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The following interview questions were sent to the director by Byran
Marshal, Richmond Register Feature Writer. The article in
the paper "very nicely covered the material" (Bobbert
4-03). The interview is presented here because many people
have ask similar questions.
Interview with Dr. Larry C. Bobbert -
Director and Co-writer of
BLUE GRASS WHO DUN IT
-THE MOVIE.
REGISTER:
What was your inspiration for wanting to make this movie?
I have wanted to do a
movie for many years, but thought it was more fun to eat. So I taught
school, directed and performed in community theatre in PA, MI, Brazil
and New York then became a TV producer at EKU. I’ve had the idea of
directing since I was a teenager and while in college I got to visit
KDKA-TV and the set of Mr. Rogers at a small public broadcasting
station. I got my hands on a TV camera and fell in love with the idea
of using TV for teaching. But have always dreamed of doing a movie.
Last year, I went to
Las Vegas to NAB and was able to talk to a lot of Hollywood editors.
The industry is going to digital video, so I started considering
various ideas.
REGISTER:
How did the whole process
start? When did you start writing the project?
I retired from Eastern
Kentucky University July 1, 2002 after 30 years as a TV producer. I
retired on a Friday and began teaching Computer Classes part time the
following Monday. After a couple months I retired again.
For several weeks it was great reading and doing nothing. I kept
thinking how Star Wars was done on digital video, so I took my money
I’d saved for an around the world trip and bought a computer editor—a
good one. Last fall, I talked up the idea of a multimedia play for
Richmond Area Theatre. From that is was easy to consider a movie. We
all realize this is not a block buster with a big budget and Hollywood
stars, but we hope to make it fun local entertainment.
REGISTER:
How did you come up with the
story idea and how long did it take you to complete the script?
First, a movie script
is “never complete” until the last edit before the curtain goes up on
the opening. We were able to get a copy of the script for CLUE and
rented the movie. Was disappointed and talked to some friends, Alice
Jones from EKU and Tom Jones from Sullivan College about kicking the
script around with me. They came to my house for dinner, stayed to
play with ideas for a movie script. They were fantastic. We threw
away the CLUE script and have written our own Who Dun It.
The script, while 90%
done for Act 1 and 80% completed for Act 2, is still fluid. People
keep suggesting new ideas. My barber said “why not do a scene here?”
A local realtor thinks doing a scene in Galaxy Bowling would be nice
and so it grew.
I would present ideas and scenarios to Tom, and we would write
dialogue. Tom is fantastic at dialogue. He makes characters come
alive and turn into people-- and fun to work with. If he came up with
something I didn’t love, we worked until we were both happy. He would
even say nice things about the dialogue I wrote and then help me
improve it.
REGISTER:
Did you find the process of
writing the script difficult?
What were some challenges?
First, let me say I do
not consider myself a writer. I am a producer/director, but with Tom
and other people giving me encouragement, I believe, we have come up
with a script that a director can have fun with. Tom’s dialogue makes
it work. Me, I get scene ideas and then we play. Tom also comes up
with scene ideas, but where he shines is in making the scenes have
real people doing real things. For example, I told him about a
computer lab on campus, and he started dictating dialogue and on
screen “chat” that is very entertaining.
REGISTER:
How do you anticipate the
filming process will go?
My plan for the
“shooting” process—we call it a movie because of the way
it will be shot. We cannot call it a film since it may never be
pressed to film, but shown on DVD projectors.
First, We will have a
few character rehearsals to go over the script with the major
characters. We will take the cast of a small scene to a location and
block, rehearse and shoot that scene in one evening or after noon.
This process will continue for 3-5 months.
For
example, one scene takes place in a local funeral home. It will
probably take
4 hours to shoot
what is only a page or so of script. Another scene with no dialogue
where a Spanish waitress
follows a killer down a set of stairs at White Hall will probably take
2 or 3 hours to shoot.
Normally, scenes will be shot 2-5 times as a
cover shot—meaning everyone is in the shot. Then we will
shoot a close up of every single actor saying
his/her lines into the camera. We will shoot the scene with
camera movement which has become a standard in many new shows. These
are the most difficult to light and have the characters in just the
right place as the camera passes. You see a lot of camera movement in
NYPD Blues, the new Dragnet and West Wing.
