I wanted to take a moment and thank Roman Safiullin and Chris Walker for all their hard work creating the behind the scenes video podcast series, BEHIND THE ATTIC DOOR. It was such a pleasure having them on set in Utah. When they weren’t working on the documentary they leant a hand to whatever department needed it most (usually art). Their dedication and talents show in the seven part series they created about the creation of THE ATTIC DOOR and I am very proud to have been able to showcase their work on the blog.

If you haven’t watched all seven episodes, you can do so by clicking the video links below. Enjoy:

Behind the Attic Door – Episode 7 – End in Sight from The Attic Door on Vimeo.

In THE ATTIC DOOR, we use the desolate and epic Western landscape, iconic John Ford country, to echo the terrifying loneliness of our two young characters. Though the landscape was at times harsh for our crew with high temperatures, dust storms, and the occasional flooding (seen in Episode 5 of “Behind the Attic Door“), we were certainly not the first filmmakers to face these conditions in Utah.

I found this great excerpt from John A. Murray’s Cinema Southwest: An Illustrated Guide to the Movies and their Locations.

“As early as 1925 director John Ford traveled to Promontory, Utah, to film part of his twelve-reel epic film The Iron Horse, shooting at the very place where the historic golden spike was driven, connecting the East Coast with the West Coast for the first time by rail line (which, in a larger sense, signaled the birth of modern America). During the 1930s the area around Kanab in southwestern Utah became known as “Little Hollywood” for the many pictures made there. Later, in the 1950s, the center of gravity shifted to the east, as Moab became the state’s major center for filmmaking. Virtually every American director and actor of note has worked in Utah, from Cecil B. DeMille (Union Pacific, 1939) to John Ford (Rio Grande, 1950) to Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989); from Henry Fonda (My Darling Clementine, 1946) to Clint Eastwood (The Outlaw Josey Wales, 1976) to Jodie Foster (One Little Indian, 1973). If a film has red slickrock and prickly pear cactus desert, cloudless blue skies, and distant mountain ranges, there’s a good chance it was shot in Utah.”

This article talks about shooting in Paria(h) as well as Kanab, Zion and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Theres also a mention of Jackie Hamblin-Rife, our ultimate production supporter, and mentor for shooting in the west.
Check out the entire article here.

Imagine giant film cameras and huge lighting trucks trying to maneuver down into Paria where it was difficult for us to go with our lightweight equipment, smaller vehicles and sparse crew. The advances in film technology really allow for modern indie filmakers to go to places where previously only huge Hollywood productions could afford to go. It is so humbling to think back on our shooting and all of the famous films that came to that area before us and the many more that will come after.

Behind the Attic Door – Episode 6 – Something Amazing Happens from The Attic Door on Vimeo.

Behind the Attic Door – Episode 5 – Monsoon Season from The Attic Door on Vimeo.

Behind the Attic Door – Episode 4 – A Tale of Two Friends from The Attic Door on Vimeo.

You can follow along with Alex’s design journey by visiting his six part series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Part 6,

We worked, and worked, and worked.

The future was unwritten and I was afraid of failing, of forgetting some detail, and of being revealed as an amateur. My alarm clock became obsolete by the second day. I was consistently waking up before 5AM each morning, and I would sit outside in the pre-dawn hours and pour over the script, shooting schedule, budget, props list, and construction blueprints to make sure I had everything accounted for. No stone could be left unturned.

The Art Department was working hard on the assignments I had given them, and they deserve a lot of credit for the final product. Filmmaking is a collaboration and there is no way I could have done all of this on my own. As they worked together on gathering props and set decorations, and Josh worked in the warehouse all day, everyday, I drove to every corner of southern Utah possible, making sure that we were always three steps ahead of production.

It gets worse before it gets better.

The worst was when we were two days from shooting. I was pacing some arbitrary parking lot in Kanab, on the phone with a wallpaper company that had screwed up our order for the upstairs hallways set. There were some many things to do, and then this headache surfaces. The conversation finished, and I was stressed and frantic. My phone rings for the hundredth time, and for the first time that day it was someone who wasn’t connected to the film; my wife. She told me what she had done that day, how life in Orlando was, and how much she missed me. With tears in my eyes I told her I would give anything to be with her at that moment. I wanted to disappear from the film project and go back to my comfortable stomping ground. I wanted to be safe. She reassured me that all the work was not in vain, that I needed to keep working hard, and that she loved…and that was enough.

It got better the first day of shooting. I showed up on set as a ball of nerves. I knew every scene we were shooting that day, and the entire Art Department was with me. Danny arrived and asked to see all the props. We showed him. He then asked to see the decorated set. We showed him. Then he asked if we were prepared to shoot extra scenes if time allowed. We were. Then he said “good work” and walked away. That was it. All the stress, insecurity and frantic preparation ultimately led up to us being ready for every possible scenario. And a wave of calm and reassurance washed over me.

The race was not done. The Art Department still had five weeks of non-stop work, without any days off, but I was no longer stressed or insecure. The first day of shooting proved that we were on top of it. All we had to do was keep up the pace we had already set.

The movie itself is beautiful too. I got to work with Jake Johnson who played Darrel, we go to school together! I also got to work with the most awesome directer ever (not even exagerating) Danny Daneau. My whole experiance was amazing and I loved watching the movie. Oh wait I’m getting ahead of myself! My character Caroline is very motherly and is very strict yet loving at the same time. During the movie she is always hoping and knowing that her parents will come back. Now Darrel on the other hand is very childlike and playful yet he seems to want to care for his sister.

Danny is an amazing director, he lets you put a little bit of youreself into your character. I had so much fun. Thank you soo much Danny and thank you to everyone who helped put this project together!

LOVE,
Madison Davenport

Jake Johnson
Actor

Hello, my name is Jake Johnson and I am the actor who plays Darrell in the film THE ATTIC DOOR. I am 10 years old and in the 5th grade. My Dad, Mom, brother Zach and sister Caryn all traveled to Kanab while I had this great opportunity to shoot this film. Playing the part of Darrell was the most fun, yet most challenging job, I have ever done. For starters I had to wear clothes from the 1800’s which was a little awkward at first but became quit comfortable as the shoot went on. On many days my wardrobe had to be clean for the morning scenes and dirty for the afternoon scenes, which meant rolling around in the dirt and playing with the local chickens to dirty myself up. The wackiest part of the movie was when the light in the wagon we were shooting in burned out and everyone thought it would blow. I remember Cory, the first AD came running in with a fire extinguisher only to find a completely protected burnt out light. Afterwards when we looked at the tape we cracked up at the panic on everyone’s face.

Danny was an awesome director! He taught me how to break down each scene in a way I have never done before. He made me laugh, cry and yes even barf one day on the set (not really his fault, I had the flu!)

Madison and I actually go to the same school here in Southern California. Our families are great friends and we talk about our experience in Utah all the time. We had a great crew that I will never forget and would love to work with again!

[tags]5th Grade, Family, Wardrobe, Southern California, school[/tags]