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ADAMSTAR PICTURES
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The making of END OF THE LINE
The following are excerpts from Mark’s book TRULY INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING; “I thought (the story)
was really complex,” Yancy observed, “and I liked that about it. I would
always say to Bobby, ‘How’s your movie going?’ because we were basically
doing three films at the same time simultaneously. I liked it because it kind of
mimics (DECONSTRUCTION) in the way that it’s kind of sci-fi and you have to
think about it, though. And there is real emotion in this one, as well as the
last one. Each character gets to develop equally, I think. So that was a good
aspect of it.”
The film was made in reverse order, where the most of the segment in the future was filmed first. Originally I wanted to start filming in October of 2001, but I was late getting the script ready. Then the day that changed everything happened – September 11, 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were horrific and unexpected, and suddenly I found myself unmotivated to begin shooting my next film. Fears and anxieties consumed me for a while as America then started the War On Terrorism in Afghanistan, and I didn’t feel right about shooting the World War II scenes involving a fatal ambush of Americans. By the time I
decided to start shooting it was January of 2002, and I couldn’t shoot any
outdoor scenes until the spring. So the first day we shot the sequence where
Randy Allen’s character is escaping to the surface. I used the same catwalks
above the auditorium that were used in TRUE IDENTITY and TIMELINE, although half
of the sequence was cut from the final film. Ironically, this first shooting day
in January was a beautiful day with highs in the 60’s (we had a milder winter
than normal, and by January we still had not received any major snowfall yet).
So we decided to run out to the airport and shoot the footage of Michael
arriving to the surface of the military base. Again, I shot around the same B-29
hanger I used in SIDETRACKED and SOMETHING.
The most difficult scene in the future segment to shoot was the trial scene. When shooting in the college’s Planetarium for the Thermal Genetic Incubation Chamber scene in SOMETHING, I saw how the domed ceiling had tiny holes to allow the sound to pass through it. When someone was standing on the catwalks above the ceiling with the lights on, you can see them above you looking down at you. It was a rather eerie sight, and I thought it would be a great effect for a trial scene in the future. I wanted three judges to stand above the ceiling, dramatically lit from below and looking down on the accused. But I couldn’t remove the seats on the bottom floor of the Planetarium, so I would have to shoot everything in a low angle to hide the chairs. Then for the reverse angle I would shoot on the auditorium stage from up high, looking down on Randy standing on a small platform. To our amazement it worked, and the footage looked great. The room was fairly dark with the lights on the judges and Michael, and since the judges were seen through the holes in the ceiling it gave them a slightly diffused appearance. The judges were almost ‘ghostly’-looking figures standing above the accused. But for
Randy this was not a fun shoot, “I think the trial scene was (my least
favorite scene to shoot). For me it was real difficult to remember the lines, I
guess because I had a cold at that moment so anything more than just a couple of
lines I had this terrible block trying to remember what the next line was. I
think we even dropped a couple of lines in a couple of the sections because I
just couldn’t do it, I couldn’t remember the phrases. And because that scene
– it was the antithesis of the scene with Yancy and Bobby (in the woods). I
wasn’t responding to what someone else was saying or doing. In the trial
scene, there was no acting towards those persons (the judges). There was no
dialogue. All of those bits were going to be over dubbed later, so everything
that was done in that segment were all just spontaneous bits. I think that’s
why actors probably hate acting towards a blue screen (for special effects
shots), is that there’s nothing there. You just use your imagination and hope
that it makes sense later. I found that part not as enjoyable as the woods
scene. In the trial scene you don’t have that interaction with the judges. You
just do those lines cold. I don’t think it was as interesting or as fun.”
I started shooting the
present day segments next with Yancy Young, starting with the most difficult
scene for me. We shot the scene where Adam first meets Clarence, and eventually
chooses the door to the past to enter. Yancy and I had a lot of dialogue, and I
always find it difficult to try to be the director and set up the camera and
lighting equipment and be the actor and work on memorizing and rehearsing my
lines. Yancy recalls, “I think the only thing that was really bad (filming the
scene where Adam meets Clarence) was the set up time. I mean we had so many
different shots that you wanted to get. I think the dialogue was OK. It was a
lot of dialogue but it was fun to shoot. But the set up time was the only thing
that took away from it. I think you need a crew! (Laughs) But I liked the
dialogue. I think it mixed well. It’s all been fun so far.”
