As the film moves between Henry’s reality and our shared reality, the camera is different. In shared reality, the camera is far away from Henry, filming him on a long lens. When we are in Henry’s reality, the camera is close to him on a short lens. A few times we cut back and forth between the two worlds, as while the framing looks similar, the perspective is different. We filmed most of ‘Obit’ on location in an actual house, which meant that we could not move ant walls to get the shot we wanted. To make sure we could film what I had intended, some of the film was visualized in a virtual set.
The script was sketched out early in the process, to help the production team get a grasp when we are in Henry’s reality, and when we are in general reality.
A time-lapse of ‘Obit’ filming day 1. We filmed all of the shots of Henry in the real world, allowing us to keep the same wardrobe and lighting setup all day.
A time-lapse of our first day on set. We spent the day prepping the location, figuring our angles, and setting lights for our first setup for filming day 1.
One year ago today, we were settling into our comfy seats at the Embarcadero Cinema in San Francisco for the first public screening of “All the Others Were Practice”.
In the past year, we had a Valentine’s screening in Indianapolis, and every month viewers from all over the world are watching the film on demand through iTunes, Google Play and YouTube, Vimeo On Demand, and Amazon On Demand and DVD.
“All the Others Were Practice” is now available on Amazon Prime, so if you’re a Prime member you can watch this truly independent comedy as part of your subscription.
Thank you for your support over the past year, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for this little film.
On Valentine’s Day at The Irving Theater in Indianapolis, we had a great screening of “All the Others Were Practice”, but as Tony would say, “Brr.”
Thank You everyone who braved the snow and ice to join us. What a great crowd!
We kept warm with Beer from Black Acre, Delicious Cupcakes from Simply Divine, and popcorn from our amazing volunteer Laken from IYG. The snow kept T-baby away, and we missed the warmth of their Caribbean.
I was so busy during the show that I didn’t remember to take any photos, but I got a few of the space after we’d finished setting up. Thank you Dale and everyone at the Irving Theater for all of your help to put on a great evening.
If you missed the show, remember that “All the Others Were Practice” is available On Demand.
And, thank you Red Nose Studio for letting us show your great short film “Creosote” before the screening.
“All the Others Were Practice” will be screening at The Irving Theater on Sunday, February 14 at 6 PM. That’s Valentine’s Day!
We’ve got a great evening lined up for you. From 4-6 PM meet your friends and neighbors – and the film makers – for a Bite to Eat and a Beer inside the Irving Theater.
At 6 PM, it’s time for “All the Others Were Practice” – the sweet, truly independent romantic comedy of how, with the help of his friends and colleagues, Jôrge navigates setups, hookups, and the guy who works upstairs to find his Mr. Right. The screening will be preceded by Red Nose Studio’s short animated film “Creosote”.
From April to June in 2013 our rag-tag group of filmmakers and actors traversed the cities of San Francisco and Guerneville, California to film “All the Others Were Practice”. We stole quick scenes on the streets and in shops, and spent entire days taking over apartments.
Here is a peek Behind the Scenes of “All the Others Were Practice”.
day 1
The first day of filming took place at the apartment of writer/director Brian Tolle. The familiar environment helped us ease into filming with some b-roll.
As Charlie Ballard gets familiar with his new phone prop, Arthur (the cat) investigates.
Storyboards for day 1 of filming. Shots included laying on the sofa and washing dishes.
Three lights, one camera and an audio recorder.
day 2
After a few days off, the main characters all convened at Travis’s apartment, the location of Pam and Glen’s house. We had to schedule all of Chantelle’s scenes in the first week – she was actually pregnant, and very close to due.
Kathleen Antonia and Chantelle Tibbs prepare for filming at the Haight Apartment location.
Story boards for day 2. Filming included Pam and Meghan chatting in the kitchen.
day 5
We finished out our first full week of filming with a mad dash across San Francisco, picking up random shots all day – Jôrge walking around the city, taking transit, and eating ice cream in the park. We ended the day at the beauty store, thank you Peninsula Beauty!
Charlie Ballard suits up as we get ready to steal a shot on a Muni bus.
Charlie Ballard waits to steal a shot on a muni bus. (These bus shots didn’t make the final cut of the film.)
Charlie Ballard visiting Pink Triangle Park in San Francisco.
Charlie Ballard and Brian Tolle in Golden Gate Park on an unusual hot May day.
Ben Johnson and Charlie Ballard wait for Peninsula Beauty to close up for the day before we film.
day 6
We took over a small office on our sixth day of filming. We covered anything that happened at work that wasn’t in the cubicle or the cafeteria, including all the elevator rides.
Tim Ehhalt simulates the elevator door opening, with light, as Brian Tolle operates the camera.
Charlie Ballard and Liam Vincent (as Jôrge and Terry) await a take.
Terry runs into Jôrge in the copy room (Charlie Ballard and Liam Vincent).
Liam Vincent and Bennie Bell prepare for a day of filming on location.
Scene 66, 67, 68 cover the elevator ride after Jôrge and Terry’s bad date.
day 7
This was George day, with us at back at our first location of Jôrge’s apartment, down to the St. Francis Fountain for their date, then over to the Oakland hills for George’s house location. We had to push the scenes of them meeting, because this was one of the few days where we didn’t make our shot list for the day.
