How we Gorilla-shot a twenty-minute short film in Juneau, Alaska, with no budget, no cast, no crew and very little equipment.
Hear about a black bear chasing away our cast, how a man let his dog poop on our set, how we converted a 1973 VW camper van into our mobile production shop, how I borrowed the neighbor’s car and put it in the movie and never told him, or the reaction from the elderly clerk when I plopped down ten pair of high heeled shoes and how my explanation that we were making a movie didn’t seem to convince her I wasn’t a sicko. Did I mention that we immediately shunned the already established and successful film community in Juneau? Well, yes, we did. Did this movie lead to two divorces and a separation and did this movie create two new and lasting relationships?
Find out by reading this blog the answers to these questions and so many more. The following stories and many more will now be revealed for the first time anywhere.
I forgot to mention we were accepted into the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Blood Red Shoes by MerrySmith Filmworks The Making of Blog, Part Five More Shooting, Continued by Bradford D Smith More than a few memorable things happened while we searched for props and shooting sites. If the cast or crew could not provide the items we needed, the...
Blood Red Shoes by MerrySmith Filmworks The Making of Blog, Part Four Our First Shoot, Continued by Bradford D Smith We decided to do our first shoot in as friendly an environment as possible, the University of Alaska Juneau campus. We didn’t exactly ask permission...
Blood Red Shoes by MerrySmith Filmworks The Making of Blog, Part Three Cast of Characters, Continued by Bradford D Smith First some housekeeping. It was recently brought to my attention that Glow is actually Glo. My lack of intimate knowledge of the English language...
Blood Red Shoes by MerrySmith Filmworks The Making of Blog, Part Two Cast of Characters by Bradford D Smith It’s not a stretch to say all involved in this project were characters in their own right. I’ll start with the Chief Character and the man that brought us all...
Blood Red Shoes by MerrySmith Filmworks The Making of the Blog by Bradford D Smith In 1993, my then wife, April, and our two sons, John and Taylor, moved to the Seattle area from Homer, Alaska. It was my first time living in the south. After twelve years of city life,...