Thursday, September 25, 2014

WAIT: Revealing the Poster

Seven years. I can’t believe I started this blog seven years ago. And the funny thing is, And So It Begins was born out of necessity. When I was a journalism student in college, one of my professors demanded that each of her students start a blog. She didn’t require us to buy textbooks for her course, and, according to her, the tradeoff was that we create own our blogs and update them regularly. We were allowed to write about anything, so, naturally, I began writing about film. Several years later, after numerous changes to layout, design, and my personal taste, I decided to do something I was honestly hesitant to do, and that was discuss my own filmmaking.

I began posting about my short film, Earrings, during pre-production on that film. I had no idea if anyone would care, but once I appeased my fear of “putting my work out there,” it simply felt right to discuss Earrings while I was filming it. Posting about my first feature, Wait, has been different. My first post about the film was met with enthusiasm from many of my dear readers, and I had every intention of writing about Wait often. But, as I mentioned in my previous Wait post, the film was met with a rather tumultuous production, and coming home and bitching about it (or, worse, lying and describing how good it was all going) didn’t interest me.

Basically, I wanted to make sure Wait was finished until I began writing about it regularly. And with only a few more sessions of sound mixing/design left to go, the film is all but complete. Distribution for Earrings was easy; I put it on my Vimeo page for free and let the world do with it what it saw fit. Releasing Wait will be more calculated and time consuming, and in the interim of the movie being completed and released, I’m going to be talking about it more often on this site.

So, to get things started, I thought it’d be fun to reveal the film’s official poster here first:

That’s Wait’s star, Micah Parker, who I met for the first time when he came to audition for the part he eventually played in the film. Since then, Micah and I have become close friends, and we had a blast shooting hundreds upon hundreds of pictures to get that one perfect shot for this poster. I was dead set on having Micah look directly into the lens, but when he looked down for a fraction of a second, I took this shot, and quickly realized that it was the best of the bunch. I have about 450 pictures from this photo shoot of Micah looking into the camera (from four different set-ups), and I have only one of him looking down. Sometimes, it only takes one.

The poster was created by my good friend Taylor Scott, who also designed the similarly-themed poster for Earrings. I hope you dig the look of Wait’s one-sheet; the mood and tone Micah, Taylor and myself were trying to evoke is exactly what I wanted (hint: the stark red and blue colors are significant to the final film). I promise I will share Wait as soon as I’m able to, but for now, I offer my most sincere thanks to anyone who spends part of their day reading this blog, or watching my work. You all keep me going.



50 comments:

  1. It looks great! I love the rich, dramatic use of color.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I had a light of fun lighting that shot. So happy you like it!

      Delete
  2. The poster is GORGEOUS!! Micah's expression (is he the same man in the picture that is above the one from Closer on your header? Wait, is the still itself from Wait?), the tagline, and the title across the poster, it is just fantastic! I especially love the colours that you chose, and the fact that they are significant to the film makes me that much more excited. I am so happy for you, and I cannot wait to read more about Wait here :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Aditya - you're so kind! Yep, that's also Micah in that picture in the header. He's such a strong and emotive actor, I'm so pumped for people to see his work in this film. That still in the header is from Wait, but this poster is independent from the film itself. I'm a fan of "from the movie" posters, but I wanted to highlight a very specific setting and tone in the poster that exists throughout the entirety of Wait, not just one still frame, if that makes sense. Thank you so much for your support, it means so much to me!

      Delete
  3. I love the colours! Yaaayyy can't wait to watch it, Alex!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would like to thank you for starting/writing this blog good sir! It's been a pleasure to read your reviews, lists, favorite scenes, etc. and it only makes me even more enthusiastic about film (my own and in general). I'm sure it's nothing new at this point, having told you this numerous times on various posts and through twitter, but I am eagerly awaiting the moment you release the first trailer (and eventually the film itself) for the public to see. The poster looks great, I love the dark interior look of the photo itself surrounded by the white outline. Very stylish but hinting at a definite melancholy if I may be so bold as to make that kind of statement lol. Can't wait for further updates my friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks man! You've been so kind to me and always had the nicest things to say about my work, so thank you for that. Taylor and I really dug the white border, so I'm glad you like it too! And melancholy is DEFINITELY fair. That's what we were going for here, no doubt. Very excited for you to see the final film as well!

      Delete
  5. Beautiful poster! I'm so happy for you and for the progress of your film! I can't wait to see it one day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks man! So happy you like the poster. Thanks so much for the support!

      Delete
  6. Awesome post! All the effort and attempts with Micah looking at the camera, and then to look down - such a lucky amazing shot you captured! The color choices are amazing too. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Katy! It's so funny what chance and luck can bring to a creative situation. We got lucky there, and I'm so pleased that you like it!

      Delete
  7. It was an honor to work on the poster. You've got talent Kid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have one rule: make it look cool. Which you did, and then some. Great work man!

      Delete
  8. Damn, that poster looks fucking cool.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow. That poster took my breath away. A very impressive color scheme, and it's funny how sometimes after a long time of planning, an accident happens on set that turns out to be the much better option. I must say, I'm very much looking forward to this film, and reading more posts about it. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn Nickolas, thanks so much for this comment. Really glad you dig the poster, and I'm so appreciative that you're excited to see the film!

      Delete
  10. It looks Great Man! Keep them coming. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great poster. Looking forward to the film. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. That poster looks spectacular! (I love those colors together) I can't wait to see the finished product. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Brittani! So happy you dig the poster. I'm very excited for you to see the film!

