David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
Lesson learned -- hire really great people and you'll have a really great shoot!
The unique suspense/drama feature 'Tangled Web' both started and wrapped this weekend in Gastonia, NC. The story, about an abused and lonely housewife carrying on a secret love affair via the Internet, was told entirely from the POV of webcams in the homes of three of the main characters.
We had an AMAZINGLY excellent cast and crew! Rebecca Morris, who played the female lead, was stellar! She took the character of Shannon Hunter on a dizzying emotional rollercoaster that was truly awesome to watch.
Jeff Clayton carried the role of Alex Hunter, Shannon's abusive cop husband. He played the character with a strength of brutality that will make you truly feel pain for Shannon.
Austin Herring did a great job as the compassionate online lover, Taylor Williams. His warmth, humor and empathy are a perfect opposite to what Shannon is used to with Alex.
Desiree Markella was a bundle of bubbly fun in the role of Shannon's best friend and next door neighbor, Kelly. She brought a great warmth and cheerfulness to the character, and is such fun to watch.
Hunter Ballard and Ashley Ballard were just perfect as Shannon's two darling kids, Jordan and Olivia Hunter. Youth is no handicap for these two -- they play like pros and were great fun to have on the shoot.
Last, but definitely not least, is Luke Francis as the geeky tech nerd Bobby. Luke gave Bobby a fun and off-center personality that was a very nice fit for the role.
Rounding out the troupe were Jeff Clayton, doubling as DP, John Jenrette (executive producer and documentarian, as well as AD), Shannon Fluck (grip, SFX makeup, and all-around hard worker), Karen Richardson (my lovely wife and fellow producer), and me. In addition to writing and producing "Tangled Web", I also directed -- a first for me. What a blast!
This was the MOST amazing shoot! You've heard it said, "Fast, cheap, good -- pick two." Well, we managed FAST and CHEAP.....once we get out of post we'll see about the "good" part.
FAST.... We had an 83-page script, which we shot in just 2 DAYS! Now get this -- we got underway around 9:30 Saturday morning, and wrapped that day at 6:00pm. Sunday we started around 9:00am and wrapped the production at (get this) 3:45pm. Can you imagine? Not only 83 pages shot in 2 days -- but they were 2 SHORT days!
Okay, the whole "webcam POV" thing helped keep the shoot short. But there were a LOT of opportunities for things to go wrong. Like, for instance, VERY long scenes (up to 16 pages long) that had to be shot in real-time with no cuts. So any screw-up meant we'd have to start over from the beginning of the scene. Taking a HUGE chance. But let me tell you -- these people are ACES! They're PROS at what they do -- real troupers! They are the main reason this shoot went so smoothly. I can't praise them enough!
I want to extend a HUGE thanks to the wonderful people in our cast and crew. They laughed, they cried, they kept us in stitches half the time -- and they worked their butts off, giving some of the strongest, most emotional performances I've ever seen. If you ever get a chance to cast any of these people, DO it!
Rebecca Morris
Jeff Clayton
Austin Herring
Desiree Markella
Luke Bradley Francis
Jordan Hunter
Ashley Hunter
Jeff Clayton also makes an excellent DP and crew member. He plied us with funny stories to keep our spirits up. Between him and John Jenrette, we were in stitches most of the time! Luke Francis composed songs for us on his guitar -- he's got a great talent. Austin worked like a pro even though he was sick as a dog. They're just all great!
Now we move into editing and scoring. We're not actually totally wrapped -- Lara Stevenson is co-producing 'Tangled Web', and she's currently overseeing the 2nd unit, which is preparing to shoot an additional scene for the movie. That shoot is coming up soon.
Post production should be very fast, and we hope to be having our premiere screening of 'Tangled Web' in the very near future.
Thanks again to all the great people who came and made 'Tangled Web' into a reality. We are honored and blessed to have worked with you, and hope to do so again in the future.
Best to all!
David
The unique suspense/drama feature 'Tangled Web' both started and wrapped this weekend in Gastonia, NC. The story, about an abused and lonely housewife carrying on a secret love affair via the Internet, was told entirely from the POV of webcams in the homes of three of the main characters.
We had an AMAZINGLY excellent cast and crew! Rebecca Morris, who played the female lead, was stellar! She took the character of Shannon Hunter on a dizzying emotional rollercoaster that was truly awesome to watch.
Jeff Clayton carried the role of Alex Hunter, Shannon's abusive cop husband. He played the character with a strength of brutality that will make you truly feel pain for Shannon.
Austin Herring did a great job as the compassionate online lover, Taylor Williams. His warmth, humor and empathy are a perfect opposite to what Shannon is used to with Alex.
Desiree Markella was a bundle of bubbly fun in the role of Shannon's best friend and next door neighbor, Kelly. She brought a great warmth and cheerfulness to the character, and is such fun to watch.
Hunter Ballard and Ashley Ballard were just perfect as Shannon's two darling kids, Jordan and Olivia Hunter. Youth is no handicap for these two -- they play like pros and were great fun to have on the shoot.
Last, but definitely not least, is Luke Francis as the geeky tech nerd Bobby. Luke gave Bobby a fun and off-center personality that was a very nice fit for the role.
Rounding out the troupe were Jeff Clayton, doubling as DP, John Jenrette (executive producer and documentarian, as well as AD), Shannon Fluck (grip, SFX makeup, and all-around hard worker), Karen Richardson (my lovely wife and fellow producer), and me. In addition to writing and producing "Tangled Web", I also directed -- a first for me. What a blast!
This was the MOST amazing shoot! You've heard it said, "Fast, cheap, good -- pick two." Well, we managed FAST and CHEAP.....once we get out of post we'll see about the "good" part.
FAST.... We had an 83-page script, which we shot in just 2 DAYS! Now get this -- we got underway around 9:30 Saturday morning, and wrapped that day at 6:00pm. Sunday we started around 9:00am and wrapped the production at (get this) 3:45pm. Can you imagine? Not only 83 pages shot in 2 days -- but they were 2 SHORT days!
Okay, the whole "webcam POV" thing helped keep the shoot short. But there were a LOT of opportunities for things to go wrong. Like, for instance, VERY long scenes (up to 16 pages long) that had to be shot in real-time with no cuts. So any screw-up meant we'd have to start over from the beginning of the scene. Taking a HUGE chance. But let me tell you -- these people are ACES! They're PROS at what they do -- real troupers! They are the main reason this shoot went so smoothly. I can't praise them enough!
I want to extend a HUGE thanks to the wonderful people in our cast and crew. They laughed, they cried, they kept us in stitches half the time -- and they worked their butts off, giving some of the strongest, most emotional performances I've ever seen. If you ever get a chance to cast any of these people, DO it!
Rebecca Morris
Jeff Clayton
Austin Herring
Desiree Markella
Luke Bradley Francis
Jordan Hunter
Ashley Hunter
Jeff Clayton also makes an excellent DP and crew member. He plied us with funny stories to keep our spirits up. Between him and John Jenrette, we were in stitches most of the time! Luke Francis composed songs for us on his guitar -- he's got a great talent. Austin worked like a pro even though he was sick as a dog. They're just all great!
Now we move into editing and scoring. We're not actually totally wrapped -- Lara Stevenson is co-producing 'Tangled Web', and she's currently overseeing the 2nd unit, which is preparing to shoot an additional scene for the movie. That shoot is coming up soon.
Post production should be very fast, and we hope to be having our premiere screening of 'Tangled Web' in the very near future.
Thanks again to all the great people who came and made 'Tangled Web' into a reality. We are honored and blessed to have worked with you, and hope to do so again in the future.
Best to all!
David