The Rapture feature film

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

2006-08-10T20:31:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-07-28T11:24:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-26T10:06:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-25T12:47:00.000-04:00

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)

2006-07-23T19:57:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-05T08:55:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-30T00:34:00.000-04:00

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!

Highlights of the Score to A Joker's Card

2006-05-12T19:29:00.000-04:00

Aryavarta Kumar (aka Arya)
Composer and Music Supervisor

Sometimes music stays in the background of a film and sometimes it comes to the foreground, but always, music must add the extra dimension of emotion and mood to amplify the movie going experience.

I was excited at the prospect of scoring "The Rapture" and after working with Johnny on his previous film "A Joker's Card", we agreed that some of the concepts we developed would continue on in the new score. So as a framework for "The Rapture", I thought it might be helpful to describe the scoring process in "A Joker's Card."

It all started back in 2004 when I wrote my first Taiko drumming (Japanese drumming)demo for Johnny. At the time, "A Joker's Card" was still in pre-production, but he loved the traditional 'Asian sound.' It ended up being placed as the score for the original teaser and used subsequently for inspiration throughout the production watch the first teaser to listen to the piece I'm referring to). After getting down to actual filming, I sat back and absorbed all that I could. I wanted to be inspired by Johnny's vision for "A Joker's Card," make sure that his story flowed well musically, while also adding a little creative blend of my own style. The end result is the soundtrack which you can buy here.

The score combines aspects of Danny Elfman's grand militaristic marches (heard in the original Batman series) with the brass stylings of the Batman TV series, and to top it off, an Asian flair that carried Johnny's interpretation. Jonathan's theme, a childish piano-bell theme that echos both innocence and mischeviousness while conveying a passionate desire to rule the world was a fun one to write; It came from an inspiration I had from Elfman's wonderful Batman themes. I occasionally perform it at events that I play and it is distinctive enough that people now associate that theme with "A Joker's Card." I had originally written a much more complex orchestral version of it, but decided against including it because of Jonathan's character. Kyle did a wonderful job acting and I think Jonathan's theme plays off Jonathan quite well.

The Asian elements really come out in the fight between Ekin Tzu and Nightwing. The deep Taiko hits deliver quite a powerful sound and really adds depth to the entire fight. Since much of the footage was sped up during the fight scene, I decided to use the music to slow the pacing down a bit, to add some realism. It's a subtle touch actually based on how I designed the beats, but it works quite well.

Next post, I'll talk about the scoring of the Rapture teaser. So tune in soon.

Official Poster

2006-05-06T22:32:00.000-04:00

Special effects department checking in

2006-05-06T17:44:00.000-04:00

Tom Luhtala

Special effects supervisor/Producer

Hi, you don't know me. If you'll indulge me I'll give you the quick bio. I grew up in the Cleveland area, dreaded the day in day out kind of job in a factory that seemed to go with the family. My godfather always seemed to be doing something that blew my mind when I would visit, he had huge spaceships built from toys and hardware items, or his attic was built up into a space city or medieval landscape, or a giant robot was forming in his garage. In school I took some art classes and thought that special effects would be something fun, hey who wouldn't want to work in movies? I went to school for it out in Pittsburgh, the art institute specifically then came back home to get some money together to head elsewhere and make a living. I'm still here and still working at it, for many reasons, but mainly because the low budget movies seem to have the most opportunity and I'd love to see Cleveland become a new film center for the country.

With that said, I go back to "The Chase" with Johnny when the opportunity to work with him was presented to me. He had some wild ideas for what he wanted to do and I was interested in seeing how far he could take them. I'd say that after The Chase and "A Joker's Card" he can and has done a lot of what he wanted to. Nothing is ever dull with Johnny, that's half the fun, the other half is the crews he can get together and as stupid as you may think it, the energy that everyone has.

I've been given a lot of work on this movie and a lot of flexibility to pull things off. If you've seen the official site of the movie, rapturethemovie.com then you know that at least one character has wings, rather large wings to be more specific. They come in at about a ten foot wingspan. One of my jobs is building those, as a working practical effect. The process started out as another "use myself as a test bed" when I had some help from John Prisel to lifecast my back. A fiberglass plate was made that the wings would be attached to, along with pneumatic and electrical controls to operate them. The wings themselves are rather lightweight, under 10 pounds for the test set used in the teaser trailer. An aluminum framework covered by foam and fabric, and finished with foam feathers compose most of the wings. With some of the bugs worked out the set or sets used for the film will essentially be built the same way. Joints will be added at the wrist so they can bend towards his chest, a better more anatomical musculature will be made to cover the metal skeleton, and the feathers will be more detailed and should be able to pivot allowing the wings to fold naturally. Most of the other movies that have had wings have either made several sets that do one thing or another and get swapped out, a few have had one set that does everything but weigh in at 60 pounds or more. One of the biggest challenges that I'm approaching is trying to get a set of wings that CAN do everything while staying at a reasonable weight and looking good. The use of foam for the feathers should help with this quite a bit. Vacuum forming feathers into their shape and only adding the minimum plastic shaft should find some balance to this problem.

