Spotlight On: Richard Culver Interview Over the last ten years or so, I've seen a lot of independent films. And I'm not just talking about the Miramax "indie" flicks with Steve Buscemi or Naomi Watts. Are those truly independent? I'm talking about the Low-To-No budget films people make because they are driven to make them, no matter if there's much of a budget to speak of. They pull out the stops, rally the troops and march on... into the fray with the rest of us. Hacking, slashing, tearing our guts out to make something special. Joining the ranks of other auteur champs like Rodriguez and Bresson, Richard Culver of out of Hayward, CA has crossed the finish line and raised the Flag of Independence with his digital feature "The Last Kennedy", a tour-de-force of high-concept gritty, smart and creative filmmaking. Sure he shares a few credits with others, but when you're writing, acting, directing, shooting, editing, scoring and producing a film from the ground up, lines can get blurred a bit when hats are swapped from time to time. How do you pull this off successfully? No, it's not smoke and mirrors. It's movie magic... and Richard Culver is a bit of a magician when it comes to grassroots filmmaking. But without revealing too much about his style or tricks of the trade, here's the man to explain it himself. by Jeff Palmer at Flicker Pictures Flicker Pictures: Your first feature film
"The Groom" was actually shot on film (fancy that) and was
completed in 2000, but never released. I’m curious. Care to explain? Richard Culver: Yes, remember film? That was a great experience. But that film is a whole other story. Let's just leave it at that. I did learn a lot though.
Richard
Culver: I had plans to yes. I have a love hate relationship with
that film - can you tell? I figured 10 years was as good of a time. I
edited it once on film in 1997, then once on DV in 2000, but was unable to
print it to tape because my edit system was a piece of crap, so I wound up
losing everything I did when I decided to shoot The Last Kennedy because
remember when a 75 Gig drive was $300, yeah, so I trashed it.
Realistically now though it will probably be a while before I can put up
with looking at it again. Richard
Culver: Yeah, no doubt. Sorry to be on such a bummer with that
film. It really was a great learning experience in a lot of ways. But
actually that was on a PC. I edited my first short film on my Amiga with a
PAR (Personal Animation Recorder) Completely destructive edits and
handmade digital transitions. FP: That's right. Still, there was time when making movies wasn't so accessible. But speaking of digital... from what I gather, your biggest project to date is the digital feature “The Last Kennedy” a psychological-political thriller. Seems like you had your hands full with every part of the process, from acting, shooting, writing, producing and scoring the music. Did I miss anything? Richard
Culver: Yeah, making movies is far more accessible today. It really
is interesting to look at it from the perspective that filmmakers just
don't have a lot of the same technical hurdles that used to be there only
a few years ago. Things are moving rapidly. Well
I have always been a hands-on kind of artist. In film I have several
careers all rolled into one it seems. FP: You certainly do. I have to say I was very impressed with the cinematography in The Last Kennedy (TLK) -- as well as the editing -- but we'll talk about that in a bit. First, describe your camera rig for us. From the production stills it looks like you tricked it out with all sorts of bells and whistles.
FP: So... from FILMmaking to
DIGITALmaking. Was that a tough leap to make technically? Creatively?
Aesthetically? Or was it mostly, as we've heard from many filmmakers out
there, more of a financial necessity? Richard
Culver: It was a financial and creative necessity. But for me, I
had to first make the transformation from digital to film because I was
really on the cutting edge of digital with my first film. I did all the
sound editing on one of the first NLE sound apps called Sunrise Studio 16.
So when it cam time to edit on film I actually figured out that I could
lay SMPTE track on some mag stock and then fed the output of that into my
Amiga from the flatbed editor as a trigger and I laid in the sound tracks
using this digital app while my film was playing back on film through the
flatbed monitor. So it was kind of like reaching back into the
"old" technology of film from my new digital world. So, when DV
was introduced, I was excited because that meant I could be digital all
the way. It was very liberating.
Richard
Culver: Well on my first film and my first feature, I did
storyboards for every shot. However, I was directing and acting, not
behind the camera. On TLK, I had this desire to shoot. I really felt the
need to get behind the lens and get a better feel for composition and
lighting. Things that I really only understood in theory. So I just took
my camera out and started shooting a bunch of stuff, I did a bunch of
documentary type of stuff, cause in the beginning that's all I thought I'd
be capable of. When it cam time to shoot the dramatic scenes I started
doing storyboards again but dropped it immediately. I was more comfortable
coming to the set with some ideas of how I want the sequence to go and
then just find things on the set that I like. it wound up being more from
the hip by the end. FP: That's kinda what I thought when watching TLK. It had a real gritty documentary style in a lot of the scenes, but not all of course. I have to admit, for shooting with an XL-1, you captured some amazingly crisp and imaginative images -- as well as compelling performances from the cast. How did you find shooting AND directing simultaneously? Do you feel more connected to the actors and the scene if you're behind the camera (the DP) or watching a monitor from the sidelines?
Richard
Culver: I think the camera puts you in a real intimate contact with
the cast. However you are also thinking of many other things so it can be
real nerve wrecking at the same time. I kind of like the challenge. I also
think the actor feels that intimacy too. It is a different flow. Even in
auditions I like to be right there with the actor as well. How bout you?
