Casting Shadows

Cast Shadows
Written by Aaron Rodriguez
Directed by Phillip Schwartz
Produced by David Marchetti and Dan Ventresca

Still awaiting a copy of the film.

The Plot: A playwrite suffering from writer's block and childhood memories of his father's disappointment in him reaches a crises in his life. He has alienated himself from his close friend/play producer, as he has aliented himself from all the women in his life. He drinks too much. He spirals down -- deep and fast.

At this point, his memories, nightmares and fears cloud his perceptions, and the audience's. Are the scenes his real experiences or his fantasies. The characters from his plays merge with people from his past. Is a car accident and gunshots actual events or wakeup calls?

These are many of the characters that inhabit our protagonist's (Jason Wilburn) fevered mind. Here's Tip 1: when being walked from the actors' coral to the set, stay at the front of the group. You then have your pick of positions, unless the director or assistant director changes it later. As you see, I'm in a prominent position for this scene. I'm the waving maid. And is the mother of the woman in the white hat disappointed? You bet ya'.

This is a Fellini-esque moment in which haunting memories come back to say hello-goodbye to our hero. We're waving at Joe fondly, forgiving him his faults or maybe mocking him.

The scrpit had an intentional gaping hole in it. Writer Aaron Rodriguez and director Phillip Schwartz wanted many of the actors in the bar scene to write their own parts. Women who were dumped by Joe, bar flies who represented his baser side, and me. I'm the bar maid and named myself Mona. Originally, I was supposed to be a beatnik wearing black turtleneck and beret for this 50's era movie. But Flore Laporta Morton, wardrobe designer, found me a cute little maid's uniform and my cool, hip, philosophical barmaid became "Hazel," from the comic stripe and TV show starring Shirley Booth in the 50's. Sure, that brought me down; I didn't look half as good. Then Flore ripped my black hose and transfromed me into Magenta from "Rocky Horror Picture Show." That cheered me up some. But I knew the camera would never get wide enough to show them.

And after I wrote my lines, got them culled and approved, and developed my character, I was thrown a curve just as the camera was about to roll. "Bonnie, do it drunk!" commanded Phil. And so I did, punctuating the prose with the sloshing of my martini glass.

DP Alex Martin captures my drunken ravings

With Cottontail the bartender (Skip Emerson)
and Joe (Jason Wilburn), offering sage advice.

Want to talk about makeup? Tip 2: come with the face you want. Then they can only improve it unless it is absolutely necessry to make you ugly. I came with a naked face to a rehearsal so the makeup artist could test makeup, and have it approved by Phil. Okay, my heart broke. I don't think Mona needed to be pale and drab and, well, ugly. So, I was in a quandry. I lost sleep that night. What to do. What to do. Do I ask her to redo my face? Do I complain to the director? Do I grab her makeup and do it myself. I followed Tip 2. I came to the set in my own makeup and stayed out of Julia's way. When she did finally notice me, I told her since I'm just a minor character in one scene, she didn't have to bother with me. I did her a favor. She didn't mind at all, or didn't show it. Minor, indeed. Actually, pivotal, or at least really interesting. I am the voice of sarcastic reason, the deux machina, the omnicient observer.

As it turned out, I still haven't gotten a copy of the film and the only recordation of my part in this film is this webpage. And I'm wearing nice makeup for the photos in it,even if it's not right for film.