Another very fun job will be Job's tail. To keep some things under wraps for the time being, I'll just give a brief idea of what's going into this. The tail, like the wings, will be a metallic enhancement to his body. The design has drawn on crayfish, lobsters, crabs, insects, and machinery. The size is still in flux, but it will be impressive, and just wait until you see what it can do.

I'm trying to involve a long time co-worker, Don Bumgarner into things. Don and I go back several years, to when we were at school. He's worked with me on many projects, including working with Tom Sullivan last fall, a high point for a couple of evil dead fans. We're going to get to do quite a few other fun things from some sci-fi type weapons, armor, and helmets to other chimera enhancements and the challenges of making everything look good, be safe for all the stunts and stuntmen, and come in under budget and on time. Besides Don I'd love to get my godfather involved on a few of the things and have several other people who will probably be helping out in various capacities to make Johnny's wild dreams become reality.

One last note before I let you go, and that is to address the teaser. Things you saw will change, if you liked certain things you should be even more impressed with the movie, and if you didn't the final product will make you forget about anything you were disappointed with. I have faith in everyone Johnny has brought in on this.

You'll have to stay tuned to see what we've got going into this movie. Here's something to further tease and taunt all of you who love that behind the scenes kind of thing. I know you're out there.

See you soon with more.

Tom

The Scripting Process

2006-05-03T21:59:00.000-04:00

Jim Geier - Producer/Writer

Prior to "The Rapture", my only experience with film making had been providing a little financial support -- and some help filling out festival applications -- for Johnny's award-winning short film, "A Joker's Card" (for which I received a Producer credit). But I loved that experience and knew I wanted to glom onto –uh, I mean, help in some capacity on -- his next project. Because I share Johnny's love of movies and comic books and have a fairly extensive knowledge of science fiction and fantasy, we ended up spending a lot of time talking about the new story he was writing, and nailing down various issues of background, plot, and characterization. And because I’m supposedly good with words (meaning I talk too much) and can type fairly well, at a certain point it seemed natural for me to offer my help in editing the script of which Johnny had written the first draft. When I did so, he graciously replied that he had had me in mind for that task.

All the basics of plot and theme were already present in the script. My goal was to...
a) Naturalize the dialog;
b) Flesh out the descriptions;
c) Inject some humor; and
d) Make sure it all "hung together" in terms of character interaction & development, theme, and a few miscellaneous plot points.

Item (a) -- naturalizing the dialog -- was uppermost in my mind, as Johnny's thinking can sometimes be more visual than verbal, and his written English is…uh…well, …Johnny’s. :) But because this film is very much a live-action anime story, I strove to maintain a style of speech and interaction that was slightly "over the top" in that vein while still being "normal" enough not to distract general viewers or put them off. (I guess time will tell how successful this effort was.)

As I spent more time on the script, though, I found concern over Item (d) becoming increasingly significant. The story always made enough sense in terms of its plot, but I wanted to make sure that by the time we reached the end, I (and, I hoped, the audience) would care about what had happened. That is, that people would feel in some small way that it MATTERED whether this character died or whether those characters were reconciled (and why), and so forth. I didn’t want it to be "just a bunch of stuff that happened", to paraphrase Homer Simpson (one of my favorite philosophers). Ultimately, I think the script works in this regard, too. But again, time and the audience will tell.

A month or two of sending revisions back and forth as I worked through the script proved gratifying when Johnny liked my changes and occasionally agonizing when things had to be cut. I got to see first-hand how acute is Johnny's sense of flow and pacing, and how that managed to balance my natural tendency toward verbosity. Of course, Johnny has the final say on what stays and what goes. But we did compromise in a few places by casting the dialog in such a way that it could be shot as written, but later cut short if that proved necessary for pacing. (I figure that if it gets shot, then at least there's a chance it will end up in some version of the film. ...Or in the Deleted Scenes section of the DVD, if nowhere else.)

Even with Johnny's moderating influence, my natural wordiness had the final version of the script including much more description – of location, suggested camera angles, and non-verbal character interaction – than is probably customary. Several of the producers mentioned that the extra description was useful to them in certain ways, but the consensus was that a paired-down version would be more appropriate for the actors. Christine Chapman took on the task of producing such a reduced "cast version" from the full "crew version". (She also reconciled with proper film jargon my untutored attempts to describe shots and camera angles.) The full version has been made available to the cast as well, since certain passages only make sense if one knows the non-verbal parts of an exchange as well as the dialog.