Yancy didn’t seem to mind another day of shooting. There were two scenes we shot in the college’s library, where Adam finds himself back in college with the girl he always regretted breaking up with, Kathy. The other scene was when he is back in the present and discovers that he did marry her, with surprising results to his life. For the two scenes Nicole Crawford had to kiss Yancy, and this was the first time she ever had to do such a ‘theatrical’ kiss. At first she had a hard time getting past her hesitations, but Yancy didn’t seem to mind, “Nicci and I already knew each other from Hilltops (The college’s vocal music group the Hilltop Singers), So we could laugh about having to make out a couple of times on camera. You know, I didn’t mind it. It was my call to duty, and I had to do what I had to do. But she’s a really good actress and I didn’t know that about her. So it was really fun to get to work with her and seeing that side of her. I had fun.”
By the beginning of March
I knew I had to schedule an important shoot. The World War II Re-enactors were
finding that most of their weekends in the spring were full of appearances at
air shows and parades, so we had only one weekend to shoot the two scenes for my
film. It was mid March, and we had to shoot rain or shine. Unfortunately, it
wasn’t the best weather that day. In fact, it was down right cold. The week
before had been nice, but on the Sunday we shot a cold front came through. It
was forecasted to rain, but it was more of a mist or drizzle. When we started
shooting the temperature was in the lower 40’s, and by the end of the shoot it
had fallen to 32 degrees. It was cold and wet and miserable, but it ended up
setting the right mood for the scenes. Randy Allen recalls, “I had a nice,
heavy coat on that day so it wasn’t as bad for me. (Laughs) It was easy for me
but it was difficult for everyone else. I was going to do some of the second
camera work, but then we had problems with the second camera, so that sort of
disappeared.”
Bobby was particularly
impressed with the day of shooting with the World War II Re-enactors, “The
first day (of shooting for me) was the battle scene where I’m in full gear and
I’m interacting with these awesome guys, these World War II Re-enactors, which
was just amazing! Working with real equipment and all of this stuff that’s
real from World War II was just amazing! The vehicles they had! The guys just
knew the history so well and everything. That day was cold and started to get
wet, and wind and oh boy. But that was like the perfect day for that scene. It
was gloomy and the weather almost foreshadows that something’s going to
happen. But that’s the way that day was and like I said, it was long and cold.
But that was such a great experience working with such hands-on equipment and
such professional guys – I call them professional, these re-enactors because I
don’t think it gets any better than that. Working with people like that, even
though they didn’t have lines, they were in the zone every time. As soon as
the cameras were on, these guys were in battle mode, and you can’t ask for
anything better as an actor to be surrounded by real equipment and real things.
I’m wearing the real ‘SAVING PRIVATE RYAN World War II’ stuff that’s all
80 pounds on my back, carrying an M-1 grand rifle and a Tommy gun and shooting
those, which was amazing. That was just a great shoot that day. That was amazing
to me. I had never experienced anything like that.”
The shoot went well
despite of the cold weather – although for Yancy it wasn’t quite the fun
shoot that Bobby experienced. For a good portion of the shoot Yancy had to be on
the ground as a dead bomber pilot, and later play Adam appearing to Frank and
thus standing in freezing temperatures without wearing a coat. Yancy remembered,
“The least favorite scene would probably be the army scene (with the World War
II Re-enactors) on the coldest day in my life! (Laughs) I was out there totally
unprepared with no gloves and no hat. I had to lie on the cold ground as a dead
pilot, and that was Hell! (Laughs and rolls his eyes) That was just Hell! And
then at the end I had to shoot with no coat or anything, and I’m surprised I
came away with my limbs. But it was still fun. It was a little bit of both. I
think we did a good job of covering (up how cold it was when watching to
footage). I was shivering the whole time, but it really showed everyone’s
dedication that day. We never quit no matter how cold it was. We knew how much
of a time limit we had and we knew that day was it. So we all stuck it out. But
it was freezing! But it was still a fun time.” Bobby added, “All Yancy could
do was cry about how cold it was! (Laughs) I gave him a lot of crap for that!”
In contrast with the
cold, miserable conditions of the World War II scenes, the final shoot of the
film was in an idealistic setting for the woods scene, as Yancy recalled,
“Actually I’d say my favorite scene to shoot was the last one (in the woods)
when I got to interact with Randy and Bobby. I think it was good to finally work
with them and to kind of see where they’re coming from. I think that was
probably my favorite one. And it was a nice day. (Chuckles) Nice day out in the
woods.”
