Writer/Directors Tammie McCue, Liam Whitehouse, Vince Salerno Jr., Giles Allan and Justin Pachl discuss the final cut of their movie.
On Friday night, January 13, 2012, the writer/directors, Tammie McCue, Liam Whitehouse, Vince Salerno Jr., Giles Allan and Justin Pachl, viewed their completed movie, “The Elpis Orb”, to see if there were any changes that needed to be made before they called the final cut. They did find that one of the 163 visual effect shots in the movie needed tweaking as well as some corrections in the final title roll. The fixes were made and the final cut of the motion picture has been rendered in high definition video for its world premier on Friday night, April 13, 2012, at the Glenwood Community High School Auditorium. The movie is a project of the Leadership Through Drama Intermediate Movie Making Class.
Writer/Director Justin Pachl talks about he emotional impact of the movie.
At the end of the movie viewing, on Friday night, the room erupted in applause and then animated discussion broke out on the story and how it plays out on the screen. The movie has lots of action as well as some very emotional moments. The movie makers were very pleased at how some scenes brought tears to their eyes and shared how the scenes made them feel.
The battles in the movie were some of their favorite scenes to stage and shoot, but all agreed that the final conflict beats the battle scenes 10 times over on the screen.
Writer/Director Vince Salerno Jr. talks about casting the movie.
Vince Salerno Jr.commented on the casting of the movie and how many of the actors are very much like their characters in real life.
They all agreed that the hardest day of shooting had to be the Charontee attack. Temperatures went over one hundred degrees and the Charontee costumes are very hot to wear. The movie makers had lots of praise for those who played the Charontees and worked so hard in extremely hot conditions. They all agreed that the high temperatures that day of shooting added to the effectiveness of the scene following the battle. The battle was shot in the morning and the scene just following the battle was shot in the afternoon after a much needed lunch break. It was so hot in the afternoon that the actors started sweating right away which made them look like they had just been through a very intense battle, which they had in the story. Shooting had to be halted several times for actors to get out of the sun and get some water and shade.
Director Giles Allan and Writer Justin Pachl share their thoughts of the scene in the hospital.
Giles Allan talked about directing the scene in the hospital with Joey, Mom, Grandpa and the Doctor. It was an all day shoot that he felt went really well. He later did most of the editing on the scene. Justin Pachl who wrote the scene was not able to make the shoot in the hospital room and expressed how moved he was by the scene as it played out on the screen. It was even better than he had imagined it would be and complimented Giles and Tammie McCue, who did camera work for the scene, on making it a powerful moment in the movie.
Work on “The Elpis Orb” began with the outlining of the story and writing the script back in April 2010 as part of the Leadership Through Drama Intermediate Movie Making Class. The script was completed in November 2010 and planning meetings were held to prepare for the making of the movie. In Febuary 2011 screen tests were held and in March 2011 the movie was cast. Shooting began in April 2011 and wrapped up in November 2011. The last edit of the movie was made in December 2011. After 21 months of dedicated work by all involved the movie is ready to be shown to the public.
The story is a coming of age, fantasy, adventure. Instructor and Producer Ron Hines was very impressed with the students script. “They didn’t hold back and put a lot of themselves and their experiences into the story”, stated Ron. “That is what makes the movie so powerful as it contains so many universal truths. They also did a very good job of sharing their story through the magic of motion picutures.”
What really makes this movie unique is that it was written, cast, directed and edited by four local high school students and one adult through the LTD program. The movie runs 1 hour and 18 minutes. It cost over $5000 to make which is nothing compared to the big budget Hollywood movies. Though it took 163 visual effect shots to make the story possible, the real charm and power of the movie is the story telling. That is what movies are all about. Movie makers are magicians who take their dreams and then share them with others through the magic of movie making.
Justin Pachl summed up the whole experience with his comment that the journey did not just take place on the screen, it was a journey for all of them as well. It is obvious that they learned a lot and not just about movie making.
For behind the scene stories, pictures, videos and trailers visit ”The Elpis Orb” Facebook page. If you are a member of Facebook “like” our page to get all the latest information.
You can also keep up with the movie on Leadership Through Drama’s website
www.LTD4kIds.org.
Don’t miss out! Take the journy April 13, 2012.
“The Elpis Orb” was funded in part by the Mills County Community Foundation.
