GBI - Production History

By Deon

It was summer 2002 when Alex assembled us all (Deon, Matt, Ben Thornell) at his place for two days to film a movie. When we arrived he showed us a script he had written. He explained it in precis and we were bandying about ideas for modifying the film. However no one could actually be bothered reading the script - but I (Deon) finally decided too - however didnt pay all that much attention as every one was talking and shooting stupid fight scenes in Alex's bedroom whilst I was reading. I couldnt get over the talking horses - the rest wasnt so bad but talking horses were too much. Anyway Alex only had one horse and the script called for two. However we did use the key ideas from the script and wrote about a page of a key element for each scene, and we came up with eight scenes in total. The impetus for the Infinite Power Source was a highlighter set that Alex had from Austria that had a holder with three highlighters of different colours inside.

The shooting then begun. It is important to emphasize that we couldnt actually be bothered learning lines and writing a new script so every scene is completely ad libbed (read the screenplay and you'll see how bad it was (to get that screen play I (Deon) sat down with the video and a stack of paper and scrawled out the lines as they were said, pausing after every second sentence to write it down. It took 1.5hrs to get it all - just for a 16min film)). We started at the start and filmed first what became known as the Johnny Monologue, the first scene with Johnny introducing the story. First off we had everyone in the room with Matt directing. But I kept laughing every time Alex started to talk so Ben and I left the room. It seemed like a long time we waited until they were finished - when I saw the rushes I understood - the scene ended up being about a quarter of the entire film.

We then filmed the scene where Zoltan attacks Johnny (Scene 3). This was shot from Johnny's point of view using first person camera. The scene was Alex walking out of his bedroom when there is a knock at the door. Zoltan bursts in, attacks Johnny, and steals his Power Stick. Its amazing how many takes this scene took. In the take that finally made it to print I open the door with so much zeal that it banged into the wall (and but a dint in it and scratched the door handle) and shut again behind me. The end of this scene marked the first Time Jump that we shot. This became a centerpoint for the film - however there was some resistance to it. We were thinking what special effects we could do with no budget and the only one we could think of was turning the camera off and have the actor walk off stage and then turn it back on - when watching the film it would appear that they disappeared or "Time Jumped" - the mechanism was described as teleportation through space and time. The team thought it wasnt very good but I loved it and presssured them in every scene to time jump every character in and out - and there are quite a number of jumps in the film thanks to me.

The first fight scene was then to be filmed. This was Scene 2 where the Zamneses Brothers fight Big Alex for the green power stick. We crossed Alex's property and went to a small forrest on the next property. There was a gully and a bridge and the characters were to fight their way up the gully to a clearing at the top, run back down, steal the power stick and time jump out. Sounded easy however it took about five takes. Keep in mind that it was about 35 degrees C and they were in plastic armour. I had the easy job as I directed the scene. Some interesting things happened that didnt make it into the final cut. Firstly at one point Matt called out to Ben "Hey Ben" rather than "Gogo" which was his character, thus the scene had to be scrapped, especially when everyone laughed. Another time was when Big Alex threw his plastic helmet at the Zamneses Brothers and it got skewered on the stick that was used as a weapon - which would have been cool but every one once more burst out laughing. Finally every time they were battling in the clearing Patchang (Matt) had a skipping rope as a weapon (remember we are zero budget) and he wrapped it around this tree and it got caught. This was a pretty cool moment as it meant that there could be a break in the fighting when it looked like Big Alex would get away. However the final time we did it and got everything else right Matt couldnt manage to get the skipping rope wrapped around the tree, so you see a strange part of the battle where Matt stands there for a minute whipping a tree over and over rather than fighting Big Alex. The reason that a lot of the battles had to be discarded was the Time Jump at the end. As Big Alex had to freeze in place whilst Patchang and Gogo got out of the shot it required them to walk up the hill. However after the time jump often their feet would be visible up the hill...

We continued and filmed Scene 5 where the Zamneses Brothers discover Johnny unconscious. This scene actually went quite well, and possibly has the best dialog of the film. As it was after lunch Ben had taken off his cloak that he was wearing in the fight scene that they had just Time Jumped from. However when actually watching the film you dont notice really as there is a long flashback inbetween. Matt picked it up however and asks Ben "Hey where’d you loose your cloak?" As well as this it possibly has the worst Time Jump out when the exit the building due to me not holding the camera particularly steadily and no one could be bothered to reshoot as they were tired from the fight scene before. The scene ends with possibly the greatest line of the whole film "I remember how to Time Jump", a realisation from the flashback which was actually Johnny recovering his memory.

