Some Connecticut Yankees in J.Upton's Court	By Carla Stockton
One Woman's View from the Inside of the National Film Challenge

It came to me as in a dream.

On September 16, Judy Schulz at CTFilm.com, the official film office for Connecticut, forwarded me an emailed invitation to the National Film Challenge (NFC).

"On Friday night, October 1st, at 7PM, you will receive an email containing the genre for your film as well as a list of required elements (Prop, Character and Line of Dialogue) that must appear in your film. You will complete your project and send it so that it is dated on October 4, 2004. "

Who could resist? It'd been nearly seven months since we'd wrapped our last project- a featurette about a chicken farmer and a complement of animated tin toys - and we were looking for a way to just make a movie, any movie, because it's the nature of filmmaking that it usually takes so many resources to do it, we don't do it nearly enough. Right?

So I sent the challenge to my producing partner, Daniel Fine.

Daniel's response to me was very simple. "WooHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" He enthused.

In the week and a half from the day we actually entered the competition till October 1, we participated in the only development allowable under the rules. We were told, "You can start lining up your team-cast and crew- and all of the equipment you will need for your filmmaking weekend. In addition, you may scout and secure locations." But it strictly forbids you to do anything creative, as if finding the resources required no creativity. And the rules also strictly forbid paying ANYone.

Producer Carla Stockton, Director/DP Daniel Fine and Composer/Sound Designer/Animator Edward Ludvigsen monitor their footage. Photo by Dana Keeton.

By September 30, we had nearly found all the crew members on whose kindness we could rely, and we had enlisted the support of some local demigods who donated goods and services to the effort: Andy Rubenoff, Andy Rubenoff Design, lights, equipment and props; Tommy K'sVideo, free video rentals for research; and Matthew and Mallory Diedrich, free indoor shooting space in their charming seaside saltbox house.

We lined up a two-person cast whose improvisational skills we trusted: Michael Chaban and Rayne Stockton. That we were able to use Michael was a real gift; this is the first year the NFC had a contract with SAG allowing NFC participants to use its members, and we would have been lost without Michael.

A few days later, we locked in our crew of 8 very talented multi-taskers and assigned the roles: Daniel would be director and DP; Ed Ludvigsen, of Studio Harlequino would compose music and design sound/titles, create animation and coordinate the website. Michael Valenches, an audio engineer from Cromwell, was on to be second camera and sound tech; Gregory White, a software engineer from South Windsor, agreed to be Assistant Editor/ PA/Extra. New Haven resident Dennis Voskov, a recent Quinnipiac Communications and Media graduate, became our AD/Key Grip and Gaffer; Tiffany Hopkins, also from New Haven signed on as Key P and got roped into being an extra as well; Edmund "B*Wak" Comfort, another New Haven resident, took on the role of Set designer/ art director; and Todd Baker , Woodbridge, postponed the move he'd been planning for a month in order to be a PA/extra. New Havener Dana Keeton offered Daniel the biggest break of the weekend - she promised to be our first cameraperson on Sunday so that Daniel would be able to concentrate on directing . . . and sit down for a few minutes.

We stocked the space with caffeine sources and miscellaneous supplies. Vehicles were gassed up and made ready for any possible company move. Air mattresses were activated and accoutered with sheets and pillowcases. And every member of the team was sent a contact sheet and instruction list.

The most important part of this phase was our director's astute scheduling. Without knowing any specific details, Daniel created a schedule that provided a framework for the task that lay ahead. Without it, we would have spent far too much time deciding what to do when; this way we could get directly to the how of things. It turned out to be the key element of our pre-development work.

Then, suddenly, it was Friday, October 1.

At precisely 7 PM, the email with our assignment arrived:

Genre: Mockumentary
Character: J. Upton, Dog Walker
Prop: Map
Line of Dialogue: "You caught me at a bad time."

By 11:30 PM, we knew what our story was about: A gentle dogwalker saves the relationship between a confused man and his troubled dog; having seen the light, the man joins the dogwalker in her crusade to save the world through yoga and meditation . . . one pet at a time. The film would star Natalie, the Diedrichs' albino Chihuahua.

