You've heard that a million times, and it's definitely true-- but what is easy!? If things in life were easy, they'd be boring. The real aim is never to do things easy, but to have fun when doing them. With the right crew, the right locations, a movie can be a delightful challenge and a welcome learning experience, and this is exactly what we encountered with Catherine Adelaide -- the right team in the right places at the right time.
This was no accident, either. From day 1 in early conception and pre-production, throughout grant applications and beyond, the aim was to bring in young professional artists and give them the experience of working on a semi-professional film! Luckily, those are not hard to find-- talented young professionals are found all across this island, and indeed that is where our cast and crew come from: all across the island! As we mentioned in our last post, we boast the talents of natives from Gander, Corner Brook, Churchill Falls, and St John's-- a well rounded mix covering all corners of our New-Found-Land, integrating and mixing together different perspectives from all kinds of different corners. We'll highlight everyone in a future post, but for now... A retrospective of the project!
Things kicked off in St John's on the Second day of the New Year, with chilly temperatures keeping everyone more awake through the early morning than any reasonable cup of coffee ever could (though that definitely helped the 6am call.). The shoot just barely missed the rolling outages that began on the evening of the 2nd, and enjoyed a snowy & crisp downtown St John's city-scape, still lit by the occasional twinkling Christmas lights in the windows-- perhaps contributing to the subsequent blackouts, but we appreciated it all nonetheless. It's one of the capital's many defining features-- beautiful nightlife, and signal hill silhouetted against the horizon. Thanks to the volunteer Jazz Car provided by Brian Woodford and assistance from Kyla Churchman, we summed up the evening's scenes and wrapped St John's filming without a hitch! Pints at the Duke Of Duckworth followed, and then some much-deserved Zs.
From there production moved to interior locations in Corner Brook, across the island! Despite the film being set in St John's, it was always important for producers Ryan David Butt and Andrew Tremblett to bring the film to the West Coast-- in this interview with the Gander Beacon, Andrew sums it up perfectly: “We realized we had a lot of community support here in Corner Brook __– that’s something we really didn’t want to lose even though the story is set in St. John’s,” said Mr. Tremblett. “What myself and Ryan decided is that we have the opportunity to try and bring two of these worlds together so we made a pact that we would shoot in St. John’s and Corner Brook. It’s very difficult to do but I think it will be worth it for the final product.” ...And that is indeed what we were lucky enough to encounter. Not that St John's would not have been accommodating to a short film set within it, but working alongside friends & even family in old familiar places was an important aspect to the process, which we hope (and believe, really) has resulted in a more intimate and personal experience.
Kicking off at #7 Broadway on Saturday evening, the production filmed Oliver's house in an apartment once occupied by one of the crew-- generously allowed by the current tenants & landlord-- kind of at short notice! It was a nostalgic trip for Ryan and Andrew as well, who shot their first film 'The Boys' together in the basement of the building, along with owner Jim Parsons. Old memories were shared in a familiar space between takes, expertly lit by new DOP Peter Buckle of PB Productions, who came on-board for the West Coast shoot. Along with him, we were joined by students from both CNA Stephenville Campus and Grenfell Theatre folks, volunteering their time and efforts to help us make it all an easier process behind the scenes!
From #7 there we moved to the home of Andy & Sarah Minnes, where the general rule of thumb was 'do what you'd like!'. This selfless attitude from the hosting couple could not have been more appreciated, and allowed for the necessary time to seriously consider every angle and aspect-- something that might not have been possible anywhere else, thanks to some pretty amazing friends!
With Saturday wrapped, we were tasked to SLEEP by AD Jana Gillis, with a 12pm call the next day for location filming at the White Horse Lounge on Broadway! Owner/ operator Kevin Buckle granted us access this famed Corner Brook watering hole, the location of many of the crew's past shenanigans (and no doubt future ones as well), providing a unique atmosphere and personality that only this bar could have provided... Some pretty beautiful stuff resulted as our 3rd actress Toshon Dawe joined the shoot and wrapped within an afternoon, bringing along a great energy to the role of 'Diane'!
After the afternoon's shoot, things moved to the tail-end of shooting at Andy & Sarah's once more. Again, our hosts were simply delightful and considerate, patiently accommodating a short film shooting in their own kitchen!
Meanwhile, throughout the day, crew were secretly sourcing a very special practical prop for the evening: Birthday cake for Director Andrew Tremblett! Turning 21 on the final day of shooting for his first spoken-word short, Andrew was then greeted with both a Vanilla Cake from the Catherine Adelaide folks as well as a delicious chocolate gateau from his rommates after the production had wrapped!
It was an incredible ride, made even more special by the many tiny details that came together throughout the creative process-- before and after cameras were even rolling!
Now, we look to Post production and release!
As per usual, keep your eyes peeled here for all the details.
Thanks for your time, have a great day!
