The story...
After a series of tragedies, James' life begins to spiral out of control. Hallucinations and hearing things are the least of his worries while he desperately tries to maintain his relationships and keep from losing his grip on reality. James is plunged into situations where his choices will affect not only his entire future, but everyone he cares for as well.
In the beginning,... and the end...
We thought, "someone goes insane and sees a lot of weird s--t. That'd be cool to watch."
This was SUPPOSED to be a quick, simple little project - albeit with some complex special effects. As we continued to film, it turned out to be an epic production!!
It SHOULD have taken a few weeks or a couple months to complete, but the winter weather, depleted funds, and the star shaving his head mid-filming ran us over. So, yes, due to the TEN MONTH shooting, there are several continuity errors, but, overall, it is still turning out to be a rather "okay" movie. The acting and character development will hopefully make amends for the goofs. Then again, it's still not bad for a low budget film of $400 or so, and most of that was for gasoline to get the actors to the locations.
We started filming in late August of 2008, and we finished in late-June of 2009; about 11 hours worth of recorded raw footage. So much for our "simple, quick little project" to get out of the way until our next HUGE epic!
The making of...
The director developed the story, however, it was on this project that the Lone Star crew discovered the technique of using the script as a guideline only. It tells the non-professional cast what the objective of the scene is, and highlights any idears for dialogue we have beforehand. Thus, improv and adlibbing were the norm. The result of this type of process was very natural sounding dialogue. In fact, the director wishes he would have used even less scripted dialogue than they did. From the next project on, the dialogue will be 99% to 100% adlibbed using our "objective" technique.
I know Hollywood 101 says movies are the ILLUSION of reality, NOT reality itself, especially when it comes to dialogue. Well, i'm not much at going by rules and set expectations. Besides, Tarintino's Pulp Fiction basically had the same effect as what we are doing. As long as it highlights the character's personalities so the audience can "get to know them", then screw the rules! Besides, I have found this to be the best way to get excellent performances out of non-professional actors!
On the whole, the entire cast did an EXCELLENT job TALKING and LISTENING to each other on screen instead of simply reciting lines and waiting their turn to say their next line. There were very few scenes where scripted nearly-word-for-word dialogue was used - only because it was vital information to the plot or character arcs. Plus, we were still getting out feet wet, trying to figure out how to make a movie. If we'd only known on the first day of filming what we'd learned by the end of production....
This was an unusual project in many ways. On screen, and story wise, it's presentation is not very main-stream. For 95% of the time, the audience knows only as much as the lead character. Otherwise, the story just doesn't work. This unique perspective brings it's own rewards and challenges - ESPECIALLY when forces (other than the main character's impending insanity) create conflict.
There is no clear beginning-middle-ending with the normal 3-act structure that Hollywood has hammered into our expectations. We are, more or less, simply hanging out with this character; we are experiencing what he experiences. Think Forrest Gump as a thriller.
Towards the end of 2008, the production ran out of money. The director was donating blood plasma to pay for the budget (props, fake blood, wardrobe, and gas money to get the out-of-town cast to the shooting location). The Plasma donation center fell victim to the worsening U.S. economy.
Then, November 1, 2008, winter weather started to consistently hit Texas. The leaves changed colors and fell, as did the temperatures, almost over night, and stayed that way for several months.
THEN, on top of that, due to a dare, our star got a mohawk, then shaved his head. We tried to use the INSANITY plot-line to work this into the story (the 40% we already filmed was shot out of sequence) but the effort was futile. There was just no getting around this MAJOR continuity gaff.
(We already had major continuity errors with our Living room set, as it has been rearranged and replaced twice during the course of filming.)
Production resumed April 24, 2009. The summer weather returned (avoiding yet another problem with continuity), and Cody's hair grew out some (he refused to wear a wig to match his longer hair).
We finished shooting principal photography with the lead actor on June 29th. The next day, Cody adventured off to Army Basic Training! (With 90% of the movie complete, the only video left to record is of a few vital 2nd unit shots involving some appending footage and the cameos of some co-stars). However, there are months worth of digital special effects, painstaking digital compositing (key-framing one frame at a time!!), color correction, sound foley, and all sorts of other editing in post to be done. Not to mention the original score has to be composed and recorded. And, the soundtrack has to be selected and cleared for the internet version; the cast's private, unrated DVD version doesn't have to deal with clearance issues (so that one's a little easier and will contain better, familiar songs that the cast likes!)
The Visual Style...
Shannon prefers a camera that is almost always moving, but not to the point of distraction. A moving camera gives energy to a scene - even to a simple dialogue exchange. Michael Bay's cinematography is a good example of this. However, there IS a such a thing as over-doing it, i.e. when the camera is so frenetic it pulls the audience from the the scene instead of adding to the mood. On the other hand, Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino have shown the value of mounting the camera to a tripod and simply allowing the actors to do their thang.