REGISTER:
Has the community
been supportive of the film and in what ways have they been a helpful
asset?
We’ve made
presentations at Exchange Club, Kiwanis, Toastmasters,
RAAC and RAT. We picked up actors or locations at every
presentation. RAT, Richmond Area Theatre will help the production
with a small budget and insurance. We have to have a million dollars
liability insurance to shoot in White Hall.
The people at the
Film Board in Frankfort told me who to talk the Shrine Director at
White Hall. Judy Cook, the Director, has been a great help and they
have welcomed us far beyond my hope and expectation. I’m really
excited about shoot there.
Saw the new Richmond Video at Kiwanis, and it made me even more
excited to shoot at White Hall. On the other hand, White hall
presents some production problems because of the wonderful paintings
there. We will have to be very careful our bright lights stay off
the painting yet look good. That is a challenge I am happy to face.
Richmond Chamber
and Richmond Tourism have promised help with publicity. The
City Government channel ran an ad for our Tryouts
(auditions) which brought in several people. Eastern
Kentucky University has been supportive from the
beginning-especially several members of the Division of Media
Resources. WEKU-FM announced the tryouts and that brought
several from Lexington. Wayne Gregory was the one who did the
announcements I believe.
The mayor and the
sheriff’s office have offered help.
REGISTER:
Did you cast anyone during the
audition process this past weekend? If so,
who and what characters do they play and what about them did you like?
We cast most of the movie this
weekend. A list is on the web site at
www.drbobbert.com/MOVIE.htm.
REGISTER:
What is the rest of the
schedule for the future? Shooting? Release date?
Etc?
Da Plan
Shoot April and May
with principals in White Hall, Funeral Home and Church
Shoot June and July
with minor characters and include the major roles when possible.
August dump all video
to computer and start editing.
September do “pick up
shooting” There are always scenes that need “fixing” especially with
the major actors. Sometimes scenes are missed or the digital medium
is not up to standards. Those too will be shot in Sept and October
November – I sleep—just
kidding. Complete editing and begin opening credit animations and
adding music. We have a recording by a young genius from Taiwan to
use for a lot of it, a friend who has much experience with the organ
and keyboard, and tonight, I got an email from Dr. Arthur Harvey at
Hawaii University who may be able to record some transitions for me.
We worked together on a series of half hour videos on Music and the
Brain at EKU.
REGISTER:
What type of locations have
you secured around the county
and why have you chosen them?
Some of the locations
include White Hall State Shrine, Hairline Barbershop, Galaxy Bowling,
Herndon exterior area, Madison County Library in Richmond and maybe
Berea, a local restaurant, main street Richmond with a sheriff’s car
parked strategically, city hall for the mayor’s cameo and the Madison
county Court
house exterior area.
REGISTER:
What do you hope people get
out of the movie and do you think it will open
up things for more films being shot here?
REGISTER:
What I hope to get out of
doing the movie is the fun of doing it. It is a dream. When the
planetarium was built I dreamed of doing a live show there. A couple
years ago Jack Fletcher opened the doors to 2 one act plays that we
performed in that magnificent theatre—his staff and RAT helped me make
a dream come true. Well, making a movie is tough hard stressful
work—just what an old retired TV dude needs to make him alive and
going. Molding the cast into characters envisioned in the script and
shooting in fun locations. I’m probably the only person to walk into
a local funeral home, take a look at the room full of caskets and say,
“wow, it’s neat.”
REGISTER:
Do you plan on making any more
films in the future and if so, do you have
any ideas yet?
This is probably
a “one time” event if I want to stay married. The one film I’d love
to make would be based on Frank Herbert’s God Emperor of Dune, but it
would take about 100 million to do or what ever it took to do the
latest Star Wars, but wow wouldn’t that be something – I just love
science fiction. When I was a teenager I drew a rocket and sent it to
a Pittsburgh news paper that showed the stages needed to go to the
moon. In college, I wrote another paper on the subject. I once made
a speech at EKU that said students one day would go to the library
from an electronic pad on their lap. The Librarian said, “never
happen here.” Take a walk across campus and look around.