My involvement with the script – and with the project as a whole – to this point has been tremendously satisfying to me. It leaves me in that wonderful position of not being able to wait to see what happens next...

Before I go, here are some random observations and thoughts I've gleaned from the process so far, in no particular order:

- As long as you COULD explain some plot point if necessary, don’t feel that you must. Implication is often better than outright explanation. Not only does it not paint you into a corner; it can be more interesting than the "real" explanation would be.
- Writing something with a comic bookish tone -- and I mean that in a good sense -- is particularly fun because you can have people speak a little better than most do in real life. I don’t mean grammatically better, but more interestingly, perhaps with a little extra wit or class.
- Getting to include little bits of humor might be the most viscerally satisfying part of the process, when the humor works. I felt I got lucky in this regard, as people seem to "get" the jokes and think they generally work in the context of the film. (More on this in a later post, perhaps.)
- Include the extraneous descriptive detail if it helps you work through the scene while writing it. (Writing the script as pseudo-prose can help determine whether things make sense story-wise, especially if the basic story didn’t originate with you.) Just be willing to let the descriptions go, if necessary, when others say they must.
- This includes things like suggested camera angles, slow-motion indications, etc. It goes without question that the director will ultimately determine the blocking of the scene regardless of what’s in the script, but this sort of stuff can help the writer visualize things better, and that’s always a good thing. (At least, *I* think so.) And if something strikes you as cool or useful, it never hurts to offer it for others' consideration.
- It makes things easier to write when you’ve had a chance to see & hear the actors who will be playing the roles, as I did during the auditions & callbacks. (Again, anything that helps you visualize it...)
- I've seen enough episodes of "Project Greenlight" to know that some scenes or some bits of scenes will end up on the cutting room floor no matter how cool, well-done, or "absolutely indispensable" I may think they are. I just hope I manage to do my crying in private.

The Rapture Teaser Cast and Crew

2006-04-26T23:13:00.000-04:00

The Rapture Teaser Cast and Crew

So, Im writing this blog to thank those who helped made April 8-9, 2006 a fun teaser shoot weekend, these people, without them, wouldnt make this project as easy it can go J So now, in no particular order, I presents you, the cast and crew for The Raptures teaser shoot!

Brian Richeson, who plays Job/Abaddon, the dude that shoots energy ball. If you pay attention to one of the scene within the teaser, youll see tears WOW, didnt know he is sooo dedicated that he created those tear drops.

Jeff Yanik, producer, and 1st AD, he made sure everyone is on time and on target, and he kept reminding everyone to move forward with time Hes good and hes there to keep us moving, he also the one that gets a lot heat than anyone else. But he knows its all for the FILM! J

Mark Labuda, dont under estimate this kid, hes young but hes full of energy, he was the one in charge of BTS footages (behind the scene), and he is going to edit it together, he spent more tapes than any of the units: 3 or 4 tapes. Boy, I can feel his pain during editing J

Andrew Spence, our official first intern, thanks to CSU and hes really eager and learning fast, I remembered first time he came onboard to help me at NBTVs shoot, very quiet, shy and not knowing what to do, but with the teaser, he was bold and step up to the plate and did whatever needed, youll see him in many of the BTS photos, doing from holding a bounce board to pulling an actor.

Andrew Sokol, producer, and my McGyver, hes the one that I HAVE to listen to for safety and pulley/wire work. We have some discussion during the teaser shoot, mainly because I want it done quick but he wanted to have it done right, he is right and I have to do the way it ought to be. If you have a safety guy there, LISTEN to him dont even bother arguing. Hed worked as my stunt coordinator/safety/wire-work person from my first film The Chase, then to A Jokers Card, then to The Lesson, then now to The Rapture, hes just someone I can trust with my life without doubt knowing he will keep me safeI hope J One more thing, when we first planned for the teaser, I wanted one person to be pulled back and one to be yanked, but then when we find out we got military outfit donated from Malabar Front (thank you Michael!), I thought, why not have 4 military guys and have 3 of them at least, to be yanked backward? Well, me and my big mouth, made things more difficult and more time consuming, but Master Sokol got it done for me, so I have my big 4 men being thrown back scene. Master Sokol was part of several awards winning films.

George Tutie, plays Midael, the guy with those wings, hes new and innocentYeah right! But he has that presence, even though he has little appearance but its enough to strike a memorable role. Youll see more of him in the feature.

Joseph A. Shaw, our 2nd unit makeup/wardrobe, he is a great help, and of course, give Christine Chapman a strong team that can make everyones makeup done on time and beautiful for the scenes. Hes helped in my other project like Drama Queen Music Video and En Passant The guy who got a black eye and looked beaten up thats his artwork.

Christine Chapman, producer and wardrobe/makeup, I gave her my vision, she made it happen, THATs the type of person you NEED in your film! Shes worked with me in the past in my project and Ive worked on her, its always fun J Her short films, where I helped as well, won some awards as well!

