I am the Stranger.
We were able to get some sit down time with the director of A Stranger On Earth, Jeremiah Reeves. Check out his replies to our questions.
Tell us about your inspiration for the film?
The film really began back in 2016. I had decided to write a film and I didn’t know how to start. So naturally being an artist, I started there with art. I knew that I wanted to write some kind of poetic classical story, a timeless tale, visually driven; so I began looking at classical paintings.
I had always felt really connected to the images of Saint Sebastian maybe as a metaphor for my own artistic persecution. So I gathered every Saint Sebastian painting I could find and began writing little sketch stories of the characters in the paintings. I began with the Saint then I started with his nurse and the bandaging his wounds.
Somewhere along the line I found a passage from the bible: desire, sin and death. I thought this was powerful, and so I followed it. I was also reading The Wasteland. I thought: what if the main character, who I had named Duke, could only speak using the words of great poets? I pictured him amnesic and that’s all he could remember.
I work a lot like a collage artist. I like to set up little rules. Let it play out. Write down the images and messages along the way. I try to find inspiration everywhere. I look all around; everywhere! And eventually, I come to the story. In this case: strange, visual and poetic.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN SO STRANGE?
What have you learned as a first time director?
That it is way harder than you think. Persistence is key. Everything tries to stop you from doing it. Your job is to take all of the hurdles and do the best that you can. It is true that there are three movies for every one. I don’t remember who said it, but there definitely is the movie that you write, the one you shoot, and then the one that you have to find in the edit. You do your best and learn for the next one.
When I began this film, I knew that I didn’t want to go back to film school to learn. I had already been to a fancy art school and acquired massive debt. In fact, I finally got out from under it. So I just told myself, make a movie…do everything. Write it, cast it, direct it, edit it, do the sound, color it, market it. Take it all the way and learn everything! So that’s what I did. It has taken me forever, but I have learned so much. It was a process better than school and I didn’t end up a hundred grand in debt.
I used to believe in college, but that is changing. I think the newer generation has it figured out. They know that you don’t need it. If you want to learn; you will. Rely on yourself, motivate yourself. And remember, it is yourself that will also be your biggest critic and obstacle.
Did you have to cut anything that you really wanted in the film?
Absolutely. There are a multitude of reasons why things get cut from films, be it budget, bad footage, sound problems, lack of coverage, story, producers, bad acting, etc. In our case, at the end of the woods scene, there was supposed to be some mysterious woodland beings, that we called The Chorus. They were supposed to emerge from behind the trees and crown duke in the woods. During all this, they sing a passage from good night Irene.
Naturally, we didn’t have the rights to the song secured, so that put it on a short list to get cut anyway. We were going to do it anyway, just a modified version from the script. We shot it and everything, but on the day, we were running behind and the takes which were planned to use the natural and available light were way dark. And the sun set before we could do any alternates.
The scene was actually supposed to be a hidden cameo appearance of the cinematographer and I. We were painted from head to toe in white paint. We had made our own costumes, based them off these pictures of tribal Africans and classical paintings. We had to gaff tape the bottom of our feet to able to walk through the woods without shoes on.
At the end of the day, the shots were in the can and we thought we could use them and save them in post, but it was so grainy and just didn’t look right. So we ended up cutting it. I really wanted it in there, as the scene really connected to the ‘unknown’ elements of the film and gave more background into Duke, but we didn’t have the budget to reshoot and it was cut.
What is your favorite scene in the picture and Why?
The barn scene where Irene peeps through the barn to look at a sleeping Duke. I think this is my favorite, because it is exactly what I had pictured in my head and wrote in the script. I heard somewhere that a director is lucky to get 70% of what he wants during filming, so to have one scene where it is 100% is amazing to me. I wish I had that percentage throughout.
What was your favorite part to film?
There were many parts of filming that I thoroughly enjoyed. If I have to give a straight answer, there are several. I would have to list, the festival scene and the end fight scene with all of its inserts.
The festival was awesome because that was our biggest shoot. We had a wonderful time with all of our extras and actors, just eating pie, drinking rootbeer and dancing.
The fight scenes were filmed with such emotional intensity it is hard to forget them. They weren’t my favorite during the production as there were many problems to contend with, but the connection that you make with everyone during the harder times is a deep one.
As for the inserts, they were filmed at a really old theater that we rented for the shoot. It used to be a musical venue where many greats have performed. So the ambience of the place was really amazing. It was a very private and intimate and we really just got to play. We had a dead goose, recreated the poses of famous artworks and Krumped. It was a good time. Yes we Krumped!
I guess there is a theme developing here…Maybe I should just say that any scene where you get to dance during filming will be my favorite?
do you have a process for working with actors?
Yes. There is no specific process. It is more of a collaboration. I like to let them bring their ideas to the table and just work with them. I like to give them homework and ideas that I am thinking about. I share links, pictures, books, films. I try to get on the same page, blow them up with text. They probably think of me as that annoying weird friend. That’s okay with me. I try to set up the frame and let the picture happen I guess. If any of that makes sense. It is very intuitive for me, but also cerebral.
How was it working with a child actor?
Wonderful! Everyone always says that it is hard and a nightmare and don’t do it, but that was not my experience at all. Zander and Jessica, his mother, are fantastic! His mother made sure he was always there and prepared. He was on time to every shoot never missing a beat. He was so natural, wonderful and professional. I think having a character that doesn’t speak is amazing challenge for a child actor also, because they are already so physically dramatic at that age. They love to have fun, and learn and be included with everyone. His sister was also there and she was great to. Maybe I just lucked out, I don’t know, but this experience has really made me want to pursue some other ideas that I am developing with children.
what was the timeline for this movie like?
