As part of our efforts to give you a glimpse into our story and characters before they finally make it into the final film, we’re conducting interviews with our cast and crew to get their insight into roles in this film and their careers in general. Now that filming has wrapped, we are into Post-Production and now have time to pester guys like our DP, Andrew Barrera.  One of the most common compliments I have gotten when showing off the trailer was “Wow, that looks like a real movie!”  That partially says what they think of us a producers.  But more so, it is a testament to the work of Andrew and his expertise shooting and lighting Cherry Bomb.  If you have any interest in how we “made it look like a real movie”, check out Andrews’ interview!  Below are the questions we asked him post-shoot and his responses:

1. How did you get into DPin/Camera work?

I don’t have an amazing story about when I was younger and had an epiphany or anything. I just always had an interest in photography. When I got into high school they had a tv program there where you would do the school announcements over the televisions in all the classes, and it all went from there. I received my degree from college in communications from St. Ed’s here in Austin where I dabbled in photography and film from a college level. I then flew out to Orlando for Disney College Program experience where I life-guarded at the parks and partied.

I had the opportunity to shadow a Producer from Extreme Makeover Home Edition when I was there and that is where I officially got started in the industry outside of school. I spent the next year or so working for a reality production company in Orlando where we produced shows like “Hogan Knows Best”, “True Life”, “Tiara Girls” “Fab Life Presents”, and a couple other MTV and VH1 shows. It was one of the best experiences I had. I took the time to learn the ropes, start from the bottom… learn the gear. By the time I left I was running camera and in the production side of it.

2. What camera was used to shoot Cherry Bomb and what factors went into making the decision to go with that camera?

I had little funding to get lighting and grip equipment. Which normally would be the biggest thing you spend and I already have the Panasonic HVX camera which was the first choice to go with. But I wanted to get less of a video look to something this important so I made the suggestion to use my M2 Lens Adapter to achieve shallow depth of field. Which unfortunately and if you know anything about these things, they are very problematic to small budget films. First being you need a lot more lighting equipment to achieve the look… and you need more people.

I had been on a few commercial shoots in recent months where we were filming on this new piece of equipment that achieved so much with little light. That’s where the Canon DSLR cameras came into play. For the cost of a small lighting package you can get a camera that does excellent in low light conditions and minimal lights and still achieve amazing shallow depth of field. Giving you that film look everyone wants.

We did a few tests at first and wasn’t exactly happy with the way things looked so we spent another day to get the proper equipment/ lighting and put a small 2 line script from the movie with Kyle acting, grabbed a friends 7D, and my HVX and shot the exact thing to compare the two. It was no contest… the 7D looked fantastic.

But there are countless drawbacks to that camera. One being that its not a film camera… it’s a still photography camera so the shallow depth of field made it a chore to have proper focusing all the time without an AC to help you. And due to the full CMoss Chip, it creates a sort of “Jelly” look to it when you move the camera around frantically. The camera overheats easily, and it required countless camera parts to get it to work like a real camera. But I decided to invest in it and got a minimal package to get this thing to work. And we used the HVX as a back up / multiple angle shots.

3. How did trying to achieve a 1980’s look affect the way you shot the film?

I didn’t do too much, for the most part because wardrobe and set design usually can get the viewer to believe its in the 80’s if it is done properly. However I based a lot of lighting with “Total Recall” and “The Goonies” Very contrast lighting. And because the 7D camera gives you a crisp and clear image David will be doing a lot of the “look” in post. i.e. adding film grain. I concentrated more on lighting properly with the small tools I had to give David the most amount of usable clean footage for him to play with and go crazy in after effects and color. Camera angles? Well that’s just having fun with a set.

4. Which shots/scenes from the film are you most excited to see in the final film?

That’s a tough one… unlike most people involved in the production, I already saw the whole film and every single shot and angle. I’m excited to see the finished product but if I had to pick just one that I am most proud of…ummm….well…. I can’t really pick just one.

5. Do you have a different approach shooting a music video versus shooting a narrative film?

Actually no… I try to separate myself with most music video directors, I’m not into that whole trippy stuff.. where you can put an abstract shot that doesn’t do anything but be visually appealing and create a 3 min montage of stuff that looks cool without accomplishing anything. Harsh way to put it I know.

I try to create a story, have it make sense, keep the audience engaged in more than just the song. Format it just like a film, with a script, story boards, and actors (depending on the song). People are naturally drawn to stories. The music enhances the“short film” and the “short film” enhances the music. Because of that, people remember it more.

6. You’ve directed a lot of videos for your brother, Granger Smith, and a lot of other artists. Did you ever want to pursue a career in music like your brother?

Not really, I started playing guitar before my brother but lost interest in it pretty quick. I’ve always loved music, don’t know a thing about making it but I love listening to it. So I guess making music videos for the guys is my way of contributing my love of music the best way I can.

7. What are some of your favorite movies and what are some movies you used as inspiration for the look/shots of Cherry Bomb?