Brandy Seymour, plays Ydnarb, a Chimeara. I remembered the first time when I first met her, I thought isnt she the girl that plays the daughter in Bettlejuice??? She was trained in a brief time with Tony Brown in Columbus and then she showed off her skill, very impressive I might add, even when we modified the movement a bit, she did them well! A dedicated actress from Columbus.

Armon Arcuri, our Sound/Boom/PA, whatever you need him for. I met him through Cleveland IndieClub, and then got him involved in several of my short films: The Lesson, Drama Queen, Going Postal, and now this feature. I also worked with him during Christine/Chandlers shoot Rubble. He learns quick and since we have worked together in the past, it makes working together now very easy. I still remember the funny joke we did on him after his wrong wording during Drama Queen music video shoot.

Chandler Chapman, a martial artist and producer, and he plays Captain Michael, the dude who works for the underground mob and also for the military. Hes a great sport and when I asked if I can have wired and being tossed back, he said SURE. Little did he know that later, he got bruises, pain and more, a small accident happened during the teasers shoot. Hes in charge of military men trainings. He and Christine has created award winning films and also involved in other awards winning projects.

Peter Sampson, our 2nd unit Director. Since Mr. John Sheetz of Los Angeles couldnt know us this time, I have to enlist someone who I can trust and know what hes doing plus can get it done FAST, because of our tight schedule. So I thought, since Peter is one of the partner of an advertising agency, he MUST know how to work under pressure and get things done quick. So I asked him, and he said SURE! (Note, I also thought of Peter John Ross, the great director from Columbus, but I decided to let Mr. Ross to come here as a guest director while I can work very closely from someone here in town to make matter easier for me and logistic concerns). Peter and I worked in the past so we have a good working relationship and we can understand each other. As the director of the film, I gave Peter a lot of freedom in creative thinking and setup, because his scenes and mine arent connected so its easier for him to work on the look and feel while I do the same for mine. So, when he said he would be delighted to work with me, I smiled. A short film 3:18 where he DPed, recently won the 27th Telly Award, 3:18 is directed by Tony Samangy (whom will DP for 2nd unit). Congrats!

James Orosz, my buddy, my friend, and a very responsible kiddo. He had helped me a lot since A Jokers Card and had laid on a very cold floor to play a dead guy (outside in the snow) for Christines short film The Rubble, a good sport dude. J He also is a creative individual; look for stuff that will be used in the feature that he created! He was involved in several awards winning filmmakers’ project.

Cynthia Graham, our 2nd unit script supervisor, married to Peter Sampson and helps out at our shoot, shes the one who keep Peter in check!

Bill Johns, our DP (Director of Photography) and a guy very savvy on the technology and things to do to make a picture look good. Must check out his latest film Madness when its done, youll be blown away. Bill also co-chair Cleveland IndieClub and helps run the show with me. Ive worked with him on and off between his film and mine, I think he is what helped elevate the filmmaking standard bar in Cleveland. Bill is one of the few in Cleveland who had won several awards for several of his films.

Tom Luhtala, producer, and also in charge of the props and sci-fi stuff, he is also the MAN that did those incredible wings and soon, other stuff that you will be marveling all over in the feature. Tom worked with me since The Chase and Im glad that I got to work with him back then and helped me out, in A Jokers Card, not only he did the outfit for Nightwing, he also made my mask plus playing a small role in the film. And he got a strong head/shoulder, as he was the cause of a dent in the wall at Talkies. Its all good J Thanks to him and others, A Joker’s Card received a Telly Award for Best Entertainment short films.

Anne Dombrowski, executive producer for The Rapture, came and helped out, she was supposed to stay for A BIT, but she stayed for the entire shoot days, I am sure she had a great time, and Im glad she wasnt contagious (she was ill for almost a week). Ive worked with her on several nonprofit fundraising events so Im happy to have her back in creating this movie with her partner Peter Taylor and Monarch Pictures Ltd.

Peter Taylor, a friend and executive producer as wel, he and Anne formed Monarch Pictures Ltd., which their goal is to provide funding for The Rapture. They are working hard and they are excited to get involved in this fun project. Peter, like Anne, was going to stay only a bit during the teaser shoot, but they stayed till end. J

Micah Jenkins, plays a military soldier, from Columbus like Brandy, came a day earlier to hang out and help, thank you. And hes a good sport to allow me to have him yanked backward. He took some basic fallback training with Master Tony Brown in Columbus and came to do this.

Raymond Elkin, our grand chef! If you think you we would only have sandwitches for everyones lunch, you are wrong! We have pasta salad, pasta noodle with beef, vegetarian dishes, fruits, frozen fruits, brownies, muffins, etc. And guess what, HE COOK IT ALL. J Expect the same type of food for the shoot dates (except for those days when we have a huge crew/cast of 100 and over).

