All in all, I had terrific fun being involved with this project, and found out that Tony Twist is a great guy to be around. That was because all the actors had to provide their own wardrobe items, and I guess nobody thought to distress the fabric until after many of the scenes had been shot. My biggest beef was the same as many in that almost all the clothes looked waaay too new. Skillful editing had made clumsy on screen gun handling look smooth and fast. When I saw the finished product, it was much better than I had feared. I think the entire movie cost $130,000 to make in 2001 dollars that figure meaning stuff they actually had to write checks for. They brought in Eric Stanze for that, and he was not cheap. The final scene (filmed before I became involved) was, as many suspected, a BIG part of the budget. The main sound guy, who also played the guitar music and had a small acting part, worked for free as well. None of the actors got paid to my knowledge, and all of the locations, horses, saddles, catering, and such were donated by friends who wanted to see the film succeed. Cash was only spent for equipment rentals, film costs, processing, editing, etc. BTW Mister Clay Randall was played by the director's dad. The entire movie was made with almost everyone working for free and some who contributed money in return for a small acting part. It is unlikely that in a small town so many of the men would have state-of-the-art weaponry that was only a year old, but it would not have been impossible. Many of the guns used in the movie had first been made in 1873, so I made Doveed change the caption at the beginning of the film from "Missouri 1867" to "Missouri 1874" or maybe it was 1876, I forget which. That's a pet peeve of movie-going gun guys. I told them I refused to be involved in any western project set in a year that was before the guns they were using had been invented. The story was originally set just after the Civil War, in 1867. However, my main contribution to the film was something else. The small acting part I had was the gun dealer with the beard and big black hat who is exasperated by the incompetence of the gang they are trying to organize. Hollywood directors would have a coronary at the idea of using live ammunition and real dynamite on a movie set, but we were on my land and I had the proper licenses, so it would have been fun if we could have pulled it off for the final cut. Unfortunately, at that time my weight had ballooned to over 300 pounds and I was too fat to stand in for Tony, no matter what camera angle was used. I showed them I could shoot dynamite out of the air with rifle or revolver, and they were originally excited about me doubling for Nathan Cross (Tony Twist) doing this, to show what a fearsome gunman he was. That's why you seldom see the actor draw and fire the gun-they filmed it, but had to edit it out because everyone was so clumsy. My hope was to coach the other actors in gun handling and fast draw to make them look competent on screen, but unfortunately most of the shooting scenes had already been filmed by the time I was brought in. When I was a teenager I was a (regional) champion speed shooter, including out of western-style rigs, and Tom thought I would be an asset to the project. Tom is a personal friend of mine and he is the one that recruited me for involvement in the film. It pained me a little that one online reviewer thought his gunshots sounded like rocks thrown in a trash can. He served as the film's Gun Wrangler (or whatever it's called), providing well over half the guns used in the film, loading all the blanks, and making sure all guns were always safe on the set. Tom has a SERIOUS collection of original Old West guns of the mid-to-late 19th century. He got partial producer credit and I think his financial contribution was $5000. One major cash backer was Tom Burnham, who played the part of the "Old Rancher" in the film. I think the project might have started as a short subject that the director decided to expand into a feature length (almost) film when it appeared to him that more financial backing might be there. When I got involved, they had been filming off and on for well over a year. DEFIANCE was (I think) originally a school project for the director Doveed Linder. This should interest some of you as I had a small part in the movie and was (I think) responsible for it being a little better than it otherwise would have been. I have just finished reading the very mixed reviews of this film.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |