My first concise question to Anton Doiron in his rented studio space was, \u201cWhat\u2019s that thing that Stanley Kubrick did with framing? You know, the thing where everything meets in a single point off, you know, off in the distance?\u201d I waved my hands like I was gesturing for someone to wait.<\/p>\n
Doiron brightened. \u201cOne-point perspective!\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the beauty of hanging out with real filmmakers. You can learn something. Doiron knew exactly what I was talking about. Kubrik used this technique in almost all his films. Think about \u201cThe Shining\u201d and the big-wheel scenes in the Overlook Hotel\u2019s long hallways. In \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey,\u201d the spaceships walkways seem to stretch into infinity. All lines and planes of a shot converge on some point far away in the center of the screen. The technique confines a scene, gives it tension and claustrophobia. It creates a single point of focus.<\/p>\n
It also sounds suspiciously like a metaphor.<\/p>\n
I thought of Kubrik when I looked down the hall of Doiron\u2019s built set. The set is of a spaceship\u2019s center walkway. It\u2019s so large it consumes the studio space. Yet it\u2019s not large enough. \u201cIt\u2019s only three modules. I wanted four,\u201d says Doiron.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the thing about Doiron; he doesn\u2019t lack for big picture thinking. Doiron made Juneau\u2019s first feature length science fiction film \u201cSpace Trucker Bruce.\u201d The hallway set is part of his next full-length film, \u201cHidden Spaceship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or, \u201cA Girl, A Yeti, and a Spaceship.\u201d The title kind of depends on the week you ask.<\/p>\n
We talked about how he came to the story of \u201cHidden Spaceship.\u201d Doiron is nonplussed about the flexibility in names. \u201cI change the script all the time. Anything not filmed can be changed.\u201d Currently, the story follows Alec and Sarah. They do not like their jobs. By escaping their mundane occupations they find themselves in space, saving an alien\u2019s life. They get there in different ways. Alec is taken to a spaceship in the woods after an encounter with Bigfoot. (That\u2019s the yeti part). Sarah quits her job to join a shady Men-in-Black like agency who are studying an alien spaceship probe. Not to give too much away, but there are minions, muppet aliens, a half robot-half woman, a bad guy, and reality television.<\/p>\n
Doiron pieced the story together while his son attended camp at Echo Ranch. There was a yurt nobody was using. Doiron uses note cards to record scene ideas. He packed out his note cards, spread them out, and constructed a story arc. If there were gaps, he\u2019d fill them in after a walk on the beach. At home, he pinned his cards onto his \u201cStory Wall\u201d and wrote the script based on the card arrangement that satisfied him.<\/p>\n
Excitement and pride ring out when Doiron talks about this movie. Doiron read up on story and script while making \u201cSpace Trucker Bruce.\u201d Now, Doiron believes \u201cHidden Spaceship\u201d will be a better film. He\u2019s happy about the sets and the acting, but especially the story. \u201cSpace Trucker Bruce\u201d was an entertaining movie. The bar is high. You can see for yourself on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Relative to his previous movie, Doiron is also more confident in his vision. He knows his effects and models are not something out of James Cameron movie. He\u2019s going for \u201cgood enough to be fun.\u201d For examples, Larry the robot doesn\u2019t look like an actual robot. He looks like a muppet. He\u2019s operated like a muppet. It\u2019s not believable, but it doesn\u2019t matter. Doiron likes the way he looks. If the story and effects compliment the world created, it\u2019s great. \u201cIt\u2019s B-movie fun. I see it and it\u2019s entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another major difference between the two Doiron films is 50 percent of \u201cHidden Spaceship\u201d happens in the woods. Almost all of \u201cSpace Trucker Bruce\u201d was shot on sets and in the world of special effects. \u201cI wanted to show the outdoors, hiking, and downtown Juneau.\u201d Doiron looks forward to the contrast of Juneau\u2019s natural beauty against his built sets and computerized renderings of outer space.<\/p>\n
(Doiron also moved his sets into the rented studio space, freeing up much of his home. No doubt this leads to more amiable family dynamics).<\/p>\n
Given that much of the principal photography so far has been on location in the woods, Doiron had to be organized. You can\u2019t wing it in the woods when you\u2019ve got a crew, a beagle, hungry actors, and a list of shots that have to be captured. You might need tape. So you bring tape.<\/p>\n
To track it all, Doiron makes a daily to-do list. The list spells out in great detail and resolution what has to happen that day: Build a set. Make snacks. Move table. Set up lighting. Laminate scene list. Hand out scene list to actors. Actors? Where are my actors? Phone. Call actors! Does the haircut match the last time I filmed this guy? Determine which of 230 scenes will be shot today. \u201cRunning down hall front,\u201d then \u201crunning down hall back.\u201d Alphabetize the shots. List camera angle. Bring tape. Bring shoulder mounts. Create equipment checklist. (To bring everything back). Bring costumes. List and bring props. Paper, don\u2019t forget paper. Make snacks. Scissors. Liability forms for any new actors. Load up plastic bins. Gas. Hope for good weather\u2026<\/p>\n
Yikes!<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what so amazing. All this effort, for \u2026 the love of it! Sure, there\u2019s a chance Doiron gets recognized and becomes a rich director, but that\u2019s probably not going to happen. It\u2019s just, if you don\u2019t put yourself out there, it\u2019ll never happen.<\/p>\n
Doiron is about halfway done. All the outside photography is done and he expects to finish his set work this coming spring. Then there will be a year and a half of special effects work, building three-dimensional models, and rendering his animations against the green screen scenes. Whereas \u201cSpace Trucker Bruce\u201d took six years, \u201cHidden Spaceship\u201d will take five.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a focus I marvel at. Doiron has that quality that separates the artists you hear about from the many you don\u2019t \u2013 the ability to stick to a project until it is done. A single point of focus. Kubrikian, sure, but it\u2019s a phrase that well describes Doiron, too.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Clint J. Farr can be reached at cjfarr@hotmail.com.<\/p>\n
Related links: <\/strong><\/p>\n Space Trucker Bruce – https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kcOaAqGBWLo<\/p>\n Dramatic super cut of Kubrik\u2019s one-point perspective – https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=flq0t4jrqJQ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My first concise question to Anton Doiron in his rented studio space was, \u201cWhat\u2019s that thing that Stanley Kubrick did with framing? You know, the thing where everything meets in a single point off, you know, off in the distance?\u201d I waved my hands like I was gesturing for someone to wait. Doiron brightened. \u201cOne-point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":31436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-31435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31435"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=31435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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