By: J.C. Smith
Source: http://www.centralfloridafuture.com
Category: Film School Online
Central Florida's swamps serve as the backdrop for a supernatural thriller written and produced by UCF film school alumna Sharon Reed.
Released on DVD Nov. 18 in the United States and Canada, The Sacred tells the story of five college students who travel deep into the Florida swamps to research Native American folklore. But they soon discover the land is cursed, with the power to bring their sins and the dead to life.
Staring Jessica Blackmore, Jordan Wall, John Kyle, David Mackey, Lauren Brown and Ryan Marsico, the film has garnered multiple awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Kyle) and Best Supporting Actress (Brown) from the 2010 Los Angeles Tabloid Witch Awards. More recently, it won the Best Thriller Feature and Best Actress (Blackmore) honors at the 2011 Fear Fete Film Festival in New Orleans. The movie led to more success for Wall, who now plays Daniel Green in The Glades on the A&E Network.
Reed collaborated with co-writer and director Jose Zambrano Cassella to make the independent film with a local cast and crew on a micro budget. Both teach cinematography at Full Sail University.
"I was getting a little bored with the classes, and I just wanted to do something different," Reed said. "I went up to [Cassella] and said, ‘Do you think we could shoot a movie for this amount?' and he said, ‘Yeah.'"
It took 21 days to shoot the film in 2008, but post-production took about a year, Reed said. The film was first shown in Orlando before making the rounds at various film festivals. Prior to its North American release, the DVD was distributed in Asia and other international markets.
"The hardest part is distribution," Reed said. "Everyone thinks it's pretty easy to shoot a film, and maybe it is if you don't want it distributed. But distribution takes a lot more effort, and we're just very pleased that it's out there. … Making a film is not just about the U.S. and Canada: It's about worldwide."
Cassella said they reached a special agreement with distributor Osiris Entertainment that allows them to also sell the movie on their own website, SacredMovie.com.
Independent films like The Sacred struggle to reach audiences because they don't have Hollywood stars, Cassella and Reed said.
"It's very hard to do theatrical, especially without a star," Reed said. "‘Paranormal' is like ‘Blair Witch.' It only happens once every 10 years. The reality of independent filmmaking is it's very, very difficult. They say one half of 1 percent of independent films get studio distribution. But the DVD market is still there."
So how do you make an independent film with little money and no stars? Volunteers.
"With the budget we had, we couldn't really pay anybody," Cassella said. "The producer, Sharon Reed, assembled an amazing crew of people who wanted to do it. The less you have, the more imaginative you have to get, the more ingenious you have to get."
"When you have little money, you have to overcome everything," Reed said.
Reed and Cassella said other hurdles included hauling equipment through woods and into swamps, post-production, post-sound and editing.
"The challenge is constantly trying to make the film look great. Making sure every shot looks like a film … that was the main challenge for me, at least," Cassella said. "The idea, obviously, was to keep the budget low. We had no choice in that. Keep it low, give it a big look and have fun with it."
In Central Florida, finding locations to shoot the swamp scenes wasn't too difficult.
"You think of Orlando and you think of Disney World, and that's really so unattractive to us," Reed said. "We wanted swamps. People say Orlando doesn't have swamps — yes, it does. We shot on the Wekiva River and in Wekiva Springs, and it was just gorgeous."
However, the filmmakers did lose one location because of the weather.
"We were going to shoot at the Black Hammock, and we got rained out one day," Reed said. "Tropical Storm Fay came through and totally flooded the Black Hammock, so our location was gone."
Reed gives much of the credit for the movie's success to the local cast and crew who volunteered their time, experience and expertise.
"You can't make a film with one or two people. It takes a whole team of people," Reed said. "I just want to give my gratitude to the crew and the cast. At one point, I think we had 150 people working on it — that includes extras, cast members, crew — and they all did it for the love of it because there wasn't much money to be made. … They made the movie. We all made the movie."
Since making The Sacred, Reed traveled to Normandy, France, to film a documentary called A Walk Through D-Day that she plans to release next year. Cassella just finished directing another film titled Two Days. He plans to work with Reed again on another project early next year.