Terminator, Total Recall… anything that Arnold is in are the basic movies to go by when creating “Cherry Bomb”. For me my favorite movies are the typical guy ones. “Big Lebowski” “Iron Man” “Nacho Libre” All the bond films, I have a general love for all films so my list can go on, but I love comedy.

Andrew Barrera: Shunning unwanted advances from DJ Morrison

8. DJ Morrison said your picture looked like a European Bikini model. Were you worried about being on set with him following that comment?

Not really. I was more worried about getting the movie done. But I’ll take good compliments when I can get them.

9. You’ve directed music video’s for several artists. Do you hope to move into directing feature films in the future or want to keep to the DP side of things?

I haven’t fully figured out where my career is headed. I do most work as a production manager, camera operator and producer. I will PA/ AC / Grip, any day of the week. I’m not a true DP and will never be nearly as experienced as some of the guys I work with in town… the big guys have 20+ years of experience strictly lighting. I don’t. I’m a camera guy at heart, and am pretty good at it… but I’m pretty good producing too…. Someone else decide for me.

10. What are some of your favorite past projects and some future projects? (Give links so we can properly promote your other works)

I have a few things lined up in the next month or so that I am extremely excited about. Looking to do 3 music videos by the end of the summer, all three are different genres that creatively will grab a lot of attention and I feel are my proudest “music video” work. But in the mean time I am currently in post production for Drew Kennedy’s “Room 27” music video. Should be out next month.

As from that, I can’t pinpoint one particular thing I have done that isn’t as important than the other. I am proud of all my work. Most can be seen on my vimeo page.. Although there is one in particular that was shot last year that I cannot wait for it to come out,. Stay tuned in the fall… And I have just received word that the most recent music video I directed is being packaged to GAC to be in their lineup of artists to be played. So I finally have my first nationally televised video up. Granger Smith “I Almost Am” Music Video.

Local DP for Hire:

Will work for food

Good with kids

Will do stunts if necessary

Enjoys every bit of his job and won’t take anything back.

www.mabarrera.com

956.459.9055

As part of our efforts to give you a glimpse into our story and characters before they finally make it into the final film, we’re conducting interviews with our cast and crew to get their insight into roles in this film and their careers in general. Now that filming has wrapped, we are into Post-Production.  A huge, sometimes under appreciated part of Post-Production is the composition of the score.    There are stories of Halloween going before a test audience and people getting bored and leaving the screening.  Then, the same print was shown later with the distinct synthesizer soundtrack and people were scared to death and Halloween went on to be one of the greatest horror films of all time.  And now that task in Cherry Bomb falls upon the shoulders of Jason Latimer.  And besides all that, he also found time to Executive Produce the film.  Basically when we needed something done, Latimer was there to make sure it got done and the film would not have made it to Post without him.  So, we asked him about all things music and producing.  Good read below.  Below are the questions we asked him post-shoot and his responses:

10 Questions

1. I’ll break this down into some composer questions and some producer questions. Producer question first. This is your first feature to produce. We took on an incredible task in making an action period piece for under $100k In hindsight, what would you have/should we have done different that may help other young producers?

Really the most helpful thing we could have done was to bring more people on to handle the workload. Given our budget and time restraints, we all ended up wearing a lot more hats than we probably would have liked to. There were several times when I would like to have been able to give my input on set, but instead I would find myself taking care of any number of things that would have otherwise fallen through the cracks.

As far as actually producing the thing for under $100k, a big part of it was relying on our instincts and our guerrilla filmmaking experience, and generally things turned out really well. I think a lot of the fun in indie filmmaking comes from the necessity for creative thinking and problem solving when you don’t have the money to do things the easy way.

2. Who do you think this film will appeal to?

The obvious answer is that Cherry Bomb appeals to horny, bloodthirsty teenage boys. But really, we’ve done a lot of work to ensure that it’s not so two-dimensional. Unlike a lot of the 80s movies we tried to emulate, Cherry Bomb strives to create more of a sense of empathy for the characters, instead of just using their mishaps as impetus to move the story.

It’s an action movie, but it’s got some depth to it.  I’m sure I’ll catch hell for this, but I’ve always thought (coming from a writing point of view at least) that the movie has a sort of feminist element to it. Cherry finds herself in a vulnerable situation and ultimately empowers herself to take revenge against the men who have committed one of the worst possible acts against a woman. She faces a lot of obstacles (almost all of them are imposed directly by chauvinistic or misogynistic male characters) and she grows as a person as the movie progresses.

I think Cherry Bomb is going to have a wider appeal than some people think, but you’ll definitely want to leave the kids at home for this one.

3. What has been the most rewarding part of being a producer?

I’ll let you know…

A bad ass pimp and Nick Manning.

