|
| Co-writer/producer/director Brent Kado (L) talks to actors Michael Palascak (C) and Christopher McConnell (R) between takes of the low-budget, independent movie ‘Welcome to Gentle Waters’ being filmed through Wednesday in North Webster. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union |
| | How to become an extra | NORTH WEBSTER - It was suppose to be just another story about another independent, low-budget movie being filmed in the area.
It wasn't the first time I've done such a story. Hopefully, it won't be the last. Let them make as many films in the area as they want.
But I didn't think this one would be any different, from a reporter's standpoint.
I interviewed the co-writers, directors, producers Brent Kado and Jessica Hardy. I then interviewed two of the actors, former Wabash resident Michael Palascak and Notre Dame graduate Christopher McConnell. So then all I had left to do was take a few photos and be done with my story on the flick "Welcome To Gentle Waters".
But that's when the film editor - among other titles for the film I'm sure she has - asked me if I wanted to be an extra.
"What about my photos?" I asked. I need to take some photos to go with my story.
Well, if I didn't want to do it, that's OK, she said.
I thought about it like a second, told her I've never done a film before, and agreed to do it. Why not? It's not like Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson or Robert Rodriguez are knocking down my door to do something like that. And I have rappelled down a wall and flown upside down in a plane for a story. So why not?
I sat under the "party" tent with the other extras - Justin Stech, Torie Savickis, Tara Nance, Wawasee graduate Chelsea Rigdon and the Canadian boy Sam and his guardian. Sorry, I don't remember his last name or her name at all. Anyway, our role was to basically fake like we were having a party.
I think the film crew was filming the wrong people because we were having all the fun.
I did get a specific "assignment" for the first scene we did. I was to bring the case of beer to the party, after the director yelled action and I counted to seven. Not a problem, I can carry beer.
Oh, but the extras came up with some ideas to enhance the scene. Sam decided to give me a party hug. Stech celebrated my arrival, and the rest of the "partygoers" whooped and hollered my bringing of the alcohol.
It didn't just happen in one take. There was another one. And a third. Maybe even a fourth, but I didn't care. It was fun to just be doing something new and unexpected.
There was some more filming, but it got a little more difficult to keep up the party celebration after a couple of hours of waiting and acting and not always knowing what was going on. How loud are we supposed to be? What did the director actually want us to do?
Our "Whoo hoos!" became more like "yay" as we grew tired. Imagine being an extra for several days of film shooting!
By 4 p.m. Thursday, however, we were done and the film crew went inside for more indoor filming.
My job as an extra finished, I drove back to Warsaw to write the stories.
And just think - I didn't even try to be in a movie. I was just at the right place at the right time. You may not even see or hear me in the finished product, but sometimes it's just about life's unexpected surprises and experiences. That's what really makes life enjoyable.
|
|
Independent Filmmakers
Descend On Webster
David Slone
Times-Union Staff Writer
NORTH WEBSTER - Movies have been filmed in Kosciusko and Elkhart counties before.
"Losing Jim" was filmed in Goshen, and the documentary "American Teen" was made in Warsaw.
But a different sort of movie is being filmed now through Wednesday in North Webster. It's a comedy mockumentary titled "Welcome To Gentle Waters." The film is being shot by Chicago actors and production company, but several members of the cast and crew have ties to the area.
According to the synopsis of "Welcome To Gentle Waters," Terry runs a weekend retreat center in North Lake, Ind.
Serene, clean, and wholesome - he strives to help those who need treatment for substance abuse and assistance for a little soul searching. When five strangers are forced to come to the Gentle Waters Treatment Center, Terry must reach out to everyone and transform their lives because that is his mission.
The characters are Cory, the alpha male drinker; Sharona, a hardened biker mamma; Jennifer, a quiet housewife; Jason, the young unphased pot smoker; and Paul, a high school teacher by day and wolf by night.
Thay all must put up with Terry and each other for 72 hours in order to get their life back and understand whether labels define them.
Brent Kado, 35, and his wife Jessica Hardy, 30, are the co-producers, directors and writers of the film. This is their second work, having made "Off the Cuff" previously. "Off the Cuff" was a mockumentary about improvisational actors competing in an improv competition.
