Fall 2004. The situation with the music completely falls apart and to make a long story short, replacement composer Rachel Hamilton is brought in to write the music. I send her a disc of quicktime files and she begins writing demos.
August - early October the music is polished and after some retooling, ready to be mixed into the film. Then my computer fails to turn on after the power fails one morning. I quickly make a guess that it's the power supply and order a new one online, praying that it's the problem. I try to maintain my cool, despite the fact the whole movie is on a computer that is currently useless -- months of work! Enslavement!
The power supply arrives a week later and.... it works! (i cried tears of joy) Now the final touches are put on the movie!
In Conclusion. As the final product sits before me, I can't help but feel both sadness and joy. Now the making of this glorious short only exists in my memories. Working with such great people has made it all worth it.
But it's a relief that the film, with all the problems we had, got finished. Many walls we hit might have stopped us cold, but somehow we just managed to climb over and keep trekking forward.
When the premiere happens on Nov. 11th I shall watch a year's work on the screen along with many faces. I'm proud to be able to show everyone our unique short story.
Until the next big film adventure......
-Matt J. Eppright
Adventures in the Land of Travelers: The Making of "Trickery of Travelers"
Spring 2004. The bulk of shooting begins. Things seem to be going well. Everyone is having a good time on the set despite some rather early call times. The weather is really perfect, mostly sunshine, no wind. I remember wondering how crappy the weather must be back in the midwest. Welcome to Arizona!
Another semi-crisis strikes. After an attempt to clean my Canon 1014E I jam the shutter and basically wreck the camera. Shooting for that Sunday is cancelled. I quickly hit up ebay and find a replacement camera, engage in a bidding war, and win our "new" camera. Whew! The camera is mailed and arrives for that next weekend for shooting. Will it be the same quality? No choice, now.
We wrap shooting in April 2003. I play the salesman on the final day of shooting due to Dave leaving to work on another film. (so it's my feet not his you see at certain points in the film) I get all the film developed from Fuji and eagerly box it all up to be shipped to Film & Video Transfers in Northridge, CA for a telecine -- the most expensive and critical part of the film. (transfering it to Digital Tape)
One day this image hit me. I don't recall the time or place, but, it was the image of the travelling salesman and ballerina. I sat down and wrote a paragraph or two about the adventure this duo would have. They would travel the midwestern countryside and swindle the farmers and country folk with their talents. Sort of "La Strada" meets "Badlands" if I could compare it to other films.
Ideas began to grow in scope. Suddenly the Salesman's suitcase became this portal to another world. The Ballerina had magical powers. They were employed by the "powers above" to do the dirty deeds of the universe.
This all arose around the second draft of the script. Then I moved to Phoenix and the setting changed to the desert.
Fall 2003. After a summer of re-drafting the script, I meet screenwriter Malcolm Carter and ask him if he'd be interested in producing the film with me. Thankfully, he is. I contact actor David Bianchi who I'd met previously at an audition and ask him if he'd be interested in playing the Salesman, which he is. The ball has started rolling!
We met an actress interested in playing the ballerina through Dave. After auditioning her, I offer her the part and she accepts. Things are really starting to roll. We held an open audition for all the minor roles in the film and find all the needed actors and actresses to assemble a cast.
Shooting begins in late October 2003, which is one "hot as hell" day. Little did we know the film would still be wrapping in October 2004!
November 2003. After shooting a few scenes, disaster strikes. Our lead actress leaves the film due to her workload with school and theatre. The production shuts down. Another audition is held in early December to replace the lead actress. We find a new terrific actress by the name of Amy Jean Page, who seems perfect for the part. The ball is rolling again!
A couple of scenes are shot before everyone departs for Christmas break. We plan the major shooting schedule for the film, which will be Spring 2004. Most of the film will be shot on weekends, due to everyone's work schedule.
Summer 2004. Post-Production begins. Me and my assistant editor, Callie Campbell, begin assembing the footage. Most of it came out great and in focus! (another big sigh of relief)
The LONG process begins of sending quicktime files to my composer, David Wester, who sends me back synth renderings of what the music will sound like. Suggestions are made and the endless tinkering begins to find a musical tone.
I leave in early June to visit back home in the midwest, hoping that all the music will be written when I get back. I return after a week, it is, but problems have arisen with the musical ensemble we've assembled. Egads.