Next up we filmed Scenes 4 and 7, the flashback. There was some confusion with these scenes as it is one flashback divided it twain. To indicate it was a flashback we decided to use the one feature that was on the camera which was the fade in/fade out. However there was no mention that this was occuring in a different time so was completely confusing. Scene 4 was possibly the worst as well (contending with the Johnny Monologue) due in part to the inaudibility of the scene. I was standing to the side and kept telling Matt (who was the Good Emperor in the scene) to speak up as I couldnt really hear him that well but he said that the camera would pick it up fine. The result is that hardly any of the important dialogue can be heard - this scene explains most of the back story. The reason that Matt had to face away from the camera was that he played both the Good Emperor and Patchang and it would seem confusing if you saw his face. Hopefully when we get around to digitizing the film (and eventually have it to download) we can turn up the audio/ do a redub of that scene. The scene was unduly repitious as it was all ad libbed. Thankfully Alex saved the scene at the end when Matt was about to relaunch into a talk about the properties of the Infinite Power Source Alex says "Sire I hear footsteps" and flees at the approach of Count Vladimir. This caused a comic moment as when Alex flees his dog, Jesse, chases after him as can be seen on the film. Scene 7 starts where this ends with Johnny fleeing however we couldnt get the fade timing correct and as such Johnny is already off camera when full brightness occurs meaning the link is not clear, especially when it has been two scenes since the last flashback. The reason that Count Vladimir was behind the camera was that it was Alex playing him who was Johnny - and he had just fled. In reality all Alex did was run to the side of the camera and then stand behind me who was filming and deliver his lines. This caused some audio descrepancies as we have Matt speaking very softly and then this very loud lines from Count Vladimir. The real reason that Gogo's brother couldnt be there was of course that it was Matt, who was being killed by Ben at that time.

It was getting near dusk and we decided that it was too dark to film the next outdoor scene so instead we did Scene 6. This is possibly the longest scene in the film with the most goings on. As a result it took about 4 hours to film - you can see this as out the window during this scene even though it was only supposed to occur over a few minutes the lighting changes dramatically outside. Firstly we had the exchange between Zoltan and the Evil Emperor. This start bit was incredibly difficult as we had minute upon minute of Alex sitting there writing because Matt never gave me the cue to enter and just kept filming. This was possibly the hardest part of the scene as Alex would just turn around after a while and say "are you still filming?" or something to that affect. Eventually we got it down to just a few seconds of Alex writing before I entered - much more sensible that a few minutes. After this part Gogo and Patchang enter. The reason that the Evil Emperor had to be removed from the room was because he had to return as Johnny. Watch closely as they drag Alex off, he is supposed to be dead but starts smiling and is doing everything he can to stop laughing. The scene has an important part - the only time that a fixed camera changes position during the film - just for a change. There are two remarkable Time Jumps in the scene as well - Johnny looks at the camera and smiles before he jumps out and the Zamneses Brothers Time Jump from sitting in their chairs, an idea of mine. The Emperor's computer was infact Matt's Franklin eBookMan he had just got.

It was the end of the first day of shooting and we only had one scene left to shoot. We mucked around for the rest of the night and then got up the next day to film Scene 8. There was a problem in what we wanted however. We needed all four main characters on screen at the same time. We were thinking of elaborate cuts handing the camera around et cetera but in the end decided on a first person camera and hence the entire scene is shot from Johnny's point of view. The short scene was shot in a few minutes and we were all happy at the job we had done and were looking forward to putting the film together. when Matt had an idea for one last piece. Originally the film was going to end in a Shakespearean Tragedy kind of way with everyone lying dead on the Alpha Section, destroyed by their lust for power. The short scene was shot in a few minutes and we were all happy at the job we had done and were looking forward to putting the film togetherwhen Matt had an idea for one last piece. So the infamous Monkey Man scene was shot with Matt acting like a monkey grabs the Infinite Power Source from Zoltan's dead grasp and becomes all powerful and runs across the desert. It is a confusing end and hence fitting for this confusing film.

After this we edited the film. However considering it was an analogue camera this consisted of plugging it into a VCR and simply recording to tape and stopping and rewinding the camera tape where ever needed. The film was then premiered to a confused audience of the four stars and Alex's family.

Special mention must be made of three things that came to the fore during the making of this film. Firstly was that of Editign Space. At the start of production Matt was shooting just randomly. When asked what he was doing he replied that he was getting some editing space - some space on the tape between scenes as we were manually editing afterwards. For proper editing space we really should have shot the characters in their initial positions not saying anything for a few seconds before they delivered lines, but we didnt think of that until after. Instead we got a bit silly with editing space and on the raw footage there are many scenes of us dancing about saying "Lets all do some editing space, editing space, lets all do some editing space". Whenever I had the camera I engaged in two practises much to the chagrin of the others. Firstly was the insistance of not tapeing over anything we shot and shooting us standing around and talking. Whenever asked I always responded that this was footage for the making of and they are probably happy in retrospect that I have done this. Secondly was the titling of the camera at insane angles claiming that it was "Art Nouveau" directing, so again there is lots of upside down footage with my voice over the top exclaiming "Art Nouveau".