For "Welcome to Gentle Waters," Kado said there is no script, all the actors' dialogue is improvised. The actors know what their characters are about, and an acting coach on set helps coach them through the scenes, but there have been no rehearsals.
"The scenes themselves are not rehearsed, but we do a lot of character development that leads up to the scenes," said Hardy.
"It keeps it fresh, but puts you behind schedule when things don't go well," Kado said Thursday afternoon in the lake house on Webster Lake being used as the location for the treatment center. The lake house belongs to Kado's family, and he and Hardy visit it often. Both graduated from Concord High School.
"We've taken over the house and made it into a production area," said Kado.
The biggest expense in filming the movie, he said, was feeding the 20 to 50 people in the cast and crew three times a day. "That's almost our biggest expense," he said.
Once the film is completed, Kado said, he hopes the film can appear at some film festivals.
"We just want to get it out there," he said. "We hope to get people to invest in another one. This one is going to be good enough to play out."
Hardy took improvisation classes at Second City in Chicago and classes at the Conservatory, and that's what she loves. Together, Hardy and Kado love mockumentaries, so for now it's the type of film they want to make. Mockumentaries allow for more improv.
Kado said the actors in the film are really good. "With these actors, just doing improv, it just works," Kado said.
Improv gives the cast and crew more freedom in the film. It's more organic and natural, he said.
One of the movie's performers is Michael Palascak, 27, a Wabash High School graduate. Now living in the Chicago suburbs, Palascak has appeared on Comedy Central's "Live at Gotham." He started doing stand-up comedy in college.
Palascak appeared in "Off the Cuff" through Hardy, who he met at Second City classes.
In "Welcome" Palascak plays 25-year-old Jason. His character is a big weed smoker, but Palascak had to do a lot of research on weed because he never was into marijuana himself.
He watched "Half Baked," "Pineapple Express and "Friday". Kado also sent him links to Web sites about the plant.
Having done a lot of stand-up comedy lately, Palascak said doing the film has been fun because it lets him get to work on his acting.
Playing Terry's cousin Lonnie is Christopher McConnell, 29. A Notre Dame University graduate, he originally hails from Irwin, Pa. McConnell didn't have much background information on his character to start with, just that Lonnie was supposed to show up unexpectedly and create mayhem. Lonnie lacks social graces and gets in the way of the treatment center.
Like Palascak and Hardy, McConnell also took classes at Second City, as well as other formal training. But that came after he graduated Notre Dame and worked at a few banks. He decided that banking wasn't where his passions were - improv was.
Not matter how many times he does improv, McConnell said, it doesn't get easier.
"It's kind of like second nature, but it's always difficult. I think that's why people like doing it so much," McConnell said.
An extra in the movie is Chelsea Rigdon, 20, of North Webster.
"I found it on the Internet would be the easiest way to put it," Rigdon said of how she landed an extra role. "It's something fun to do, and I'm a theater major at (Indiana University-Bloomington)."
Other extras enjoyed their time on the set too.
"It's fun to get involved in such a cool project this close to home," said Justin Stech.
"It's a great experience. Fun, fun, fun," said Tara Nance.
"I'm just excited I get to smoke and drink beer at the same time," Torie Sarickis said. The extras Thursday were acting like they were having a party outdoors, next to the treatment center.
During their week-long stay in North Webster, Kado said other locations they plan to film include Maria's House of Pancakes, BP gas station, the North Webster Community Center and a driving range. Some scenes will be filmed at a bar in Chicago.
Eventually, Kado said, they'd like to show the film at a local theater. They showed "Off the Cuff" at the Elkhart Civic Theatre.
The production company behind the film, FlowFeelFilms, has a Web site and Facebook about the movie with regular updates. Jim Conrad, also a Concord graduate, keeps a Web blog of the day's activities.
"We want to try to keep people updated with the process of filming a movie," Kado said.
On the Net: www.welcometogentlewatersmovie.blogspot.com
|
|
.jpg)
