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Reviews
Evil's City (2005)
Evil Secrets Revealed
I was the principal cinematographer* on EVIL'S CITY ( credit omitted from the film at my insistence for countless reasons although it still shows up on IMDb.com ). My comments herein are based on my own observations and understanding, and of course, opinion, all of which some might consider incorrect.
The filmmaker, a very nice guy and noted industry attorney ( hence my above disclaimer ), had sincere intentions of a quality project and a hip, entertaining moralistic tale; like so many first-timers stifled by lack of time, money, and other factors, the result was clearly otherwise (in my humble opinion).
Originally budgeted at $20,000 ( I was told ), I refused the project repeatedly but finally agreed to lens the film ( my last favor for anyone, ever ) after meeting the cast and hearing the filmmakers detailed cinematic vision. The budget swelled to over $65,000 ( raised by a lead actor and another individual who "purchased" a small role ) ; most of the dollars were spent solely on "panic" last minute location expenses associated with complete lack of any discernible pre-production accomplishments. I know it wasn't spent on catering.
Ironically, the main "City" street in the film, thankfully a ghost town in the story, was a movie-ranch set used in countless films and TV shows; it was almost impossible to shoot, as there was no provision for requested lights or power ( the filmmaker insisted that there was power on the street; he did not realize the 3/4 scale power poles were strung up with rope, not electrical wire... they were props, like everything else, miles from civilization). A mere few thousand watts of tungsten light on hand and a construction generator were provided ( hence the completely dubbed or inaudible portions of the soundtrack and the mostly black portions of the film ).
In an attempt at complete auteur-ship, the film was edited, remixed, and color-altered by the filmmaker.
Numerous people involved brought talent, experience, heart, energy and hope to the project, most without benefit of paycheck, but ultimately if a pilot flies a plane straight into a cliff, everyone still dies.
This film and SNITCH'D prove anyone really can make a movie, and even get it on the shelf at your local video store. I'm not sure if that is a good thing.
Of confounding interest to other filmmakers may be the fact that EVIL CITY sold to distribution with almost no effort a few short weeks after availability of screeners; DVD's hit the chain store shelves in the U.S. so fast that a star of the film found out when hewent in to rent a movie and saw his name on a film box he didn't recognize ( the working title of EVIL'S CITY was THE LAZARUS SPORE, and then CROSSING ACHERON by wrap of photography ).
* Film contains numerous inserts and other material shot by the director or purchased stock. As for the color grading...
Snitch'd (2003)
SomeTruths Behind Snitch'd
Every once in a while , someone out of the blue looks at me a little sideways and asks "What's with SNITCH'D" ? I know immediately they have a case of barely-hidden amusement + horror. You see, I was the cinematographer on the film.
Let me clarify some points regarding this "interesting life experience".
Originally, SNITCH'D was called ONE HARD HIT. I met James Cahill in July of 1999, a day after I wrapped TRIANGLE SQUARE, a great little 35mm feature that like so many indie features of the era never got distribution despite festival accolades...it fell eternal victim to the fine print of SAG's notorious Experimental Feature contract. But I digress...
I though I was on a roll, and when James asked me to shoot his little gangster flick in 16mm with a shooting budget of about $25,000, not wanting to break pace, I took it. After all, CLERKS, EL MARIACHI... I too believed the myth back then.
Let's just chalk it up as "film school" for many involved, myself included. SNITCH'D was shot over two weeks in August, 1999, in Aliso Viejo and Santa Ana, CA. Cahill taught Drama at a High School in the latter city ( yes, he is a Drama and English teacher...consider THAT while watching the film, or even observing the use of apostrophe in title ), hence the locations and cast.
Of note in his cast were the only known dramatic appearance of L.A.'s Channel 2 Morning News weather girl Vera Jimenez, and of greater impact, the debut of Eva Longoria, who had just arrived in Hollywood and was as eager as I to get a film under her belt. I must say her professional dedication, focus and "let's do this" attitude kept me inspired and was a foreshadow of her stardom-yet-to-come.
SNITCH'D suffered from poor optics, few lights or electricity, several boom operators du jour, and delivery of an uncorrected offline for duplication. None of that overshadows the actual content, which speaks for itself.
Anyway, by 2003, the film was sold to distributors ( at a net loss, I understand ) who inexplicably had no photos of Eva on the box ( by then she was a rising, working name ) but who did manage to obtain a clear photo of what appears to be an authentic Latino gangster to lend credibility to SNITCH'D. Since Cahill's other passion is antiquarian book dealing, it appears to confirm he believes you can, in fact, judge a book by it's cover... as so many have picked up this DVD based on it's sleeve. ----------------- One year later, Eva, now on a soap, and I met James for one day to shoot a simple short film he had concocted, SPLIT SECOND, which I think has never seen any play despite festival intent.
6 years later, I was hired to shoot another Cahill film titled JUAREZ, Mexico. I though he had worked out the process; my participation was contingent on casting, script and crew control, and the resultant film actually looked promising in dailies, for what it was... a cheap detective story surrounding the mass murders of girls in Juarez; despite claims here and elsewhere, the film has NEVER appeared in any festival or venue, although Cahill has repeatedly claimed the film has distribution and was simply awaiting release to coincide with the DVD release of two studio pictures on the same subject, VIRGIN OF JUAREZ and BORDER TOWN.