Source: http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/news/film-school-alumna-makes-movie-magic-1.2678035?pagereq=2#.TtfTXXqXet8
Source: http://www.centralfloridafuture.com
Category: Film School Online
Central Florida's swamps serve as the backdrop for a supernatural thriller written and produced by UCF film school alumna Sharon Reed.
Released on DVD Nov. 18 in the United States and Canada, The Sacred tells the story of five college students who travel deep into the Florida swamps to research Native American folklore. But they soon discover the land is cursed, with the power to bring their sins and the dead to life.
Staring Jessica Blackmore, Jordan Wall, John Kyle, David Mackey, Lauren Brown and Ryan Marsico, the film has garnered multiple awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Kyle) and Best Supporting Actress (Brown) from the 2010 Los Angeles Tabloid Witch Awards. More recently, it won the Best Thriller Feature and Best Actress (Blackmore) honors at the 2011 Fear Fete Film Festival in New Orleans. The movie led to more success for Wall, who now plays Daniel Green in The Glades on the A&E Network.
Reed collaborated with co-writer and director Jose Zambrano Cassella to make the independent film with a local cast and crew on a micro budget. Both teach cinematography at Full Sail University.
"I was getting a little bored with the classes, and I just wanted to do something different," Reed said. "I went up to [Cassella] and said, ‘Do you think we could shoot a movie for this amount?' and he said, ‘Yeah.'"
It took 21 days to shoot the film in 2008, but post-production took about a year, Reed said. The film was first shown in Orlando before making the rounds at various film festivals. Prior to its North American release, the DVD was distributed in Asia and other international markets.
"The hardest part is distribution," Reed said. "Everyone thinks it's pretty easy to shoot a film, and maybe it is if you don't want it distributed. But distribution takes a lot more effort, and we're just very pleased that it's out there. … Making a film is not just about the U.S. and Canada: It's about worldwide."
Cassella said they reached a special agreement with distributor Osiris Entertainment that allows them to also sell the movie on their own website, SacredMovie.com.
Independent films like The Sacred struggle to reach audiences because they don't have Hollywood stars, Cassella and Reed said.
"It's very hard to do theatrical, especially without a star," Reed said. "‘Paranormal' is like ‘Blair Witch.' It only happens once every 10 years. The reality of independent filmmaking is it's very, very difficult. They say one half of 1 percent of independent films get studio distribution. But the DVD market is still there."
So how do you make an independent film with little money and no stars? Volunteers.
"With the budget we had, we couldn't really pay anybody," Cassella said. "The producer, Sharon Reed, assembled an amazing crew of people who wanted to do it. The less you have, the more imaginative you have to get, the more ingenious you have to get."
"When you have little money, you have to overcome everything," Reed said.
Reed and Cassella said other hurdles included hauling equipment through woods and into swamps, post-production, post-sound and editing.
"The challenge is constantly trying to make the film look great. Making sure every shot looks like a film … that was the main challenge for me, at least," Cassella said. "The idea, obviously, was to keep the budget low. We had no choice in that. Keep it low, give it a big look and have fun with it."
In Central Florida, finding locations to shoot the swamp scenes wasn't too difficult.
"You think of Orlando and you think of Disney World, and that's really so unattractive to us," Reed said. "We wanted swamps. People say Orlando doesn't have swamps — yes, it does. We shot on the Wekiva River and in Wekiva Springs, and it was just gorgeous."
However, the filmmakers did lose one location because of the weather.
"We were going to shoot at the Black Hammock, and we got rained out one day," Reed said. "Tropical Storm Fay came through and totally flooded the Black Hammock, so our location was gone."
Reed gives much of the credit for the movie's success to the local cast and crew who volunteered their time, experience and expertise.
"You can't make a film with one or two people. It takes a whole team of people," Reed said. "I just want to give my gratitude to the crew and the cast. At one point, I think we had 150 people working on it — that includes extras, cast members, crew — and they all did it for the love of it because there wasn't much money to be made. … They made the movie. We all made the movie."
Since making The Sacred, Reed traveled to Normandy, France, to film a documentary called A Walk Through D-Day that she plans to release next year. Cassella just finished directing another film titled Two Days. He plans to work with Reed again on another project early next year.
Source: http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/news/film-school-alumna-makes-movie-magic-1.2678035?pagereq=2#.TtfTXXqXet8