Ed was well into the creation of his music by midnight, and we had emailed the scenario and character sketches to our team by 3:20 AM, ten minutes ahead of schedule! Development was officially over.

Before I went to sleep, I heard the voice of W.C. Fields resounding from my gut. "Never ever work with dogs or children!" I groaned. How bad could it be?

Then it was Saturday. Prepro extended from 8AM-2:30 PM, and went smoothly enough. Natalie had not arrived yet, and everyone was excited, upbeat.

First shot was up, on schedule, at 2:30 PM. We were in a nearby park where we hoped to recruit some willing canine extras. Of course, it was cold and rainy, and dogs were scarce. Why, you may ask, did we believe we had any hope of attracting benevolent dog lovers and successfully convincing them to stick around while their little darlings were instructed in pranayama and sun salutations?

Well, we hit the jackpot!

After we'd shot some footage of our stars doing yoga in trees, and stalking a feral cat in the swamp, a passerby couple - the Kruegers of New Haven -- arrived on the scene with their standard poodles, animals who had clearly been through a host of prior lives and were well evolved. After we had talked briefly, the Kruegers watched our actors interact with their animals, and within minutes they eagerly signed the forms on behalf of Luke and Sable.

There are no co-stars more cooperative, more giving than these dogs turned out to be. Sable's a professional model, and Luke takes acting classes. At the end of this portion of the shoot, Sable looked directly into the camera and winked; she loved working.

We moved from outdoors to indoors. Gordon the Fish, who also seemed to have an affinity for the camera, arrived.

All in all, Fields' advice is worth considering. Natalie ran the whole gamut fro delightful to obnoxious. She managed to do every kind of eliminating on Rayne's beloved yoga mat and on Michael's best yoga pants . . . which he was, at the time, wearing. She'd be at turns cheerful and affectionate, then vicious, petulant. Then she'd return to adorable; she'd allow herself to be hugged, loved, and wrapped in her binky.

On the other hand, we had absolutely no trouble from Gordon, and the most easily directed actor in the film was the ghost of the dead cat.

Cast wrapped out on Saturday at midnight; crew collapsed shortly after 1 AM.

Sunday barreled its way into our consciousness at 6 a.m. in a slow, COLD sunrise on the beach.

We survived. At 1:15 PM, an hour early, production was officially over.

Daniel took a nap. I did producerly things like paperwork and washing bed sheets.

It's worth pointing out here that we shot on the Sony, and we had set up an edit station - a Power Mac G-5 running Final Cut Pro 4. A Power Mac G-5 running Flash to create the animation/titles, and a PC to record and mix the music.

At 2:30 PM, Daniel changed his hat and became the Editor. Greg, Daniel and I commenced Post Production. Along with Ed, who continued working on the animated segment over which he would lay the end credits,

Ed's animation sequence consisted of very intricate animal yoga practice. In his cartoon world, animals practice poses named after their worst enemies.

Too soon, it was Monday. We recruited Sunday's first camera Dana Keeton, who is also Daniel's fiancé, to take a look at the rough cut. Dana immediately recognized the key to fixing the worst of the flaws, and Daniel was juiced. We knew it was going well, because between consults, we could hear him laughing.

Ed finished his assignment and left around 4. He had an orientation for his new day job: Professional Dog Walker!

Greg and Daniel and I watched the footage as it was cut and pasted and re-cut and re-pasted. Michael Valenches came down from upstate to check up on us at 3:30 PM, and we showed him what was nearly the finished product. His laughter told us it was good. We were done.

UPTONANDA, a tribute to people who teach others that pets and yoga hold the key to peace in the universe, was born.

We barely got to Kinko's in time to do the endless paperwork and to hand the package off to the Fed Ex Man. And then, abruptly, it was over. The dream had ended.

Of course, we are still reliving the benefits. It was great, a quick, sensory-engulfing, satisfying, instructive exercise with instant gratification. Working within the vise of the time constraint, I was really able to see each part of the filmmaking process clearly. And I could examine the nature of the collaborative imperative of filmmaking.

Our cast and crew was, with us, in that golden weekend, a communal heart, beating rhythmically, making the blood of the project flow effortlessly. I'd do it again in an instant. We all would.