Featured film: FEBRIS
The FEBRIS project started as a simple idea.
The screenplay originally was only three pages long, written because of a character named Snickers. Initially, my confidence was low, but I scheduled a shoot despite a recent surgery. The same night I cut together what we had filmed. It was unremarkable. The lighting felt flat. I had no idea how to color grade. It didn’t look like a movie and I was discouraged- until I changed it to black and white. I struck gold with that. It led to a 25 page noir-style murder mystery.
Required learning.
I researched classic film noir to get in the right headspace for filming. The scrappy way that movies were made in the 30s and 40s gave me license to be just as scrappy. I added several scenes that were chronologically in front of the scenes we had already finished to round out the story. When scenes turned out confusing in the edit, I went back and added voiceover as an homage to Double Indemnity (1944). I was learning better communication with the audience.
Overcoming film-making obstacles.
I had to adapt to setbacks. I had limited resources. No budget meant feeding the cast and crew on my own dime. I remained resourceful, using volunteer first-time actors and thrifted costumes. Finishing the movie built my confidence and proved my directing and production capabilities. I learned a lot on FEBRIS but still had more to learn which led me to my next film “Lucky Jack Penny.”
Levi Mac Teare
director
Indie Film Productions
Return to natural disinfected reality.