Arlington, Texas Director Daniel Laabs’ Short Film “North Street Bummer” Is Visual Meditation On Life, Love And Leaving.

Film Title: North Street Bummer
Producer: Adrian Testolin
Cinematographer: Bret Curry
Editor: Henry Moore
Director: Daniel Laabs
Cast: Leanna McMillin

SHORTFILMTEXAS (SFT): What is North Street Bummer about?
DANIEL LAABS (DL): I think the plot I outlined to my cast and crew was, a girl walks across Austin, Texas with every intention to say goodbye to her present and past lovers before she leaves town only she doesn’t know how. While I often intentionally let my films be a bit ambiguous plot-wise, this was the furtherest I have ever gone. This film is not meant to tell a story, it is meant to be a visual meditation. Should someone want a story I have included a brief synopsis, but it is optional and unnecessary. For me a film can be successful in other ways.

SFT: Agreed and well said.  So what was your inspiration for this visual meditation?
DL: I would cite this as being my first personal film. From the story to the actors I chose, many of whom were some of my oldest and best friends, there is a very real level of personal connection. Then there is the subject matter which is taken from a girl I knew and saw off and on, although there are no direct references to her life in the film. In many ways the film is an attempt for me to understand her choices and who she was a little better.

SFT: As a UT Arlington filmmaker why did you choose to shoot “North Street Bummer” in Austin?
DL: We shot it in Austin for two reasons, one of which was to take a vacation with my friends on the crew and the other was to make a movie away from all the politics and drama at home. We had all been very closely involved with a very intense class project, and whenever you are in a situation where you learn a lot about a craft, one’s first impulse would be to test it out as soon as the experience is over. Overall that made for a very humbling experience on set and in post.

SFT: What did you shoot on? Edit on?
DL: We shot film on a Sony PMW-EX1 with a Letus adaptor and still camera lenses. The cinematographer, Bret Curry, and I originally began editing the film on Final Cut but ended up having my friend Henry Moore take over.  Henry did most of the actual editing and is quite brilliant.  If you are ever looking for a full equipped editor look no further.

SFT: Why make the editor change?
DL: Brett Curry and I were also tied to a number of other projects and post was moving too slow. I think we would’ve done the finished film a disservice by cutting it since we both were attached to a great many things, him, the shots, and me, my dialogue and scenes.

SFT: Tell me a bit about your cast and crew.
DL: Adrian Testolin and I formed our production company, Adrian Make Movie, after the shoot.  We’ve worked on almost everything together. I can’t imagine a directing a film without his involvement in some way. I met him on a film that went disastrously a wry and he keep me very sane throughout the production. Adrian functioned as the producer and when you are a crew of four people, that means he did a little of everything; he set the one light we brought with us with was a Mole-Richardson “Midget” light, got permission to shoot in all the locations, fronted money, etc. Bret Curry, who shot the film, and I had been talking about making a film together for almost a year at that point so we were eager to collaborate and apply some of the production methods we had been researching. We also began film school the same semester, but didn’t officially meet until a couple years into it.

This also marks the first film I worked on with Leanna McMillin as a director. I had acted with her many times, but never directed her. She really embraced the process. A year ago I lost an actress due to a double booking and Leanna stepped in to play one of the leads in “Sleet/Snow.” She and I are working on another project right now which I hope continues to develop our working relationship. I would also note that the song she plays on the piano in the film is a composition of hers.

SFT: What did you learn from making North Street Bummer?
DL: This was the second film in which I maintained a director’s journal of sorts. Each night after the excitement of the shoot I was exhausted, but I still typed out notes on my own performance. I can be very critical of myself, and this process allowed me to understand the cause and effect of my every action on and off set. As a director people are constantly waiting to hear from you. In this case it was important that I knew exactly what I wanted otherwise we didn’t do it. Here I was very unprepared and made lots of mistakes.

It is important to remember that everything you say as a director counts, so that dirty joke you think will break the ice on set, actually could make things more tense when someone really wants to know something. Or let’s say the actor is concentrating, over directing is another thing. You really want to be as concise as possible when talking to actors. The more you talk, the less likely they are to think you know what you are talking about or even worse what you want.

This is when experience helps. Lots of first time directors will say everything on their mind. For the most part, actors just want to know what you want for the take. If you are the type of person that likes to intellectualize with the actors do it in rehearsals That’s what rehearsals are for. That way when you are on set, when time is money, you are not being wasteful. The sun is often far less forgiving then your crew.  As a rule I try to keep my shooting days short, and everything I do in preproduction is geared around making the most of our time.

To sum all that up, when you are directing try to be self conscious or aware of yourself and what you say. Often times the crew is a mirror of the producer, the AD and the director’s behavior. It is hard to win back a crew when things go a wry.

SFT: What was your favorite moment while making the film?
DL: There are a number of really great memories from working on this, but the one that stands out the most was the day one of our actors, Jeremy, had this big branch.  We had been shooting at this national park or reserve or someplace, there were peacocks there, I don’t know. It was really hot, humid and everything was a bit tense. We were doing a shot where Jeremy, Beth, and Leanna were crossing a shallow stream. The camera tilts up and racks from a blade of grass to reveal them and, Jeremy stops in the middle of the stream and yells, “You Shall Not Pass!” In any other situation I wouldn’t have laughed, I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan and Jeremy was just trying to get on my nerves because of how tense everything was on set. Which bugged him because we are old friends and he wanted me to be cool or whatever. I’m getting sidetracked, as he slammed the branch into the dirt at the bottom of the stream the branch shattered into a million pieces. It was ridiculous and I cracked and couldn’t stop laughing. In fact I think I was in tears.

SFT: What are you working on now?
DL: Quite a bit.  I am putting together several commercials for my apartment complex, a pilot for a web series, two shorts, and a feature. I am in post on a film I produced and am currently trying to stir up a bit of festival attention for two other films by friends. Also I just finished another short called “Start a Band” and am currently submitting it to some festivals. (fingers crossed)

SHORTFILMTEXAS: And lastly, what is your desert island film?
DANIEL LAABS: I’m bad about this one, it would have to be something kind of bad so it would inspire me to make something better should I get rescued but at the same time I’d want it to be as entertaining as possible so something like 2012. The last thing I want is to be stuck with one film to define me because my tastes shift so much.  If there was no chance of rescue then maybe a film like Godard’s King Lear, which demands much deciphering to find any value in it.

NORTH STREET BUMMER

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