Donarld Gregory, our 2nd Unit Camera man, Peter relied on him to make sure the scenes are good, he and Peter, using 2 cameras for their scenes, he also worked with me on previous short music video Drama Queen, but he didnt had the opportunity to work on A Jokers Card so, Im glad he agreed to help out this time.

Donna Williams, plays Mia Myros, Chimeara, working for E and tries to capture Dr. Gutierrez, she came prepared, knowing her lines and in a VERY short time, learned the fight sequences with Brandy and did the fight scene! Nice! She was a camera person for A Jokers Card.

Richard Ingraham, the guy who quietly does all the sound/audio for A Jokers Card is BACK, this time prepared and know better how to do a more impressive work! He is the guy who also spent countless of 3rd shift hours to work with me on the 5.1 surround sound during A Jokers Card, it was a nightmare but we figured out! The Rapture teaser is also 5.1 dolby surround sound as well! He’s involved in many award winning films and performing arts projects.

Brendan Malloy, remember those falling ceilings from The Rubble? The man behind the CG work is back with a vengeance Not really, hes responsible to do the not easy stuff, like the wings when in fight sequences (obviously real actual wings cant be used there), so, his work is surely show at the end of the teaser.

Aryavarta Kumar, composer for all my films since 2005! Yeap, he did the entire score for A Jokers Card and then became the most sought composer in Cleveland, after/during AJC, he gets all type of composing opportunities (for Bill Johns, George Butiri, Ray ONeal, Christine/Chandler Chapman and many others). So, he also worked on my other shorts including The Lesson, Going Postal, En Passant, etc. He is now in charge of the composing/score section, composing scores that matches the live-action Anime style of The Rapture. An awards winning composer

Nick Brown, photographer for The Rapture, took over 387 pictures for that weekend, a lot of GREAT ones as well, he came with 2 of his models Gary Anthony James and Timothy M. Carr, they were recruited to help as well.

Kyle Znamenak, my good friend; if you say he doesnt know how to act then you are right, he doesnt, because he never acts, he is JUST the character he were told to play. For A Jokers Card, he played Jonathan Napier, son of The Joker, and he did extremely well. In Drama Queen, he plays the rejected boy, and again, it was easy task. For En Passant, he plays a psychotic killer, he was scary. Now for The Rapture, he plays Jonathan, someone discovering his place in life. For the teaser, he was a great sport and got himself all dirty and crazy (for the scene in prison), then he cleaned up and helped pull some wires for us. Kyle is very dedicated, he remembers his lines like they just easily come off his mouth. He aspires to become a psychology expert, not an actor, that perhaps is why he is so good as what he do in front of film, easily EMERGE into the character. His performance has helped made A Joker’s Card to win several awards.

Eric Ball, plays one of the military soldier, former Cleveland police office, so he has all the training, he is also going to be our military consultant. He was one of the other person being yanked backward by wires. He did really well, look for him on screen!

Chris Moe, another actor that is playing a military man, also he will be stunt doubling for George in some of the scenes. Great martial artist and looks good in his military combatant outfit.

Dan Gallagher, Master Sokos right hand man. Hes the one who make sure Sokol is NOT out of place, no just kidding, he helps Andy Sokol in the task of safety and wire work. He had helped me with my first wire work in Cleveland with the short film The Chase and then in A Jokers Card and now back to The Rapture.

Andrew Schofield, producer, also going to help me train actors in 2 men fight sequences. He is also a great actor, and works in many many projects. One of the producer for Bill Johns feature Madness as well. Andy is a certified electrician and knows how to set things quickly for our main DP guy so hell be working diligently with Bill to make sure the scene is set right. Andy also involved in several awards winning projects.

James Geier, producer, co-writer for The Rapture, he is also in charge of catering. James story writing is incredible, thanks to him The Rapture script was develop from a very hard format to a good reading and exciting format for all of us. He got involved with A Jokers Card first and noticed how well it well and now he’s back for the feature!

Karl Gironda, another model that came on Sunday and then was recruited to help pull a prop for the wire-work scene. Great sport!

Christopher Mazur, helping Peter Taylor and visited the set, he also gave an eye and ear for the shoot.

Annie Kitral, plays Dr. Gutierrez, THE ROLE that was MEANT for HER! Thats all I can say, look for her through the movie and see how she evolves! A talented actress that I am happy and honored to finally working with her. You probably would recognize her, she’s on TV and films! J

And thats about it!

Johnny K. Wu
Producer/Director/Editor

Teaser shoot

2006-04-25T23:04:00.000-04:00

As the director, I find it sometimes nerves breaking to try to run a full 2 unit team of 38 people in total, and making sure that the 2nd unit and the 1st unit does their job as I envision.