George and Jôrge (Lawrence Radecker and Charlie Ballard) at the St. Francis Fountain.
A quick lunch at the George house location, before filming.
Boards covering their television discussion, and after-movie date.
day 10
Back at Pam and Glen’s house, we filmed a party with no extras, then headed to The Lookout to film Jôrge and Ivan get to know each other. We filmed while the bar was open to the public.
Even though we never had a baby Pearl on set, the crew felt Pam needed an eye line to play to.
Brian waits for props to be set, while looking casual next to a camera in a bar.
Joe Castiglione, Kimberly Maclean, and Charlie Ballard between takes at the Lookout in San Francisco, CA.
day 14
“All the Others Were Practice” is a very small film. There were no equipment trucks, practically no crew, and absolutely no rules. With a lot of planning and dedication we were able to work within our limitations.
Every day Director Brian Tolle brought all of the camera, light, and sound equipment to set, in his Smart car
day 15
We kicked off our fifth week of filming by catching up with Mr. Abbot. We started at his apartment in the Haight and ended up in Civic Center.
With our tiny production footprint, we were able to film in front of Davies Symphony Hall without a permit. (We don’t recommend filming without a permit.)
Charlie Ballard and Monterey Morrissey rehearse, as Travis Valentine and Brian Tolle prepare to film on the corner of Van Ness and Grove St. in San Francisco, CA.
We had the next day off, but it was all about preparation for our trip to Guerneville for filming days 16, 17 & 18.
Day sixteen was a make-up for missing Jôrge and George Meet at lunch downtown, then we met Gus and Becky and headed north.
days 17 &18
In Guerneville we filmed for two full days. We got in the evening of the 16th. We had hoped to get the scene at the fruit stand, but the stand we were going use closed early that day. We didn’t make up that scene, but we had a a pretty good dinner from the veg.
The first full day we covered all of the vacation interiors and exteriors around the house, plus the driving sequence. The second day was all about the hike and picnic, then we packed up and drove back to SF to film George driving away. We made that day without any overtime.
Our first day in Guerneville, we filmed all of the interiors for the vacation.
Ow. Leigh Wolf (Becky) would need to go to the hospital if that wasn’t make-up. It is a quick reaction shot, and her sunburn needed to read very quickly.
Becky and Gus (Leigh Wolf and John Lennon Harrison) prepare to celebrate with “The (J)Georges”.
In Guerneville, CA Leigh Wolf (Becky) hangs out in the shade, to make sure her sunburn is only a make-up effect.
break
And then, we took two weeks off.
We had filmed for five weeks and we had covered all of the connective tissue of the story. But we didn’t have any of the muscle. We had not filmed any of the office interiors or cafeteria scenes. And we were having trouble securing locations.
So we took two weeks off and focused on pulling something together. We ended up building a set for the office cubicle at the Boxcar Theater studio space. It is the only set used in the filming, but it allowed us to remove the walls and get close in with the characters in a way we would not have been able to on location.
Joe McGovern and Brian Tolle paint flats for the office cubicle set, the only set built for the film.
Kerry Bitner helps to paint the flats that will become the office set.
Some rented flats, a few cans of paint, and lots of faith.
When we finally secured the Academy of Art cafe, we could not get in before we filmed. We had to scout if from outside.
days 19 & 20
On our office set, we packed four days of filming into two. We never would have made these days days without all of the help we had with sound, camera and grip.
The office set, nestled in the black-box theater.
Dressed for the final scene, bankers boxes ready to go.
Kimberly MacLean (as Tina), with Gloria Suarez between setups.
Removing this wall allowed us to get close-ups of Jôrge as he looks at his computer.
day 21
The cafeteria sequences were originally scheduled over nearly three days. We had a long one day, and we got a version of every scene on the schedule. As written the cafeteria was intended to be a bustling place full of employees. We could only rustle up two extras. But we made it through the day.
Molly Goode and Susan Monson jumped into the fray, bringing a much needed boost of energy to out final day.
Eve helps fill out our frame as one of our two background actors for the day, she had many different outfits during the day.
Careful framing of shots helps the geography of the location fit the needs of the script a bit more.
The servers don’t take crap from anyone, you’ve been warned.
We should have changed the line where Glen says the table is “in the sun”.
If you can’t find an appropriate location for a scene, find a white wall and dark doorway.
Filming boards helped communicate the angles that we would be filming for each sequence.
After twenty-one days of filming, spread over eight weeks, we were finished, filming.
We strived to keep the actor’s filming days to 8 hours, and most days we did. We filmed all of the pages we intended to most days. The only scene we missed outright was the Jôrge and Larry at the bbq, but we missed it on the second day and it seemed we would have time to make it up, but we did not.
It was crazy and hectic and impossible, but we made it through with something resembling the film we had set out to make.
On Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 PM, we invited our friends – and for the first time the general public – to a screening of “All the Others Were Practice”.
It was a great crowd! Thank you, everyone who was able to attend. It was a beautiful theater and really set a different tone from any previous screening.
If you missed the screening, and would like to see the film, it is available On Demand. Search for “All the Others Were Practice” on your favorite platform, starting at .99¢ USD.