For Randy it was an
opportunity to actually interact with other actors and have the story make
sense, “I think the Woods Scene was a really fun section (to shoot) because
it’s the section where everything comes together. You have Frank who doesn’t
quite know what’s taking place – it’s almost this sort of Dickens-like
moments. Instead of having the ghosts of the past and the present and the
future, you have these sort of ghosts of futures yet to come that appear to this
person and you see how he handles it. That was fun. And all of the other actors
have these moments in which you forget that they’re acting. It becomes a very
real moment. There is one scene where Bobby makes a comment to my character
where for the first take I laughed because I was just very self-conscious about
the shooting of that. But after that one take, I forgot that we were acting. I
forgot that we were doing anything other than (Bobby) was that soldier and Yancy
was this other person and Clarence was this mysterious figure. That was really
fun. That’s the part I’m going to most remember.” Bobby recalled, “The
second day (I shot for END OF THE LINE was the woods scene, and it) was just a
bright, sunny day and it was hot for me since I’m in my 80 pound gear. But
that was a different thing because I was surrounded by more people that I knew
better, like my best friend Yancy and Randy and you. Just the four of us could
have a ball. It doesn’t even seem like work. We’re just having fun making up
weird things, like we seem to do! (Laughs) So that was a great day too, and it
was again fitting with the weather. We’re suppose to be in a mystical,
beautiful forest. A sunny day with birds chirping in the background. No wind
that day that we had to mess with. As an actor it’s great to be surrounded by
people you can count on. It was great. We’re four wheeling off into this very,
very secluded area and it was just absolutely gorgeous. I just felt like I was
totally away from everything. If it were up to me I could have camped out there
all night, it was gorgeous.” “I didn’t have a trailer!
(Laughs) I mean you need to start treating us better, Mark!” – Bobby Sloan END OF THE LINE may not have been as personal of a film as DECONSTRUCTION, but I hope the story had redeeming qualities and compelling characters. The segment in the past had the original, TWILIGHT ZONE-like story. The segment in the present, with the story of a man unhappy with his life and regretting his break up with a former girlfriend, is a universal theme. Many people have imagined the ‘what-if’ scenerio, where they wonder what their life would have been like if they hadn’t have broken up with _____ (fill in the blank). In more general terms, they look back on any perceived bad choices and wonder if their life would have been better if they had gone down the other path. The segment in the future had the most personal influence, when Michael discovers the storage room with photos from his past and his family. After my mother’s death I inherited her family photos and other personal items. I found photos of her childhood, and realized she had a life I never knew about before I was born. Plus there were many more pictures of people and places that I would never know their identities or stories. A history that was lost forever when she passed away. So I wanted Michael to have that same kind of experience, where he discovered a past he never knew about and see photos of his family. But when the film is completed, will it really work. “You did a great job with us directing,
and you’ve always been patient and helped us to see what you wanted. It’s
been fun working with you.” – Yancy Young After the premiere of END
OF THE LINE Randy had this reaction to the film, “I think the exchanges
between you and Yancy down in the (scene where Adam first meets Clarence) were
terrific. I thought those turned out extremely well. I think the section in the
library turned out quite good. There are individual segments that I thought were
wonderful, and even now I when I watch it I’ll rewind it back two minutes and
watch that segment again. My favorite part is the segment after Yancy’s
character disappears (in the woods at the end of the film). I think that one
scene (where Frank realizes he died in the ambush) is just wonderful. I liked
Bobby’s reaction – his short pause before he responds to it. I thought your
reaction to his, because you had a longer pause there, in this really
interesting, sympathetic response – the way you responded vocally to that I
thought was great. I’ve gone back and watched that segment 10 times. I really
like that. I thought all of the transitions (to and from the past, present and
future segments and the woods scenes) were very, very good. Overall I think it
did turn out well. I think what you did in this movie has been the strongest
thing you’ve done. I thought all of the scenes with Clarence were very
believable, and how he relates to these people and guides them. I think (END OF
THE LINE) turned out well. I think it turned out at least as good as
DECONSTRUCTION. (To describe END OF THE LINE in one sentence…) Amazing! Oh,
that’s one word. (Laughs) Amazing stuff! That’s two words. You should be
proud of it.” I entered END OF THE LINE
into the 2003 KAN Film Festival in Lawrence, Kansas and once again waited in
anticipation and concern about it’s fate. It was selected as a finalist, and
on Saturday, May 31st I drove the 4 hours to the University of Kansas’ Lied
Center to see if it was worthy of an award. They ran my category first thing in