On our teaser shoot for The Rapture, we had 2 units running simultaneously to cover the different scenes needed, I trust them, but am also afraid that we might run into issues that might prevent us to finish the shoot.

However, thanks to careful planning early discussion with the main crew, I was happy with the result, even with some incidents that occured at the shoot, we finished each day 1 hour ahead of schedule.

The look of the footage is great as well, we have a GREAT team! And now I'm rest assured that the same team will deliver the fruit of our feature in July.

Hats off to all and thank you!

April 25th Article in News Herald

2006-04-25T23:02:00.000-04:00

Today, I found out we were in Port Clinton's News Herald newspaper, and we were on main page! Quite exciting.

Here's the link

http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060425/NEWS01/604250303/1002

Pre-Production 3

2006-03-20T12:18:00.000-05:00

Pre-Production 3
Johnny K. Wu
Director/Producer/Editor

So, the script is done, the concept is mastered and the audition is on the way (this is before Christine’s comment on the audition process).

I have to get the people together that can make this ambitious project a reality, so, I asked those who were involved in A Joker’s Card, after all, they went to hell with me and know what would work and what wouldn’t, having them onboard would help make the transition from a short film to feature with a bit less headache while creating the universe we want to.

Because we were all had worked together, it was easier to collaborate again, however, this time, since it is no longer a DC Comic/WB film, I decided to ‘educate’ my fellow friends on the Anime/Hong Kong style movies, so we watch Legend of Zhu, Hero, Twins Effect, Casshern, Initial-D, House of Fury, Arahan, The Promise and a few others to understand their vision, style and the score used.

I wanted a very orchestral sound which would help make this film more of an epic feel, granted there will be some current pop or punk music where it is appropriate, however, most will be orchestral scoring that will be composed by Aryavarta Kumar, whom did a wonderful job with A Joker’s Card.

So, now that is set, I approached a few people: Peter T., Anne D., Andrew S., Andrew Sc., Tom L., Christine C., Chandler C and James G. These were the DOERS that made A Joker’s Card success and without them I wouldn’t have a strong team. Later, Jeff Y. came onboard and now he’s one of those that I can’t live without!

Each are unique and have expertise within the field, they are, if look at as a hierarchy, the generals (in film terms, the producers) that would make the movie work. The department these individuals will be taking charge of including wardrobe, makeup, logistic, legal, effects, safety, harness, actors, fight choreograph, script and others. They each need to be able to work side-by-side each other to make it happen.

In additional to the Producers, we also needed to lock down the time, location, budget, and crews that would make this a reality. Time was easily taken cared of as we realized that if we shoot during a holiday season, it would maximize our time together, making it happens. As for location, that’s another story, we had some location, but then we lost some but gain others… (More thread on this perhaps in the future).

So, now we need to get the crews together…

The Rapture Audition Pictures

2006-03-10T08:26:00.000-05:00

You can check out the audition pictures at http://www.mdifilm.com/rapture

Johnny Wu

Casting "The Rapture"

2006-03-08T13:41:00.000-05:00

Christine Chapman, Producer/ Casting/ Wardrobe & Make-up Designer

When wearing many hats, the trick is to wear one at a time. Luckily, on a production of this nature, I got one job out of the way early. Casting the film with Johnny and the other Producers took place in October and November of 2005. Why so early? This is a very action and stunt heavy film. Even actors with stunt doubles have to be believable on camera in action sequences. We needed plenty of time for the actors to get in shape before Johnny began putting them into the heavily choreographed fights.

Johnny was implicit that we employ as many actors as possible with actual martial arts background. But, we also had to find actors who could ACT. That is not as easy as it sounds, particularly at an open casting call. How can you separate the wheat from the chaff in this situation? Improv. Every person who came through the door was put into a two to five person improv group. The pairs were for those who wished only to be considered for a lead role. The groups were for those who just wanted a shot at anything.

We had a gauntlet of sorts set up to get everyone through the process. First, each actor filled out our forms and NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) at which time they were assigned an audition number. Then, they were photographed. You’d be amazed at how many ‘actors’ either come in with no headshot or look NOTHING like the one they’ve attached their resume to. We then grouped them into pairs or groups for the audition. If we asked actors to stay for round two, they then went to the wire-work staging area so that we could check their comfort level while ‘flying’ in the wire harness.

When Chandler or James finally escorted them into the back garage area at the Hyacinth Lofts for the audition, they came face to face with…. Me and about eight other producers behind the ‘big table’. We had a camera rolling, manned by the pleasant and helpful Larry Longstreth. Johnny and I had planned the process so that he could move freely through the building, no-one guessing who he was, so that he could observe the actors. I was the ‘decoy’ so to speak. They saw me at the middle of the big table, I was the one who talked to them and directed them… in short, I got to be the scary director person.