So this is a real interesting question. The whole film was almost derailed six days before the production. Our initial casting for the boy broke his leg and had to be recast. We found young Zander by really pushing word of mouth and was able to cast him just before production, timeline unaffected. Honestly, it was just serendipity and I think the whole production benefited. If I remember correctly there were like 14 days of primary scheduled shooting. This was spread out over 3 months. We had to add an extra day to the schedule to shoot the fight scene. We actually never had all three of the characters together in the same location at once. It was filmed at two separate places. Then we had a day shooting at the theater. There were two days of just me with a camera doing special effects shots and inserts. So in total it there was 18 days of dragging a camera around. It spanned from October to April.
Tell us about the art in the film?
Oh where to start? I went to art school as stated previously. So I think that I think in art. We used many classical paintings as visual references for the cinematography and movement of our actors. I used artwork in the storyboards as placeholders in the scenes. We looked at everything from the Pieta to Mapplethorpe and Eric Fischl. There are so many references throughout the film, you could have great fun trying to pick them all out.
why or what motivates you to make films like this?
I don’t know. Artists are narcissist by the trade, they think that what we have to say is important. And not just important, but important enough to expend lots of time, energy and money.
I think that for me though, it is just a genuine desire for connection. A connection with people, existence, and some kind of deeper meaning.
Who are your Biggest influences?
The poets of the world. Rumi, Pessoa, Rilke, Baudelaire, Eliot, Bly, Dickinson…to name a few. There is something about passion and observation that does it for me. When I find that I am moved, these are the moments I let in and become hidden influences.
Can you discuss the budget or challenges?
Sure. I funded the film out of my own pocket. What I was able to talk my wife into spending, that became the budget. We were able to gain some sponsorships with local locations and a hotel that helped the budget immensely. An amazing local wedding venue, Carie’s Creek, was super generous, allowing us to use their space to film the festival scene. It was perfect for that type of scene and they were really exceptional people. Browns Valley Vineyard was able to lend us their unique family home that we used for Irene’s home. The funny part, was that there was a young woman and her boy living in the house during filming, which made the location seem so much more perfect. The local Hampton Inn was beyond generous and allowed us to house talent and crew during production for those that were from out of town.
I think that the real challenge with funding the film yourself is to find a way to make your way out of the red, so that you can make the next thing. Since there was no fundraising or investors there was no official budget or marketing plan per se. I just dreamed of making something, and sharing it with the world and set out to do it with my credit card in hand. You just have to have an enormous amount of faith that what you are doing is worth it and be willing to take some risks. I was never expecting to make a great blockbuster that was going to make everyone rich. I just wanted to make some good art for everyone and believed that a way would come where I could at least break even. So I guess time is still out on that.
I hope that the audience will find it, that it can make its way to art venues and theaters and peoples homes.
One way that I have decided to try and recoup the cost is by selling props and merch directly on the website. This does several things: it gets these amazing items out there in the world and out of my storage; it allows for continued support of art like this in the future, keeping people active in the arts; and it helps to bring us out of the red. So if you dig it, support it. If you don’t, support it anyway!
We want to know about the look and the lighting in the film?
This is such a wonderful question. When writing the film, I always felt that the main characters in the film were Dawn and Dusk. There is something magical about those times of transition between day and night, which heads every scene in a screenplay, and that for me really stood out in this film. So we tried to use those times when filming, those golden hours. This posed challenges with shooting and scheduling. You would have two hours of prime time and that’s it.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that we embraced the true light, the light of change and transition. There were instances on set that you wouldn’t believe were real and were so spooky and metaphysical feeling. We had a rainbow at sunset, just as we were shooting Irene looking for Duke in the tall grass. It was truly unbelievable.
We shot that night, with glowing arrows and a small tungsten light rigged to a dimmer. We used it again in the barn scenes. Everything was minimal and natural, except for the arrows, they were made from supernatural light. I mean LEDs and enhanced digitally.
Fire was important in this film. We used it for lighting the final scenes. We used a large fire ring and fed hay onto a burning stack of wood to generate burst of light. It felt medieval and classical. There is truly something primal about fire, the night air, and a howling crazy man.
I feel a lot of times people are trying to allow for more choices in post production, but I was always trying to find ways to make less choices and just get the style and look right from the get-go and in the camera. That’s how I like to work.
what are you plans for the future and are you working on new projects?
Continue making art. I am working on several projects at the moment. I am currently writing a poetry collection. I am developing two screenplays; one is a feature and the other a short. I just finished producing another film. I am collaborating on another project, which is hush hush at the moment, so no spoilers here.
In the future, I want to try my hand at recording some musical noise. I am learning to play the drums developing my audio production skills. I am putting together a home studio for the project. I also plan on doing some post-production foley and mixing services freelance, as I enjoyed doing that on this film. I am currently looking for clients, so hit me up if you want to talk.
So yeah, I have a few things in the works. Always working! I am always down to meet about talk about new and interesting projects with people. I do have a habit of isolating myself from the world, so please reach out.
What can we expect from the film?
Nothing less than strange, poetic mystery.
Cool. What about other artists you met along the way. Other narcissists? Seriously. I would like another interview. Please.
Is the art then the reflection or the reflector? The image or the mirror? It’s funny how we all fall in love with the aspects of ourselves, but then move on and do it again.
It’s amazing how complex that simple thought a boy looking into a lake and seeing himself can be.
I would love to be interviewed by you.