the morning once again, so I missed the screening of END OF THE LINE. But I did
make it in time to watch the last half of the other finalist in my category, a
film called GRASSFIRE by Dennis Ward. In fact, when I first arrived to the Lied
Center I was greeted by very professional looking posters and post cards for
GRASSFIRE. I began to feel a little worried that this production was a true
commercially-produced film and not the independent, shot-on-video project as END
OF THE LINE. On the back of the postcard was a label stuck on over the
information about it’s premiere two weeks prior. I wasn’t sure if Dennis
Ward, or the KAN Film Festival themselves, wrote the following; “Kan Film
Festival presents GRASSFIRE. GRASSFIRE is a hilarious comedy about a group of
kids creating a computer video game. The trouble is, they are doing everything
but creating the game. Faced with a deadline, these kids have to overcome their
own limitations and personal obstacles. It is a classic battle of slackers
versus corporate America. Playing at the Ron Evans Apollo (across the parking
lot). Showtime roughly 10:15 a.m. Be sure to check out the other Open Division
Film ‘END OF THE LINE’ by Mark Adams at 9:10 am. See what the feature
film-makers in Kansas/Missouri are doing.” I guess it was nice to be mentioned
briefly at the end of all of that. But I can’t complain – I didn’t provide
a poster of my film to promote myself. When I walked into the dark theater I immediately saw that GRASSFIRE was shot on video, not film – and I sighed with relief. The more I watched the more I realized this was not the commercially-produced film that I feared but a more low budget, independent shot-on-video project. The script was good and ambitious – not just a comedy but with drama and interesting characters. Although I must be showing my age when it came to parts of the story. I found these ‘twenty-somethings’ increasingly irritating as the movie progressed. With only two months left in their twelve month contract to create this new video game, and nothing to really show for it, they chose to continue their dating and drinking escapades rather than work late and actually get something done. I knew they were suppose to be ‘slackers’ but it became ridiculous when they found out that they were being evicted and in possible legal trouble for not having the game ready – and they STILL went to the bar to drink rather than work on their project. I started feeling like they deserved to go to jail and lose all of their money, rather than routing for them to succeed in the end. The other thing I noticed was the language – a lot of the ‘F’-word and the ‘S’-word and even the ‘C’-word. There’s even a scene at a strange backyard wrestling match where two of the leads make fun of films that use a lot of foul language for no good reason, while using a lot of foul language in the process. And why a backyard wrestling scene in the first place? Bald, over-weight men hitting each other with metal, folding chairs in a hastenly built ‘ring’ located in the backyard of a nice, suburban home. What made it even more strange was the majority of the audience were clean-cut looking ‘twenty-somethings’ sitting and watching the festivities very calmly and attentively. I must be getting old. Oh, and did I mention the several scenes of everyone trying to get laid, including a very funny subplot involving a preacher’s daughter, fun with a strap-on dildo in the office and one unforgettable topless girl in a car?
After the ceremony I met Dennis Ward and told him how much I liked GRASSFIRE. I didn’t realize until he told me that at the previous year’s KAN Film Festival, where my film DECONSTRUCTION won second place, his film STUCK ON STAR WARS won third. He told me how much he liked END OF THE LINE, and we exchanged email addresses. He later told me, “The joke around here is that we have found our nemesis and he resides in Great Bend, seeing that you have beaten us twice. But in all seriousness, you deserve to be congratulated because END OF THE LINE was an incredible piece. You also have an incredible eye for composing shots. Some of your shots, especially in the military scenes, were like eye candy. Your resume is pretty impressive. It was pretty cool to see that you were a KU Graduate. I graduated from KU in 1999 with a Communication Studies degree and a minor in film. My parents talked me into getting a degree I could do something with. Now here I am 5 years later using that degree to convince people to help me make films. Ironic how life is. GRASSFIRE was my first full length film. We shot it digitally on a Canon XL-1 Pal video camera. We chose Pal because of its 25 frames per second. The theory was that when we converted to NTSC it would have the same effect as when you convert film at 24 frames per second and it would give it that film look. We also used a series of filters that were designed to soften the image so it didn't always look like video. The movie that played at the KAN was our rough cut. We are still polishing it and trying to get it ready for all the thousands upon thousands of film festivals.” When I read my initial ‘critique’ of GRASSFIRE on my website I realized I had done what I felt Joe Bob Briggs had done with his critique of SOMETHING; I had spent most of the time talking about what I didn’t like about the film and little time with what I did like. I felt very bad about this and apologized to Dennis Ward. So let me tell you what I
did like about GRASSFIRE. I felt it’s greatest strength was in its characters.