…just kidding. It’s been really cool to see some of the things that we’ve been able to make happen with so little time and money. Generally speaking, everyone we approached for help, whether it was using their house as a location, or providing catering, helping us locate props… whatever, most people were very helpful and generally excited about helping our little project come together. The support and enthusiasm from other filmmakers and our online fanbase has been incredible as well. It’s kind of humbling in a way, but also really cool to see so many people excited about what we were doing.

But aside from that, and getting to be around a lot of really cool people all day, it’s not the kind of job where you can expect any kind of immediate gratification. It’s been a great exercise in patience for me, and I think that when the movie comes out, that’s when people will start to recognize all the hard work that went into making it.

4. What actor or actress is most going to surprise us?

If I told you, you wouldn’t be surprised!

All of the actors did a great job, especially given the harsh shooting environment.  Julin was on set almost every single day doing fights, stunts, emotional scenes… and several of those were 14 hour days.

Allen Hackley, who plays the hitman Bull, came onto the project with little experience, but he has an understanding of what really goes into understanding and becoming a character, which is a completely necessary quality that many “professional” actors lack.

I think Nick Manning sort of surprised some of us a bit too. He showed up on his first day completely off book. I’m talking COMPLETELY. Also the guy is a born entertainer and I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone with quite so much energy. He really embraced the part and was a blast to work with.

5. What is your next step in your career as a producer?

Well I guess technically, my next step is to put on my composer hat and produce some music! But as far as producing film, probably a few smaller projects before I tackle another big one like this. Kyle and I are talking with Austin hip hop artist NIKKAGE about shooting another music video soon, and I’m sure we’ll do some more shorts as well. Once it’s time to start conceptualizing our next big project, I think I’d like to work on a comedy with a bit of an action edge to it.

6. As a composer, what sound are you looking to achieve?

Kyle and I always talked about a soundtrack that would fit the feel and period of our movie, but that would also be modern enough to be interesting to today’s viewers. I suppose the sound we’re trying to find is partially influenced by the 80s synth-heavy, drum machine-laden soundtracks of The Terminator or any of the stuff that John Carpenter composed for his films. The other part is influenced by more modern electronic music — mostly industrial stuff like Nine Inch Nails, Massive Attack, Stabbing Westward…

7. How did you get into music and music composition?

I started playing the alto sax at school in the 5th grade. I think there were about 20 of us. It must have sounded awful, but our teacher was cool enough to let us play stuff like the theme from Jurassic Park or whatever, so most of us were actually interested in learning. I kept playing through high school, and had fantastic teachers in school that really taught me a lot about music, and helped me to develop a good ear. I picked up the tenor and baritone saxes, learned guitar, picked up a bass, played around with sousaphone a bit… I always liked learning new things about music and playing new instruments. Once I got to Austin, I was really into learning to record, as well as learning how to make electronic music, so I bought a nice synthesizer and more or less taught myself.

8. When you compose, is it more input coming from the director before you start composing or more so you putting ideas out there and the director guiding you in a new direction?

It’s nice working on this project as composer, because Kyle and I think a lot alike and are pretty much on the same page as far as what we want. Also, I have a film background, so he doesn’t have to be hovering over me, telling me which parts need to convey what, etc. I get it, and I’m sure he appreciates the fact that he won’t have to micro-manage the composition stage.

9. Kind of a producer/composer question. Are you going to be composing any original songs or seeking out local bands to fill out a soundtrack and if so, what sort of sound will you be looking for?

There are certain scenes where I would definitely like to find some local and/or indie artists to really help establish the tone. We haven’t gotten too far into what music we want to get rights for, or have people write for us, but I expect about 90% of the soundtrack to be an original score.

10. The initial assault on Cherry is something that has to be handled delicately and respectfully. We in no way try to glorify what happens to Cherry, but are you worried about any sort of backlash or difficult questions on the subject?

This has been a concern from the very beginning, and while there isn’t one right way to do a rape scene, there are a LOT of wrong ways to do it. We spent a lot of time thinking about the best way to do the scene, and I really don’t expect it to upset too many people, if any (knock on wood).

There’s definitely a chance that some people are going to be offended, or maybe misunderstand what we’re trying to do, but it’s tricky subject matter and I can understand that. It’s really sort of a horrible thing, so you have to be careful how you portray it, especially in comparison to the other violent acts in the movie. You don’t want to linger on it, or be too graphic, but at the same time, you can’t just gloss over it simply as an inciting incident with no other residual effects on the characters and story.

As part of our efforts to give you a glimpse into our story and characters before they finally make it into the final film, we’re conducting interviews with our cast and crew to get their insight into roles in this film and their careers in general.  We’ve had a lot of questions when the film will come out, what’s the plan now that Production is complete and when can I see the film or some footage.  Well, we decided to go back to Director Kyle Day and prod him for more answers, so we have 10 More Questions With Director Kyle Day.  As a refresher, you can go HERE to see our original 10 Questions With Director Kyle Day.  Back when he was a young, wet behind the ears, naive Director.  Below are the questions we asked him post-shoot and his responses:

1. Now that filming is done, what do your days look like?