Once the script was written Rakowiecki's first step was storyboarding the entire film. He drew 500 frames, then put the storyboards into iMovie and created an animatic of the entire film by adding music and doing all the voices himself to see how it would play. Although financing the film himself, Rakowiecki thought the next step was finding a producer.

"There were a couple of times when I thought I'd found one and production was going to get off the ground. But each time I was stymied by a producer backing out or disappearing on me. Which was maddening because I wasn't even looking to them for money. Finally," Rakowiecki says, "after over three years of script revisions, readings and flirting with producers, I decided the only way the film would get made was if I got off my ass and produced it myself."

"I took a lot of inspiration from DIY guys like Darren Aronofsky (PI), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (BLOOD SIMPLE), Kevin Smith (CLERKS), Richard Linklater (SLACKER), Robert Rodriguez (EL MARIACHI), Joe Carnahan (BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS & OCTANE), Christopher Nolan (FOLLOWING) and Spike Lee (SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT) They all went out and made their first films by hook or by crook," Rakowiecki explains. "I knew I needed to do the same." That DIY spirit is also reflected in the name Rakowiecki chose for his produc- tion company; Basement Tapes Films. "It's named after the famous home recordings Bob Dylan and The Band made in their basement in Woodstock in 1967," Rakowiecki says.

The next step was casting. "Casting was a blast," Rakowiecki remembers. "I was really impressed by how many talented non-union actors there are in New York. People who just haven't had that one break yet. I wish I had 30 roles to cast because I hated to turn down really talented people. But as in most casting situations it really came down to only one person who could perfectly embody each part."

Once the cast was in place a set was built on a stage in Brooklyn. Dan Pasky, the set designer, laid out the floor-plan for the Geek-cave and the set was built and dressed in two days. "I’d been accumulating furniture and props for almost two years as I was gearing up for the shoot," Rakowiecki says, "and I wound up needing every single item, as well as many more that Dan found, in order to give texture to Brad Zuhl’s world."

SPOILER ALERT was shot on a tight, eleven day schedule, with no days off. "We averaged 8 pages a day and shot at an 11-1 ratio," Rakowiecki says. Everything was shot handheld, in HD, with a Panasonic HVX 200, utilizing a 35mm adapter and framing for a 2:35 aspect ratio. The footage was dumped from P2 cards onto a hard drive at the end of each shooting day (along with sound files). "After the 11 day shoot," Rakowiecki says, "we had 17 hours’ worth of footage to work with."

 

 

"Shooting HD was great for this particular script," explains Rakowiecki. "Since the story is virtually real-time and is one long scene, shooting HD allowed actors to go with a scene for as long as they were feeling it. If they were on a roll one scene could flow into the next without cutting or resetting. We wouldn't have been able to do that with film. Though there were times Chase Bowman, the DP and camera operator, probably wished we cut sooner instead of letting the camera roll for 8, 10 or 12 minute takes. Everything was shot handheld and the 35 adapter wound up getting really heavy the longer the take went."

When it comes to getting your film off the ground, Rakowiecki has a tip for aspiring filmmakers, "Wherever you live, get involved in your local film community. One invaluable asset in production was the Exit 131 NJ Filmmaker's Group (www.yahoogroups.com/groups/exit131). They helped me find my Sound Mixer, Make-up person and production insurance. You never know what kind of resources, advice and references someone in your own town can provide to help you make your film. And you'll need all the help you can get."

"The film is highly unusual in that 99% of it was shot in one room," says Rakowiecki. This was necessary not only budget-wise but also story-wise. "What could be more tense than three people in one room that they can't leave," asks Rakowiecki.

The idea of shooting an entire film in one room scared off some DP's. " People thought it would be uncinematic, but there are certainly precedents in filmmaking," explains Rakowiecki, "from LIFEBOAT and ROPE (Hitchcock) to DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (Polanski) to TAPE (Linklater), though I'm by NO MEANS including myself in the same universe as those directors. However, those films proved you could do something with one location, a small group of actors and still be interesting, engaging and entertaining. And after all, Aristotle's rules of drama specify characters in limited, enclosed space in real-time, so why is it so rarely done in film? The reason given is it will be ʻun-cinematic.' But as someone much smarter than me once said, the most cinematic thing is the close-up and the human face.Working in such a restriced way puts a huge burden on the actors but I had an extremely talented cast that could handle it."

Chase Bowman turned out to be the perfect DP for the job. "Chase was great," says Rakowiecki. "He saw shooting in one room as a challenge and saw the possibilities of it, rather than the limitations. He wasn't intimidated by it. And he brought in Blake (Eichenseer), the gaffer, and together they created an amazing look on a miniscule budget."

One of the keys to engaging the audience in a one room film was to create a believable environment. "As Brad says, his apartment is his fortress of solitude. It's his Batcave and within it he feels invulnerable," Rakowiecki explains. "Dan Pasky, the set designer, totally understood this and came up with a floorplan and design for the Geek-cave that really made the environment come alive. Dan's designs, Chase's camerawork and great actors ensured that we'd never get visually bored in the small space."