The improv groups were a mixed bag. We brought them in, gave them a scenario (there was just a car accident/you are planning a murder/ you’re on your way to the Super Bowl and one of you lost the tickets/ You get a phone call that your mother just died…) Then we gave them 30 seconds to map it out and ‘go!’

In truth, I was the casting director that day because I have 30+ years experience in acting and directing. It was a fairly easy transition to casting director. You know what the production needs, what the director wants. You spend hours sloughing through a great many people who are perfectly nice, but not what you want, while looking for the gold.

On the table in front of me were 5 folders. Once the improv was over and the actors left the room, I rated them on a 1-5 scale (1 being the no way in hell rating.), asked for the others’ input and filed them. If they got a 5 or a 4+, we asked them to wait. Chandler got the juiciest job of the day by far- he was the “hatchet man”. He’d lead the actors back to the staging area, assuring them we’d be in touch if needed. Then he’d follow the ‘keepers’ and hold them back from the rest for a moment, and ask them to stay for the next round of auditions. In most of the groups, we didn’t find one person to hold for round two.

The pair improvs were far more fruitful. Most of those actors were invited because we considered them lead material. And they were. If you are an actor reading this who was in a pair for a lead in this film, know that you did a great job in your audition, you just weren’t right for the part. That piece of advice is a good one to keep close for any professional actor. 99% of the time, you were wonderful, but not what the director was looking for. It is truly a “needle in the haystack” process.

If you as an actor want to know what the casting director is looking for, the answer is simple, yet amorphous: Make an unusual choice with the character. It’s easy to read the words on the page, take the first characterization that comes to your head, and go. What I look for are those who THINK. The standouts of the day were people who were ultimately cast in leads or who had parts in the film added to accommodate their talents. Here are examples: When improvving, “your mother just died”, Brian Richeson (JOB) seemed to be going the usual route, until the actor who was his father hugged him. Brian turned his face ever so slightly to the camera as a smile flitted across his face. Now THAT’s an interesting acting choice! Made me ask a lot of character questions- why’s he happy? Did he do it? Plan it? Is he getting a lot of money? Was his mom a monster? Great stuff!

In the “car accident” group improv, we had a couple of great standouts. Brandy Seymour (YNARB) decided that even though I’d described the accident as a fender bender, someone had died. She went a surprising comic route, screaming whenever anyone “stepped on” the invisible body. Mark Colella (COLE), a talented stand-up comedian, also went for the funny in the same improv, playing a mentally handicapped witness of the whole thing. I still remember him turning to the cop saying, “I think he was reading a book”.

Mary Faktor (MASTER BISO) was definitely not at first blush the choice for the character. But again, she made INTERESTING choices in her improv, “planning a murder”. She elected to be the person who couldn’t follow through and completely lost her composure at even the thought of it. I remember Exec. Producer Peter Taylor leaning over to whisper to me, “Now that’s acting!”

We had been clear that we needed actors for the leads with martial arts backgrounds. Many actors put martial arts backgrounds on their resumes and then looked flummoxed that we actually expected them to demonstrate their skills. Another note for actors: Be sure you actually HAVE a skill before you claim it. It will come back to bite you in the end.

On a technical note: we did miss one important thing in this process- FOOD for the production team! We were so busy, we didn’t even think of it, and subsisted on popcorn, water and Twizzlers for the day. Not great brain food.

We saw about sixty actors for two lead and two supporting roles and various smaller parts. We stayed an hour and a half after our scheduled time to accommodate actors who’d arrived late. Don’t arrive late. It’s stressful for the production team. What we wanted to spend our time on was matching up the several actors in round two and seeing who worked with whom. We ended up rushing that part a great deal because quite a few actors had yet to be seen in round one. It is a problem with open calls that I doubt anyone will ever solve.

At the end of the day, I suspected we’d struck our gold. I knew we had acting-wise. Johnny was not so sure, wanting better trained martial artists, so erring on the side of caution, we scheduled a call back. It was an invitation only event, with actors coming from three states to hopefully lock down one of two lead roles.

We had two sets of ‘brothers’ (JOB & MIDAEL) to do a read-off. Annie Kitral (DR. GUTIERREZ) was there to read with them so that we could get a feel of the family/ tension the roles required. Again, most of the producers were there, but this time we were in Johnny’s office, camera rolling. Our problem was two-fold. The better martial artists were extremely attractive (a must) and obviously physically able to handle the stunt-work. The other pair were charismatic and gorgeous, and better actors.

So our dilemma: Athletes or actors? Younger or older? Could we mix them up and have some of both? I put all these poor men through their paces for a couple of hours, and they bore it wonderfully. As did Annie, reading the same couple of sides over and over again while we puzzled it out.

