Ashes, a Filmington Indy
By Rocco Taldin
Recently the Kodak Company, a leader in film stock production and committed to motion picture education and training, donated 35mm film to Cape Fear Community College’s Film and Video Production Department. Department head Duke Fire took the opportunity to get his students involved with a five-minute movie called Ashes. The project involved working professionals from Wilmington’s film community and college students interested in the production side of filmmaking.
This merger of professional and student filmmakers was a win for both sides since it enabled the pros to pass along knowledge to students who gained insight working on a real film set using a 35mm Arriflex camera. The Joe Dunton Company got involved and supplied the camera and lens, which lent the production a high quality aspect. Another important player that helped the project was Cine Partners, a motion picture, television and theatrical supply company. Woody Whichard, the director, also wrote the screenplay. Bo Webb, a professional cinematographer did the camera work. Bill Ladd, an in demand local actor, also gave his talent and time to the endeavor. The film enlisted the help of approximately thirty students and a tight group of local professionals working together to complete an entirely independent and original film.
After the day’s shoot we interviewed some of the participants of Ashes, Bill Ladd, Langston York, Julio Barriga, Jon Marchioni, Bo Webb and Woody Whichard.
Bootleg: Woody how many movies have you made?
Woody: I’ve previously made Soul Shine a 15-minute short but this one is my first on 35mm film.
Bootleg: Can you tell us something about Ashes, the movie?
Woody: I wrote it 3 months ago. It’s a dark short film with a little comedy thrown in. It involves an average middle-class guy, his wife and the things that go on in the household. It’s being shot in a typical neighborhood of and around Wilmington. This is a film with Wilmington independent film fingerprints all over it.
Bootleg: How did you get this movie off the ground?
Woody: I approached Duke Fire and we formed a little marriage so to speak on this thing between the school, him, the students and me.
Bootleg: What about the financing?
Woody: I’m the executive producer so when we need money I give it.
Bootleg: Tell us about the experience you are having working with Kodak’s 35mm film.
Woody: The visuals are going to be very important for this particular piece. For some genres you can go for different kinds of a looks. This one has to have shots with a specific look and there are also going to be a lot of close ups. Of course, I am excited to be shooting on 35mm film and especially anxious to see the finished product. I’m also very glad to be working with Bo Webb because he knows how to make a shot look great which is very important to the medium of film. He’s a great guy and a real professional. I’m also very pleased with the crew and especially the CFCC students because they’ve put in a lot of hard work and time. They amaze me with the hours they put in. There’s the preproduction, the production and the post-production to consider. I am feeling confidant and impressed that I’m in good hands and that they can handle it. Even though this is a five-minute film the crew today will put in 13 to 14 hours. So the level of commitment and passion blows me away and keeps me excited the whole time.
Bootleg: I’ve noticed that you have some serious pros on board with this film.
Woody: Yes, we have Cine Partners, Joe Dunton and have course our DP, Bo Webb. Then there’s Langston York and Bill Ladd who plays the man in this film. We’re also working with Austin Ragsdale from Raleigh and her dog, a yellow Lab named Taylor.
Bootleg: Any advice for other independent movie producers?
Woody: Yes, just go do it, just make it happen someway.
Bootleg: Bill Ladd, tell us about this movie and your character?
Bill: Well, it’s a fantastic script and I’m happy to be part of it. Woody saw me in some footage I did for another project and said, that’s the guy, that’s who we want. So it’s nice to get a gig without auditioning because sometimes auditions can be rough. Woody and I had our first meeting in a coffee shop and we talked for a couple of hours. We talked and talked and it was great because I knew what he wanted. He had some very specific ideas about this character. It was something that I could totally relate to because as an actor/musician I am a pretty sensitive guy. I’ve known some of the dark times and days that are being presented in this film so it really wasn’t a stretch for me to play this character. The only real challenge for me is that I used to be a smoker and this film had me smoking again. Some of the crew worried about that and it’s affect on me. They did want someone that was a believable smoker and I think I pulled it off convincingly. That’s part of this business. I might be called on to gain or lose weight for a role or like this one to smoke a pack of cigarettes and because this is my vocation I’m willing to do that.
Bootleg: What else is going on with your career?
Bill: Yes, I am staying very busy these days even though Wilmington is a small town. In the Cucalorus film festival I wound up in four films. I was also in something called Dirt Nap but got cut. I do have my ups and downs but at the end of the month, I will have done my nineteenth film. So it’s real exciting, I love it and I hope to be doing it the rest of my life.
Bootleg: Langston York tell us about yourself and what you contributed to Ashes.
Langston: I work for Cine Partners Grip and Lighting. Today I was a swing and key grip/gaffer. My job was running power to the lights and assisting the DP. I set up the lights to however they’re needed and helped him to make the shot happen. Working on this short was a good experience for us industry professionals because we got to work with the students and tried to teach them proper set etiquette. That’s a very important thing to know on a working set. We also showed them how to light and how to grip hoping that they can absorb some of the knowledge to use on their future set work. I’m a freelance electrician and a shop foreman at a grip and lighting shop. For me, the experience to come out and day play any show is definitely worthwhile because it keeps me up to speed to what’s going. It keeps me current and I had fun.
Bootleg: Julio, give us your take on today’s shoot. (Julio Barriga CFCC student)
Julio: Well, it was really cool to be on the set today working with real movie professionals for a change. They really do understand the business. They also have the passion and love for film as I have. It was a great experience and very different from what I’m used to with video production.
