We provide production design. Set construction. Props construction. Set dressing.
Costumes. Anything your film needs except actors, cameras, and lights.
We also offer previsualization and technical consultation for films. See our
pre-visualization page!
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Have an element or set that you need and can't produce yourself? Call
big! We also can accomodate small shoots in our own studio.
He loves them so much that he instructs up and coming filmmakers in
the art of the Art Department as the Production Design Instructor at
Columbia College.
Chicago
By Dixon Galvez-Searle
When director Keith Bearden started thinking about locations for his next short film, “Train
Town,” he looked to the usual suspects. After talking to producers on the East Coast,
however, the New York-based commercial director turned his sights to Chicago. “Train
Town” shot from November 2-5 at various locations throughout the Chicago area, including
an empty storefront that was dressed up to resemble a working hobby shop.
Bearden was attracted to Chicago for several reasons, but mainly because of the working
relationship he struck up with producers Ericka Frederick (Kodak) and Paula Froehle
(Columbia College Chicago). With both producers working to corral the resources of the
Chicago production community, “Train Town” benefited from the support of companies like
Kodak, Filmworkers/Astro and Fletcher Chicago.
“Train Town” also worked with Columbia College to facilitate a professional set experience
for roughly a dozen local film students. “Train Town” marks the fourth time in the last two
years that Kodak and Columbia have worked together to bring students onto a professional
set. While the program is an informal one, Frederick said it demonstrated Kodak’s
commitment to developing strong creative talent in Chicago.
Bearden thinks these types of opportunities provide young filmmakers with invaluable
experience, especially considering the wealth of professional local talent involved in “Train
Town.” “There’s a big difference in working on a film with other students and working on a
film with other professionals,” he said, noting the quality of Chicago crews, and their wealth
of commercial production experience.
In addition to the professional resources and what he said was a surprisingly strong talent
community, Bearden fell in love with Chicago as a location. He said that while the city has
great character and things he’s never seen on film, it was also grounded enough to serve as
Anytown, USA. “My movies are always set in a non-specific American place and Chicago fit
into that,” he said.
For this particular production, Bearden needed a traditional hobby shop, as well as a not-so-
traditional model train set. “Train Town” tells the story of two middle-aged men, Al (a
conservative, played by Bearden regular John Bader) and Jerry (a free spirit, played by “Wild
Chicago” host Will Clinger), who play out their own version of America’s culture war by
manipulating the figures in a model train town.
The town itself was designed by David Christopher Krause (aka big), who said he was able
to purchase most of the items for Al’s side of the table, but needed to create most of the
figures for Jerry’s side by hand. This required him to imagine different scenarios and
characters in detail. “You have to know who lives in every house and have a story about it,”
said big. “All of a sudden, you’re obsessed and you realize you’ve been working on it for 12
hours a day.”
Once the film is finished, Bearden hopes to build on the success of his previous short, “The
Raftman’s Razor,” which played at festivals like Sundance and South By Southwest and
secured a television deal to boot. “I think if you tell a decent story and offer good production
values, then [a short film] has a good chance of being seen,” he said.
By Dixon Galvez-Searle
Over Memorial Day weekend, inside the newly built Resolution Digital Studios (Chicago), a
short film took flight. “Up on the Rope,” which was the recipient of the 2004 IFP/Chicago
Production Fund, shot on a massive set that depicted two rooms, one above the other, without
the benefit of a floor between them.
“Up on the Rope” tells the story of Oscar, a young boy who, literally, lives on a tightrope. His
bed and other belongings have been rigged on ropes by a mechanically inclined father
figure. Over the course of the film, Oscar finds a companion in Lucia, a young girl who
befriends him by using stilts to elevate herself to his level.
The script was written and directed by Paula M. Froehle, Production Program Director at
Columbia College Chicago. It is based on a short story by Spanish author Christina Peri
Rossi. “Her stories are very imaginative [and] somewhat fantastical in nature, but also they are
stories about universals,” says Froehle, who tracked Rossi down through her publisher, The
University of Nebraska Press.
After securing the rights and writing the script, Froehle submitted to the IFP/Chicago. Once
funding was in place ($100,000 from IFP/ Chicago, mostly in in-kind donations), she
contacted Production Designer David Christopher Krause (aka big). The two of them
discussed what they wanted the set to look like, using Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” as a point of
reference. “[The set] alternately wanted to feel very dark and still very alive,” says big. “It used
to be a very rich environment and now it’s kind of fallen into disarray.”
The level of detail in both rooms is extraordinary. Big, who has experience working with
Redmoon Theater, says he wanted to spark the imagination of the viewer by hinting at a
larger world outside the set. “The nice thing about that is that is that you can make those
allusions, but the viewer paints that picture,” he says.
In addition to building the set, Froehle had the daunting task of finding a young actor who
could walk a tightrope. She ended up choosing Alex Wallenda, of The Flying Wallendas, a
circus family based in Sarasota, FL.
According to Executive Producer Ericka Frederick, the Wallendas were excited about the
offer. “They were very interested,” she says. “They are the most beautiful people who are
giving to their art and were thrilled to be a part of it.” Froehle even wrote an extra part for Alex’
s father, Tino Wallenda.
Even though he’s performed for years with the circus, “Up on the Rope” is Alex Wallenda’s first
film. He says the experience has been fun, but that the acting style is a lot different from what
he’s used to. “In the circus you usually overact, purposely, so that the audience can see you,”
he says. “Here you can’t really do that and I’ve been talked to a few times about that, that I
need to tone it down a little bit.”
Overall, the cast has a range of experience when it comes to film. Some have previous
experience and others do not. Froehle says that mix presents an interesting challenge. “It just
requires a different approach with each one in terms of the kinds of direction you give them,”
she says. This ranges from giving specific instructions to generating images for actors to
trying to elicit a conversational tone.
“Up on the Rope” was shot by Director of Photography David Blood, using Kodak’s 5218 film
stock. It was also one of the first productions to film at Resolution Digital Studios, which
donated their 5,600 sq. ft. main stage for the occasion. According to Diane Mercurio,
Director of Marketing at Show Department, Inc., the studio hasn’t even officially opened, but
they do plan to start accepting more business in mid-June.
“It’s a little frightening to be the second movie in a space,” says big. “You don’t want to be the
guy that dings a hole in the wall or pulls down the grid.” Still, big says the studio itself has
been very accommodating. “It’s a beautiful space and we’ve got all the room in the world
and we’ve got all the support in the world,” he says.
As far as distribution, Frederick mentions the festival route in addition to the Independent Film
Channel, which has a first-look deal for the film, and which showed a previous winner, Bruce
Terris’ “Flying.” As far as other venues, Frederick is taking a wait-and-see approach. “Once
you get it edited and see how it plays, then you can find the right home for it,” she says.
//chi.ifp.org
//www.wallenda.com
//www.resolutiondigitalstudios.com