Science fiction is one
place an imagination can go “where no one has gone before.”
Will I make it? Well,
it is a dream and you never know when a dream can come true.
REGISTER:
What will the film's budget be
and where will the financing come from?
If everyone continues to cooperate the way they are
now, I think we can pull this off for $9,000 since we can shoot on DV
with the camera I just purchased. We’d love to have sponsors who will
help like Richmond Area Theatre. Then we could provide the actors and
crew with refreshments and jazz up some of the costumes and maybe pay
some people who are working so hard.
REGISTER:
Tell me about yourself. What you
do?
My resume is at
http://www.drbobbert.com/Resume02EKUrev.htm
It says things like
In addition to being
a Multimedia producer, Dr. Bobbert is an experienced professional
speaker. Dr. Bobbert has given presentations in 33 states and three
continents to teachers, administrators, Fortune 100 company managers
and employees, and international trainers. His thousands of hours of
teaching, training, and directing TV and stage shows have made him a
polished professional speaker with a sense of humor. As a writer, TV
producer/director, computer multimedia program developer and Media
Resources Section Coordinator he has created over 1000 programs.
His background
includes degrees in education, communications, public speaking, and
educational technology. He has specialized training in computer
authoring, web site/course design, and bilingual education.
REGISTER:
What kind of things you are
involved in?
I worked with the
Kiwanis to do their annual auction in City Hall. It worked out
great. The city manager and the mayor were super and we made money
that will help Madison county kids
REGISTER:
What are your favorite films and
what films have inspired you in the making of your own film?
Probably my all time
favorite is Doctor. Zhivago. It was good but the transitions in site
and sound were fantastic. Every second the director painted a
beautiful painting. Another inspiring directors movie was Titanic—I
loved it when the builder walked over to the fire place to adjust the
clock and a pencil rolled off the mantle – The first Star Wars was
neat with all the little things in many scenes. Our movie will not be
so big, but hopefully it will please people who like a good mystery.
Add anything you can think of either about the film, the filmmaking
process
you are getting ready to embark on for the first time and anything
else you
would like.
Sometimes, I think
people who are retire are supposed to sleep more than 4 hours a night,
they should relax and then I get an idea for some scene and forget
that I retired.
We are planning to make
a WhoDunIt game. It may be a card game or on a CD. We haven’t
gotten it all organized yet. I want to use the faces of the cast for
the card faces or characters in the CD game. Won’t be complicated
just fun like the rest of the project.
So what after it is “in
the can” (now a days “in the plastic box”–
Da plan is
Production and distribution of the movie
will be under an umbrella organization called Bobbert Productions,
since many community groups will or have been asked to support this
artistic endeavor.
2. Initial showing schedule includes a 3
or 4 night run in a local theater after a large “gala” for the
opening.
Here, I hope
RAAC associated artists could show their works i.e. Paintings,
sculptures etc.
Prospective Opening Gala theaters include the Mall Movies?
Gifford? Model? Brock? Planetarium? The movie should have a limited
“run” at small local facility. It may be “revived” for special
community events.
The “movie” DVD may be shown at White
Hall. The KY parks at White Hall may sell DVDs of it which will be
provided to White Hall by Bobbert Productions (BP).
3. Opening night may be a dinner theatre
type presentation with a cost of food plus a small ticket fee, so cast
may bring family members – enjoy a night out – and be seen on the “big
screen.”
4. The cast will be invited to view the
movie and stay for questions from the audience on opening night
and other nights thereafter.
5. With all the extras we could have 100
adults or more actively involved. Eight children’s speaking parts
are currently contemplated with community members of all ages invited
to be extras in large group scenes. This community involvement could
make the final movie include over 200 people. Without a grant or
substantial sponsorship actors and crew will be unpaid volunteers.
The director may get something after all
the bills are paid, but profits from “the gate” (paid tickets) will go
to Richmond Area Theatre and any sponsors who may come along and want
to buy “a piece.”
And one last large hurtle – we still have to
locate a church for the funeral scene. We hope to invite any Madison
County resident to be in the audience, so we need a big one. Several
have said that they have some members who object to having it in
their church. That is understandable, but I still have hope. After
all it is part of the dream.
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