In the end, the actors won out. Why? Because it is show business. We are making a product, and we (and those who are investing) want it to sell. Any of these four actors would have been fine in the roles, but we needed more than fine. We needed “Wow!” We needed actors who could cross genre boundaries and gain an audience among young women/teens. We firmly believe that the pairing of Brian Richeson and George Michael Tutie (MIDAEL) will bring us that.

A side note on George. He came in just hoping to get a background extra part. He had little to no acting experience, but was enthusiastic as hell. Never let anyone tell you to not try. George Michael Tutie went from being a promising model to the lead in a feature film because he wasn’t afraid to show up and do what was asked of him. Rule #1- SHOW UP.
More from the trenches later. Christine

Pre-production 2

2006-03-08T12:03:00.000-05:00

Johnny Wu
Director/Producer/Editor The Rapture

The Rapture - Pre-production 2

Little did we know that A Joker’s Card would go this far, winning awards, continuing showing at festivals and conventions, and finally ending with a sales agent taking to several film markets including Cannes, AFM, etc.

When we were done with A Joker’s Card, my cast/crew all asked if we were going to do a sequel, I thought of the idea, however, I didn’t feel comfortable to do another Batman type film or to make another parody film of any sort. I wanted to extend further what I would like the finished project to go to.

Backtrack: before shooting A Joker’s Card, I wanted to poke fun of the Batman Universe but I wanted also the film to be able to be shown not only at conventions but also at film festivals, and since the costume involved for Batman and such are way too expensive, I decided to create a world of their sons and daughters, cutting cost, and making it possible still as parody film to be shown at festivals as well. (Most festivals and now majority of conventions will not play fan films of WB/DC Comics nature).

Forward:
With The Rapture, I wanted something I own, and I wanted of my characters so we can eventually further develop them to other stuff we might want to do with them. So I re-edited a story I wrote years ago called The Rapture, that was more a Biblical story than anything else, readjust it to have an Anime/Sci-fi tone and re-wrote the script creating some new characters and Chimaeras.

So, I started to re-create the story, the world of Anime, the world of Chimaeras that were created by some scientist to ‘help’ the world… While writing the script, I realized it was short, it was only about 40 mins with the basic characters, and no matter how much I spin the story around them (4 characters in total), it just didn’t work. So I stopped.

Then there comes the audition process, which actually, helped my script as well, because of finding additional talented people, I managed to be able to add new characters that works within the story: the good, the bad, and the confused groups of people where each of them are constantly mistrusting each other and using each other for their own benefit…

Once I had the general concept of the idea converted from outline to script, I then forwarded the information to Mr. James V. Geier, who was previously the Executive Producer for A Joker’s Card. He was instrumental to the success of the script for The Rapture, because he brought in the viewers perspective, flushed the story out, make each character more believable, and above all, they have a distinct personality that slowly evolves through the story…

Once the script was finished, it was about 133 pages, reason, we added descriptions, for our own benefit, so we can relay to the story and we can forget about using storyboarding the feature (too much work and too little time to joggle that task). For the actors, we trimmed the script down to 95 pages, which is perfect for what we are aiming for with the finished project.

Now, with script is readied, cast is locked, we moves toward getting talented crew and securing funding… The process continues…

Pre-Production...

2006-03-07T12:06:00.000-05:00

By Johnny K. Wu
Director/Writer/Editor/Producer

Pre-production

The Rapture is an Anime film with martial arts, sci-fi and will have a comic book feel. This is a feature that we are currently developing (in pre-production) thanks to the extremely well received short film A Joker’s Card.

A Joker’s Card, a parody fan film of DC Universe, won several awards, shown at film festivals and conventions, and continued to garner a lot of attention, now it is being taken to film markets including Cannes, Hong Kong, Toronto, and AFM, we know it will get a lot more attention and it would push forward for name recognition at least.

At the same time, our agent is very interested in doing some pre-sale for The Rapture while selling A Joker’s Card. So that means we have to get a lot of stuff done, some include getting a Teaser that can showcase some of the talent and style, a business plan, the script, and perhaps a great poster design.

These would be the minimal essential to get things rolling… Problem, it’s such a rush time frame: all needed to be done before end of April. While we are continuing working in putting together the crew to work with our talented cast starting from July 1-15 of 2006.

Because of our tight schedule, we decided to work in two teams: working simultaneously at least for 8 days, we have a lot of great news, including a small city allowing us to shoot at their water dock area free of charge, also thanks to a flight school in Cleveland, we also secured about 5 hours of aerial shoot usage.

Things are moving forward, but the process of getting here started last June 2005….

So, here’s the flashback…

Hello

2006-03-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is, the blog for our current feature film The Rapture.

This blog will be used for all the producers and main crews to write about their production process and to let others learn on our obstacles and successes, it will not contain much about the movie's story line but it will provide more on the things we have to do to make it happen.

So sit back and enjoy the readings :)

Johnny