Do you like to shoot and direct? FP: Yeah. I'm in the same boat. The few times that I did shoot with film, I wasn't the DP or even near the camera -- and we didn't even have a monitor -- so I felt totally removed from what was happening inside the frame. It really pulled me out of the action and was very difficult to engage. Still, it was a good experience. Now, about rehearsing and shooting with the cast. Did you allow the actors to improvise much on set and while shooting or did you prefer most folks to stick to the page? I guess it depends on the actor?
Richard Culver: Wow OK, No monitor! That's rough. As far as the casting and auditions, the script is ever evolving. I try to stay open to the fact that the script might just suck at any given point as far as the dialogue goes. On “The Groom” we rehearsed and rewrote almost everything on the spot. Then I put the rehearsals into rewrites and we shot that verbatim... er except my lines which on many occasions, I'd be on the set wondering what I was thinking with that line and change it. As far as on the set improv anything goes and there were large chucks of scenes in TLK that were completely improv. All the phone conversations between Linda and Bob were based on her improv and he improved responses - at a later date. FP: Well, the end result came
out great. Speaking of rewrites, I did hear that while you were shooting
The Last Kennedy, 9/11 happened. Tell me how that affected the script,
production and the overall direction of the movie. Richard Culver: It almost shut it down. Here we were trying to make a big deal out of this national tragedy the likes of JFK and Martin Luther King. I had a whole thematic thing going there. In this country there had been these large events that shaped us - since Pearl Harbor - and that was the assassination of JFK and of MLK. Those were things that gripped us as a people. And so I thought, OK, what if an African American such as MLK was to be elected president? And what if he inspired this kind of hope all over again? Then what would happen if he were eliminated? Well, that would still be heavy now, but at the time it just did not add up to planes crashing into the twin towers. That was a hard act to follow and then the TV series 24 came out with a similar plot. I about lost it.
Richard
Culver: Yeah. So I took on a whole new angle - more of a
fantasy/spiritual approach to try and downplay the political aspect. Funny
thing is when we were in post in LA the whole thing kind of came full
circle and when we promoted the film we tried to play up the political
thing again because it was 2003 and we were about to go to war and we had
another election around the corner. So I learned my lesson. No matter
what, stay the course. FP: That is sound advice from the trenches, yet again. In the end, you climbed a steep hill with TLK, made a solid film and topped it off with distribution. Without divulging all the financial details, were you pleased with how the distribution deal went? Richard
Culver: Well another lesson. Take the distribution deal you are
offered. Several months, and thousands of dollars later spent on
promotion, we wound up with the same deal we had from the first screening.
In the end I'd say I am happy it found a home and it is getting out there.
That is saying a lot these days. FP: Damn straight. A bird in
the hand... Okay. Gimme the best production moment and the worst
production faux pas… overall. Any near death experiences? Talent
tantrums? Broken limbs? Richard
Culver:
FP: Any dream
projects or backburner concepts floating around? Richard
Culver: Too many. How 'bout you? FP: Let's just say I'm sitting
on a few eggs right now and trying to decide whether I'm a chicken or a
filmmaker. Make sense? Richard Culver: Perfectly. FP: Well man, it’s been a
pleasure learning more about your creative process. Thanks so much for
sharing details regarding your digital feature The Last Kennedy as well as
tidbits of production do’s, don’ts and things to look out for when
making movies. We'll be watching to see what's next from Cine-Verité.
Keep it real. Richard Culver: Not a problem. And with that note, we called it a night. I do wish Richard all the best for new year and would urge folks to queue up "The Last Kennedy" on Netflix and give it a look. The top-rate acting, cinematography, editing... editing? --- oh crap! We forgot to talk about the editing! Well, maybe we'll have to catch up with Richard on that one down the road. Until then, all you film fans stay busy, stay gold and shoot for cine-verité -- Truth in Cinema. Cheers, Jeff Palmer at Flicker Pictures Spotlight on: Coming Soon... Sean Ireland talks about his film "SWAY", Part II with Rob Fitz - the God of Vampires, and catching up with many others. More interviews will trickle in as 2007 creeps along so stay tuned! To read previous interviews with other filmmakers, click the links below Spotlight on: Kathy Fitzgerald of Poverti Productions Spotlight on: Rob Fitz is the God of Vampires email Jeff at
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FP:
The Cine-
FP:
Man! That is quite the workaround. It makes me smile when I hear of those
filmmaking stories "from the trenches" so to speak. Back to the
camera work on TLK. I'd like to know a little more about your shooting
style. Do you use storyboards in pre-pro or are you a shoot-from-the-hip
kinda DP? How are you making your shot choices and framing compositions?
Are you playing around with options on set or following a rigid shot list?
Actually
I did spend quite a bit of time in pre-production with my character and it was
not until that last days of shooting that I actually understood him fully.
I think the best production moments were capturing Darla through the
camera. Such talent. The worst moment was finding out we had no flag for
the funeral. We waited all afternoon for it and I had to shoot the entire
scene in 15 minutes before sundown. I did have a few angry spells. I kept
breaking my prop glasses and we had to fix them several times, stalling
the shoot.
Richard
Culver
