Best Part Of My Day filmmaker interview with director Benjamin Dewhurst
Best Part Of My Day is a great little short film best described as
“experimental, mostly-silent, short romantic comedy”. It looks like an awesome short film worthy of exposure. The director kindly answer my questions. Now I’ve finally put it up. Read on a go check out the film when it comes near you.
bestpartofmyday.info website
Inteview by Chris 10/5/10
1. How did the film come about?
1. + 2.) The film’s inspiration is part chance encounter, part
experimental storytelling. I had the chance encounter that Al had, and
though it didn’t have the same outcome as Al, I always thought ‘what
if’. The experimental storytelling idea came from the pre-visualization
of the film – literally standing in the courtyard and saying ‘this
could be done in one shot… and SHOULD be!’ Sort of an epiphany
moment. It’s the marriage of a classic tale and an entirely unique
storytelling method.
3. How long did it take to film the movie?
3.) 15 hours day 1, 12 hours day 2, 5 hours on a
light reshoot.
4. How was the process of choosing the actors for the film like?
4.) I knew Adam through mutual contacts in SETV (somethingelsetv.com),
and knew
Destiny from a previous film. Always loved their work, always. Alex
was a new contact through Adam, and I auditioned him using previous
work. He blew me away. Wanita was in another film I was a fan of, and I
was lucky enough to nab her 3 days prior to the filming.
5. Was it hard to edit the film to make the story flow?
5.)
Editing wasn’t hard in a cut-to-time sense, but was a challenge in a
creative sense. There were so many effective takes to go through, and
an enormous sheer number of cuts to make.
6. How has the feedback from the film been at festival like?
6.) The feedback was
outstanding at Heartland. I love the people in Indy, they were awesome,
as were my friends and family. It was an epic experience. I look
forward to the Cleveland International Film Festival, and any other
fests we make, with the same zeal. I plan to attend all as a sort of
treat for completing the film. It’s exhilarating to hear the audience
laugh, gasp, etc in person. It makes what we do art.
7. Were you happy the way the film turned out?
7.)
I’m ecstatic with how it turned out. It’s easily the best film I’ve
created. People just get it, and in experimental film there’s always a
huge risk they won’t. We had a mission, and we accomplished that
mission.
8. What have been the responses so far to the film been like?
8.) Great responses. Everyone’s into it.
9. What did you learn from making of this film that you
can use for future features?
9.) Well, my
film is a short, and it confirmed that I want to do features
eventually. Not yet, though. Shorts are just so rewarding, so little
commitment for so much gain, and they’re so accepted now with the advent
of internet video and the popularity of sites like Hulu and Youtube.
10. Has the internet played a good part in
promoting the film?
10.)
We get insane views on bestpartofmyday.info, and I do believe it’s enticing
fests to feature our film. At least I hope so anyway. It’s extremely
difficult to programme for a film fest, so I hope it gives our film that
extra edge. Eventually the film will live on bestpartofmyday.info.
11. Is their anything you wouldn’t do next time that you
did this time in regards to making of the film?
11.) I wouldn’t try to
produce something on so large a scale so quickly. I’d bring in another
producing staff entirely. I was partially naive in what I thought the
scope would be. The film’s scope grew by about $5k in one hour at one
point. And obviously I’m going to need more funding for my next film.
12. What next for yourself?
12.)
I’m working on another short experimental for this year, and I plan to
make a run for an Academy Award in the Short Film > Experimental
category. Quite serious about that.
13. What advice can you give to some one wanting to make a
independent film?
13.) My advice is make as much
as possible. Just make. If you don’t have a crew, do stop motion or
motion graphics or something. And learn. Learn as much as possible.
Just do what you are passionate about.