The lighting is purposefully dramatic. Yes, we are well aware of the three-point (key, fill, rim) technique/rule. However, Shannon decided he wanted to do something different with the indoor scenes. He WANTED harsh lighting and harsh shadows. This was a calculated decision, which, some on set say comes off as a "cheap, home movie look." Anyhow, the harsh lighting is MUCH better than a cheery, brightly lit room during dark, dramatic content.
Future productions will have more lights in the background for artistic purposes, and we will probably stick closer to the 3 point lighting method (or at least key and rim).
Some unusual, odd angles were thrown in for stylistic purposes. Other aesthetics include a hand-held camera 95% of the time, camera arcing around the (non-moving) actor, several sunrise/sunset shots (thank you, Bay!), and several digital LENS FLARES (thanks, JJ!) spread throughout.
Retrospective Ramblings... from director Shannon Shaw:
I have only three real regrets aboat this entire experience.
1. That I didn't start filming during those first two weeks when cast members kept showing up, ready. (Blast my depression).
2. That I lost the tapes and batteries on the day of "the big fight", leaving us with only 10 minutes for the entire fight sequence. (Hey! on the bright side, we got 2 or 3 great shots.)
3. Had I known this was going to turn into a full-length movie instead of a 10 or 20 minute "weird" short - and the uncertainty of casting future projects - I would have structured this story to be more traditional - with more mystery, suspense, red herrings, twists, and LOTS of runners and callbacks. Instead of simply alluding to (and not following through with) certain themes (during their character arcs), I would have actually had this movie be ABOUT SOMETHING - not in a preachy, after-school special presentation; but I would have had various views on various subjects and let the audience think aboat it.
Insanely Sane had the potential to be a wonderful, scary PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER. Unfortunately, the whole "it's-a-short-but-I-just-kept-adding-stuff which turned it into 'the longest short film ever'" issue ends up being a mishmash of a drama and romance, sprinkled with a little action and humor.
A director's worst fear is that the numerous continuity errors and production mistakes (that were known almost immediately upon doing so, but we didn't have the time or resources to re-shoot) added with the character and plot threads that ultimately lead nowhere will make (Insanely Sane) fodder for MST3k-like ribbing, and compared to Ed Wood, or, at worst, The Room!!
The actors did an EXCELLENT job with the material they were given, both scripted and improv; thus, they are not to blame for any of the film's shortcomings in any way, shape, or form! As the director-story editor-producer, I should have seen that our little go-kart of a movie had somehow evolved into an over-loaded 18-wheeler semi-truck! i.e. I am very well aware of every mistake and shortcoming in our movie. It was a HUGE learning experience, but one that resulted in a project I am proud of due to the actor's performances!
The RELEASE...
After 15 years, the director has FINALLY come to a point in life where he can mange his severe depression better. Then, life interfered and he got busy. The opening scene still needs some second-unit shots, but the biggest hurdle is the VFX for a specific scene - angel/devil on shoulders-type of scene. However, what would have needed MONTHS of 12 hour workdays by manually doing the effects , with new technology, can NOW be done in a matter of minutes. So once the $700 computer program that can perform this magic is purchased in late 2024, insanely Sane will be very, VERY close to being complete. However, after such a long gestation period, and the director's increase experience, the entire movie will be remastered from every visual aspect to sound/music/sound effects. Despite the continuity errors, the final presentation will be as good as possible.
Originally there were going to be two versions - as we shot alternate takes with and without profanity and more violence. There will now be one quasi-PG-13 streaming version with all scenes in their originally shot full-length versions. The only issue is the soundtrack. Slight alterations may be made in order to keep as many of the original songs picked out, but we will see what the YouTube copyright gods allow when the time comes.
Special Features will be uploaded to a playlist as well.
- An extensive BLOOPER REEL is the highlight of this entire experience!!
- "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" In ten months, how many times did Cody fall down during filming?
- "The not-so-special effects of I.S": a fast paced showcase of all the effects in the movie- Deleted/alternate/extended scenes
- A very brief Making-Of Featurette (possibly, but not for certain)
- VERY UNLIKELY: a commentary track with thoughts from some of the cast (who are available and still alive)
INSANELY SANE is Lonestar Pictures first full-length feature.
However, it was originally designed to be a short film; thus, the structure will be significantly different than the accepted norm.
The director has joked that it is the longest short film ever.
"...our little go-kart of a movie had somehow evolved into an over-loaded (out of control) 18-wheeler semi-truck!"
- Director-wannabe Shannon Shaw
One terrible moment can affect more lives than you ever realize.
TRAILER #1
TRAILER #2
SOME BLOOPERS FROM ONE SILLY DAY OF FILMING
THE CAST
"James" ............... Cody Wolfe
"Shawn" ................ Taylor Montey
"Heather" ................ Emberly Ballew
"Andy" ................ Logan Harrison
"Kate" ................. Amanda Lester
"Detective O'Connell" ................. Shannon Shaw
"Dad" ................. Brian Kure
"Mom" (voice)/Doctor ................. Pamela Garrison
"Todd" ................. Dakota Dodd