      Delete
  13. I love it! You captured just the right emotion you were going for (I think). I can see it in his face. Congrats on all your hard work thus far!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kristin. Definitely going for a dangerous, melancholic vibe here, so I hope his face reflects that! Really appreciate your support!

      Delete
  14. Love the poster! Your determination and artistic vision amaze me everyday. <3

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love the colors in this poster! The black bar with the white lettering reminds me of Traffic with how the names of locations would appear on the screen. Conscious effort?

    I dig the hell out of this blog. Thanks for putting so much effort into each post you write. Keep up the great work! Look forward to seeing the finished film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooohhh shit, you're so right about Traffic. That wasn't a conscious effort on my part - the black bar was actually Taylor's idea, but he does like Traffic too, so... who knows haha. But that's so cool that you caught that.

      I'm so glad we were able to connect online - you're support of my site really means a lot. And you're doing great work on Between the Reels as well! Thanks again man.

      Delete
  16. It's been almost two years. When I heard Outro for the first time, it became an instant favorite of mine. I started listening to M83, and pretty soon I came across this: http://www.andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2012/09/top-12-m83-songs.html. This was the first time I had ever seen your blog, and without it I may not have ended up as a cinephile. Your posts got me interested in films that I had never heard of before, and I started to appreciate every aspect of filmmaking. In about fifteen minutes or so, I'm going to drive downtown and watch a couple of films with some friends. Two years ago I never would have guessed that that's how I would be spending my Friday nights. I just wanted to say thanks. Also, I'm pretty excited for Wait.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Drew, I don’t know what to say. Your comment is everything to me. Really. First off, I’m so pleased that you discovered M83, and that you then found my site because of my love for them. But then, to tell me that my posts are what got you into movies… man, that just makes it all worth it. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this comment. It means more to me than you know.

      Delete
  17. Wow, this poster is unbelievable! Everything from the use of colors to the tagline is astonishing. I wish you the best luck with the film man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Stergios! So excited for you to see the movie!

      Delete
  18. Man, I gotta say I really love the normal text for the title. It always impresses me when a movie doesn't have to have a font created for its title but can use a simple one. It reminds me of Goodfellas, you know how the title is like just a normal writing font, like what I am typing with right now, but it works really well with the movie. This looks like it could be one of those movies with that ability to take a simple everyday font and make it look really good for the film.
    Other than that the rest of the poster is gorgeous. I am concerned that it will be very hard for me to watch your film when you release it, but at some point I hope you will share some details where and how we can watch it, for I am really excited. It was just fairly recently that I have gotten into lots of indie films and smaller films and trying to get some of my other friends into them as well (with some friends it is working better than others). And I can't wait for your film, what initially brought me to your blog was your film Earrings. It was after that, and the fact for last year in school I was forced to keep a small blog and post once a week (usually she told us what to write about, but there were ways around it so I could talk about film, like if we had to do a "Convince Me" blog post I would write about things like who was better Al Pacino or Robert De Niro), I created my own blog that I could devote to movies. So I thank you for helping me start my own blog in an indirect way, and really hope you keep up your blog and filmmaking because you may have been the single greatest influence to me to delve deeper into the art of film. Everything from creating my own blog to, taking May term classes on filmmaking last year (made some really fun shorts with some friends), and expanding my movie viewing range. So thanks once again for everything you have done to further my appreciation for film and best of luck with Wait, it's going to be awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn Geordan, you’re too kind! Okay, first things… I really appreciate what you said about the font choice for the poster. I’m also a big believer in regular, untouched fonts. That influence definitely stems from Soderbergh, because he proves time and again that a regular font can be used to great effect.

      Now, I honestly had no idea that this site has been so influential on you! That’s really great to hear buddy. I think you’re doing some great stuff on your site, and I hope you keep up with it as well. So happy to hear that you’re enjoying your film classes and making shorts. I promise I will do everything in my power to make Wait available to you, as soon as I possibly can. Thanks again for your encouragement and support. It really means a lot to me.

      Delete
  19. Love the colors for the poster! A great teaser. Can't wait to watch the completed film. Closed eyes to me gives the film an enigmatic, introspective quality :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Chris! So happy you "get" what we were trying to say with his expression. Really appreciate your comment!

      Delete
  20. Man, this poster is so Steven Soderbergh buddy! I love it, the use of color really grabs you. So proud of your accomplishments, I can't WAIT to watch WAIT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, thanks man! That's a very kind compliment. That man is my filmmaking God!

      Thanks for the support, my friend. I'm so excited for you to see the film.

      Delete
  21. Love the poster! Can't wait for the movie!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh this is a gorgeous poster. Loving the colors, does the film share the visual side of it? It looks very much like Refn's recent movies with how vivid it is and the close up, that's a compliment in spite of my hate for Only God Forgives, the cinematography there was gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! Well, the whole film wasn't captured in those stark fluorescent colors (like Only God Forgives), but there are definitely vivid sequences (particularly in blue and red) in the film. I LOVE rich color on film, but only when appropriate, you know?

      Delete
  23. That poster is awesome and the reason I always go to cinema early to stroll by the posters. Great call on the eyes looking down, too. Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much! Really glad you like the poster. I love looking at one-sheets at the theater too. Hoping this one helps to catch a few eyes :)

      Delete
  24. Ohhh, I dig this. Very vibrant. Looking forward to the next peek at Wait!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Love this! Can't wait to hear more, man.

    ReplyDelete