07 July 2014

Ocean Advance Screening a Success

Last Wednesday, before the holiday weekend, a couple dozen cast-and-crew type folks gathered in the courtyard of the Ocean loft to watch an advance screening of the documentary. Very meta...I know! The loft, you may recall, is the one residency among the complex of micro-restaurants and food suppliers.

SPOILER ALERT: There's some question through the first two acts of the documentary, as to who's going to live in the loft once it's completed. Kevin suggests that he'd like to live in the loft, "...but it depends on my wife and kids."

In the third act, we learn that Kevin and his family have indeed moved into the loft. The day we visited the Cavenaugh family there, they had only been in the loft for a month. This was the day after Pie Spot's opening: Groundhog Day! We were hopeful of completing principal photography, all the talking heads and primary location b-roll, on this day. It certainly felt like we'd been returning to the location more times than anyone expected. Not unlike the Bill Murray movie that commemorates the day!

I made a snap decision that day to have Jack (Kevin's son) give us the tour of the loft. Kevin's mug graced the camera for most of the first two-thirds of the film, and I thought a new character might provide a bit of relief. Likewise, Kevin's wife Beth provides a large portion of the interview bites in the final act of the film, and adds a different perspective to the telling of the family move.

Now, I don't want to give away everything, but I will say that at that time of that the family anticipated being in the loft for only three months. They stayed quite a bit longer and...well, to tell you any more of this story...I'm sorry, it just gives too much away. I do want you to attend the TBD theatre screening later this summer and watch the broadcast premiere on OPB's Oregon Lens later the last week of August.

More details on those developments to follow in a future post.

Okay...I realize what just happened there was not cool. I said "Spoiler Alert" and then didn't give full disclosure about the screening event for the wrap up of the movie. So here's a little behind-the-scenes bonus look at some pre-visualization of an animation we decided to scrap before the final film. I think you'll see why. Be sure to take your Dramamine first!