Although the film follows the central character, played by Dustin Chase, in his
professional and personal adventures, this is really a story for an ensemble
cast with each well written and multi-dimensional. The support characters could
have easily been written as one-dimensional, ‘comedy relief’ moments in the
film, but Dennis made sure to have each of his characters with their own
stories, feelings and focus in GRASSFIRE. There were not only the typical (and
very funny) dating exploits, but two very touching love stories at the heart of
the film. Again the story was ambitious, and I walked away from the screening at
the KAN Film Festival with the sense that the cast and crew believed in their
project and made it something special and worthwhile.
I told Dennis Ward that my not-so-positive
reactions to the film may be a generational thing – I’m nearly 15 years
older than him and maybe I’m not in tune with what he and his peers are
wanting in a film. (How depressing – I am getting old!) I grew up with such
1980’s ‘coming of age’ films as FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH and THE
BREAKFAST CLUB. It made me think about how different, and how similar, these
films are compared with what is being made today. I asked Dennis if he would
like to respond to my initial critique of GRASSFIRE, and I would add it,
unedited, to my website. Here is what Dennis sent to me: “My Response to your Grassfire
Review: I don't know what feels better, having my
Arch Nemesis Mark Adams beat me two years in a row at the Kan Film Festival, or
having him rub it in with posting a review of my film and why it wasn't as good
as his. LOL! But in all seriousness, I think Mark was very accurate
and honest in his reaction to Grassfire. The film we submitted to the Kan
Film Festival was our rough cut and wasn't as polished as we wanted it to be.
But we submitted it that way because we didn't want to have to wait
another year to enter it into the festival. The movie itself was a coming
of age story like Fast Times at Ridgemont High or American Pie and had the same
types of character archetypes that you find in those films, young adults trying
to adjust into an adult world. And what comes with that is a lot of nudity, cuss
words, sexual situations, partying, drinking, and rebelling against the
world. I don't think Mark is showing his age as much as he is the
disconnect that exists between generations, the same disconnect that will exist
between me and future filmmakers 20 years from now making the same types of
films. Grassfire is exactly what it is, a coming of age story.
Nothing more... nothing less...” I also offered to add, unedited, any
review Dennis Ward may have of my film END OF THE LINE. (I wanted him to have a
chance to say whatever he wanted about my film.) Here is what he sent to me: “My Review of End of the Line: When I started watching End of the
Line, I was immediately in awe of the fact that Mark was using all this military
equipment. Right then and there I knew I was in trouble with the film
festival because the country had pulled together and there was a strong sense of
patriotism sweeping across America. How could you not applaud any work
that shows our military in action? A lot of times filmmakers fall into a
trap when they have access to fancy props or locations by putting more emphasis
into showing off the cool stuff they have, rather than focusing on the story
itself. Mark did a wonderful job of avoiding this trap and made sure that
the film's focus was on the story and the war like scenes were the backdrop.
Overall I was very impressed with End of the Line and found the story engaging. Mark
has a tremendous eye for framing and creates wonderful imagery. My only
criticism of the film has to do with the film's audio tracks. At times the
sound was very amateurish and wasn't cleaned up. There was a lot of audio
drops in the background sounds. The musical soundtrack was also a little
uninspiring at times. With a little polish on the audio side, Mark's
project would clean up well and really be a force to be reckoned with.
Other than that, Mark made an exceptional film that was definitely deserving of
first place at the Kan Film Festival. I can't wait to see what Mark does
next... hopefully this won't be the End of the Line...” In a very gracious and generous offer,
Dennis asked if I had any films I would like to include on his GRASSFIRE Special
Edition DVD being released August 13, 2004. As an extra section called ‘The
Best Of Independent Cinema’, he is showing several short films from various
filmmakers. My first thought was sending him END OF THE LINE, since it has a
unique connection to GRASSFIRE. But because END OF THE LINE is 58 minutes long,
and he wanted films around 30 minutes in length, he is including my 2001 film
DECONSTRUCTION as part of the DVD. For more information on the GRASSFIRE DVD
check out his website at www.mentalwardfilms.com. Dennis Ward’s next project is a film called BAMBOO SHARK, which he is planning on shooting on High Definition video, with locations in Boston and New York as well as Kansas City. Watch for updates on his website.
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