Bootleg: What about you Marchioni? (Jon Marchioni CFCC student)
Marchioni: I was the second assistant director today. It was just a wonderful experience working with the crew and with Bill Ladd. He’s a real star. It was a lot of fun and like Julio said it was very different working on a film set compared to a video production. The aesthetics were different also there were different lighting schematics to consider. It amazed me about how much effort goes into a shot or even a dolly movement. Next you have blocking for the actors, make up and wardrobe. Then there’s the care and upkeep of the equipment and especially the camera. The list goes on and on but it was an education in real filmmaking. It was hard work but overall I had a great time and I can’t wait to get on set again. Hopefully, it will be one of us students next time filming one of our movies.
Julio: I just want to say that this town is made up of independent filmmakers. Our local talent, which includes the writers, directors and producers as well as the actors are doing it all. And we’re doing it well without Hollywood or any big names so far. What we need is a big studio and or production companies to come here and invest in us. But for now, working on Ashes today was a good learning experience and I’m thankful to the companies and Duke’s program at CFCC for this opportunity.
Marchioni: One thing I wanted to add about today that was very unusual in filmmaking is that Woody was able to talk to Bill during the actual shooting. And that’s because the script has no dialog. This is almost a silent movie so Woody could watch the monitor and coach him in order to get the performance that he was looking for. I’ve never seen that especially on set and I can’t remember seeing any movie without dialog in a long time. So Ashes is going to be a very different kind of a movie and I’m very glad I got to work on it.
Bootleg: Bo Webb, as you’re the Director of Photography for Ashes, can you tell us a little about your work today and why you decided to come on board?
Bo Webb: Part of the reason I wanted to shoot Ashes is that Kodak donated some film stock to the school, so we actually got to work with 35mm film and that’s always a rare treat. Especially, for a first time filmmaker like Woody. This was a one-day shoot and we shot it with an Arri BL camera with lens from Joe Dunton Cameras. There were a lot of interesting shots using mostly available light. We shot inside, waited and timed it just right for nice strong afternoon backlight on a guy sitting at a table with his face in shadow.
Bootleg: What kind of lens were you using today?
Bo Webb: We used a series of Moy lens that Joe developed. They are macro lens, and we used them so that we could get a nice sharp focus on crumbs, hairs and lint floating through the air. It was an interesting challenge to light because I’ve never had to light lint before. It’s hard to get a spot meter on a piece of lint, so today was interesting. We also had the students on the set learning and helping out. It was great because it was all very new to them. I over heard a couple of them say that they had never been that close to a real 35mm camera and had never used an actual dolly before. That made it very cool to be able to show them what a real camera looks like and what a real camera can do. I explained to them about how you thread it up and what some of the accessories do. Students are great on a crew because they are usually very enthusiastic. They’re having a good time being there and they’re eager to learn. I also had a couple of professional camera assistants that I was working with and they were excellent.
Bootleg: What can you tell us about the movie?
Bo Webb: The story is told in pictures and there’s no dialog so it relies heavily on the images. It’s kind of a mood piece in a lot of ways so there’s not a lot of overt action. The images deal with the mood in the story. Hopefully, the photography will convey that mood. It was also a lot of fun to shoot this movie, especially because it was on 35 mm film. Which is a format I get to use less and less because of course everyone is going to video these days.
Bootleg: In your opinion how does HD video compare to film.
Bo Webb: I certainly like HD video. I shot a movie called Dead Heist in HD. It’s looking better and better but it still doesn’t look like film. Recently, I worked on Erica Dunton’s new film and that was shot on 35mm anamorphic, which was really great. The film’s title is Three Words and a Star. At the Cucalorus Film Festival I saw The Guatemalan Handshake. I t also was shot on 35mm anamorphic and it looked beautiful. It really made a difference.
A Short Artist Bio:
Woody Whichard was born in Greenville, NC and resides in Raleigh as well as in Greenville. He grew up with his father and uncles as role models. They were real estate investors and developers. In Woody’s family there were no artist, at least to his knowledge. He does point to his father as his inspiration because his father would always find creative ways to a potential profit that others would miss. His father always had creative vision and the guts to pull off the deal that no one else believed could happen. He fashioned himself after his father and made quite a bit of money as a businessman.
Then at the age of 39 he decided to change gears. He lost interest in the real estate game. Woody’s epiphany was that wealth did not equal happiness. One day he was getting a hair cut and his stylist mentioned the Meyer-Briggs personality test. He took the test and found that it accurately described his personality. It enlightened him to the fact that he was inclined towards the arts, specifically to writing. That’s the day that changed his life. Woody said, “That test gave me permission to write.” He bought screenwriting books and studied on his own because he didn’t know any other writers. At that point all he had was his imagination and a computer.
Woody eventually paid a visit to Cape Fear Community College and met up with Duke Fire. Duke convinced him that he could make his first movie and all he had to do was grab a kid with a camera, someone with sound equipment, throw a little money at them and feed them well. Then shoot the damned thing, go make it happen. So Woody accomplished making his first 15-minute film called Soul Shine. Next he wrote Ashes, a five-minute film and on this one they decided that they could help each other out. Woody would be getting technical assistance and Duke would be educating the students. The filming was done with industry pros and students as a truly original and independent Wilmington film. Shot in late 2006 and projected to come out in early 2007. Woody has taken a small step that could be a giant splash for all Wilmington filmmakers in general. It takes creative vision, persistence and guts to get our films off the ground and that is something we should all remember and take to heart.
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