Taking A Backwards Route Into Filmmaking
By Sara Francis
By Sara Francis
Trying to imitate the feel of Iceland here in Alberta will pose an interesting challenge for a new young Cochrane filmmaker.
Eric Weisner is shooting a music video for the new rock band Walking Backwards based on a song two of the band members wrote after visiting Iceland, an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Cochrane High grads Weisner and Walking Backwards guitarist Darcy Cordell have been friends since attending Cochrane’s Holy Spirit Elementary School together. And while they went in slightly different directions, their paths converged to work on this project.
“It was a perfect time to collaborate,” said Weisner, 21, who graduated from the Vancouver Film School this August.
This will be Weisner’s first big independent project outside of film school.
The song “Lost” is about escapism — something lead band members Cordell and Josh Manerikar did for four months last fall. They traveled through parts of Europe, Africa and Asia with their first stop being Iceland.
“The song mostly just talks about getting away, escaping,” said Manerikar, 21. “It’s more focused on the feel you get from the song — the big emptiness captures Iceland very well. It’s huge, but it’s not because you are seeing so much, it’s the lack of what you are seeing that impacts you so much.”
Weisner plans to capture the calm, serene feeling the musicians experienced by focusing on nature such as a stream trickling by or the grass blowing in the wind.
“I have a feeling it will seem like it’s taking place in Alberta, but it’s more the feeling and intrinsic part of Iceland we want to communicate with people.
“Iceland is a barren place so we won’t be shooting in big cities or in big forests. We’ll be shooting the rolling sky and to get the vast infinite expanding feeling of Iceland as opposed to the actual physical characteristics of Iceland,” said Weisner.
While Weisner has never been to Iceland himself, he is confident he’ll be able to capture the mood based on the pictures and stories the two musicians shared with him.
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“It’s a very isolated country and it has so much open space you can sort of feel lost even though you are in such a small place,” said Weisner.
The budget for the project is next to nothing. Weisner plans to get video equipment and props donated based on his connections.
“When you get out of film school you have to rely on who you know and what you can do with what you have available,” said Weisner. “You have to work with whatever you have available around you as opposed to starting with a vision and making that vision happen.”
This week the band will meet for pre-production to confirm actors, hammer out shots and select locations around the Cochrane area and south of Bragg Creek.
The shoot should take no more than five days and then Weisner will take the film with him to Vancouver to edit. Everything should be finished and put up on video sharing sites such as UTube and Vimeo in a month.
Weisner plans to enter the music video in film festivals and TV stations such as Much Music and MTV.
“We can push the Canadian content side of things and try to get it aired,” said Weisner.
While Weisner plans to pursue his film career in Vancouver he hopes to visit Cochrane often and do some more projects out this way.
“It’s got a beautiful landscape and people I know who can donate equipment,” he said.
Eric Weisner is shooting a music video for the new rock band Walking Backwards based on a song two of the band members wrote after visiting Iceland, an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Cochrane High grads Weisner and Walking Backwards guitarist Darcy Cordell have been friends since attending Cochrane’s Holy Spirit Elementary School together. And while they went in slightly different directions, their paths converged to work on this project.
“It was a perfect time to collaborate,” said Weisner, 21, who graduated from the Vancouver Film School this August.
This will be Weisner’s first big independent project outside of film school.
The song “Lost” is about escapism — something lead band members Cordell and Josh Manerikar did for four months last fall. They traveled through parts of Europe, Africa and Asia with their first stop being Iceland.
“The song mostly just talks about getting away, escaping,” said Manerikar, 21. “It’s more focused on the feel you get from the song — the big emptiness captures Iceland very well. It’s huge, but it’s not because you are seeing so much, it’s the lack of what you are seeing that impacts you so much.”
Weisner plans to capture the calm, serene feeling the musicians experienced by focusing on nature such as a stream trickling by or the grass blowing in the wind.
“I have a feeling it will seem like it’s taking place in Alberta, but it’s more the feeling and intrinsic part of Iceland we want to communicate with people.
“Iceland is a barren place so we won’t be shooting in big cities or in big forests. We’ll be shooting the rolling sky and to get the vast infinite expanding feeling of Iceland as opposed to the actual physical characteristics of Iceland,” said Weisner.
While Weisner has never been to Iceland himself, he is confident he’ll be able to capture the mood based on the pictures and stories the two musicians shared with him.
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“It’s a very isolated country and it has so much open space you can sort of feel lost even though you are in such a small place,” said Weisner.
The budget for the project is next to nothing. Weisner plans to get video equipment and props donated based on his connections.
“When you get out of film school you have to rely on who you know and what you can do with what you have available,” said Weisner. “You have to work with whatever you have available around you as opposed to starting with a vision and making that vision happen.”
This week the band will meet for pre-production to confirm actors, hammer out shots and select locations around the Cochrane area and south of Bragg Creek.
The shoot should take no more than five days and then Weisner will take the film with him to Vancouver to edit. Everything should be finished and put up on video sharing sites such as UTube and Vimeo in a month.
Weisner plans to enter the music video in film festivals and TV stations such as Much Music and MTV.
“We can push the Canadian content side of things and try to get it aired,” said Weisner.
While Weisner plans to pursue his film career in Vancouver he hopes to visit Cochrane often and do some more projects out this way.
“It’s got a beautiful landscape and people I know who can donate equipment,” he said.
NICE!
ReplyDeletei can't wait until this video is done and i can see it! Thats awesome you guys are working together on this
ReplyDelete