mix for A Joker's Card and also having worked on a play together (T.I.D.Y.). Getting the mix for the teaser was essentially a practice run for how things would work for the feature itself. And yes, everything worked out fine.

Finally, I am trying to get the Taiko piece that you hear in the main segment of the teaser performed by a local Taiko drum group of which I am a member. Quite possibly some of the Rapture teaser music might be playing at a concert hall near you!