Past Filmmakers

David Brigham & David Wilmington
The Wing Nut and You

1) How did you come up with the idea for the film?
DB: David Wilmington and I had been bouncing around ideas for short films for a while.  We just came up with the idea of making a short inspired by old 16mm educational films and thought that the wing nut sounded funny.

DW: There were a few inspirations: the film strips on the TV Show The Simpsons shown at Lisa Simpson's school (starring Troy McClure), the Mystery Science Theater treatment of some 1950's era educational films, and the look and tone of the "News on the March" segments of Citizen Kane.  Doing an educational film satire was one of the dozens of ideas David Brigham and I had been batting around for years.

When we decided to do a film, we knew that this idea was the best candidate for our plan to do something very small and controlled but to make it as richly layered as possible. We eventually settled on the wing nut as the subject for two reasons: 1) "wing nut" sounds funny and 2) the relative size and importance of the wing nut is a perfect contrast to the hyper-inflated tone we planned to take in the film. And we thought it was funny.

I'm very pleased that I found an excuse to mention Citizen Kane in this interview.

2) How long did the production process take?
DB: We decided to make it in September 2003 and we had a completed copy by the end of January 2004.

DW: Brigham and I sat down at Francesca's in Durham in 2003 and decided we would make the Wing Nut film. We nailed down the story and most of the segments within the week. I finished the screenplay in a few drafts by about a month later. Brigham began editing immediately. I recorded the narration in mid-January and, after sound and music editing by Brigham and an important producers' meeting at the end of January, we had the film in its current form by January's end. From the decision to make the film until the DVD burning, it took roughly 4 months.

3) What challenges did you experience in the creation of the film?
DB: Arranging to get all the equipment, actors and locations together.  The world war trench scenes were difficult since we couldn't find a suitable location; we actually had to construct a trench out of burlap, sawhorses, and pickup trucks. 

DW:

• Writing in "official screenplay" format for such an unconventional style;
• Planning for all the stuff we *might* need;
• Deciding on the particular words and narration performance to evoke the style and tone we wanted;
• Above all, comedy is hard; so, the biggest challenge was trying to pin down the TONE and TIMING of the film once we had all the elements: music, narration, filmed footage, sound effects, graphics, etc.;
• There was a spot of trouble with a security guard at one of the locations. We still need to send that guy a DVD and a sarcastic thank-you note.

4) What is your favorite memory from creating the film?
DB: Watching Matt Long's and David Wilmington's reaction when they saw the final cut for the first time. 

DW: One of these three:

1) The moment at Francesca's when Brigham and I started the whole process by working backward! We said, "Let's make a film as soon as possible and make it look as good as we can with all the resources and contacts at our disposal." Then we set a shoot date and worked backward from that day. What would we need to have done/decided/collected 1 week before the shoot? 2 weeks before the shoot? 3 weeks? Etc. Then we started telling people, "We're shooting a movie on ____________. Want to help out?" And then I started writing it. I'm not sure if I recommend this method to others, but it worked well for us.

2) Seeing Brigham and Matt Long's reaction as we filmed the first scenes with Austin Neeley ("Little Billy"). I had told them about his look and expressions, but I wasn't sure they'd agree he was right until they actually saw him in action.

3) Watching the "WWI/WWII Soldier in a trench" scene come together. Matt and I had absolutely no idea how Brigham would make the scene work even after he'd explained it. When we got everything in place and looked through the camera, everything clicked and we knew it would look great.

5) When people have finished watching the film, what do you hope they'll take away from the experience?
DB: I hope they're entertained by the movie and will want to see it again.

DW: First, that people will laugh and want to see it again! We packed so much stuff into this that you really need a few careful viewings to take it all in.

Second, I hope that they appreciate and enjoy the richness of all the visuals. Brigham was able to get incredible production values out of our non-existent budget. He is a gifted graphics creator and editor and should be in demand as a professional.

Third, I hope that people "get it"—that they understand the satire, recognize the ways we imitated the pacing and tone of the older style in order to satirize it, and that they might pick up on some of the more "subversive" ingredients of the narration.

6) What type of reaction has your film received from viewers?
DB: I'd say the reactions are good.  We have a had a few people simply not get it and ask why would someone even make a movie about wing nuts.  I have had several people ask me how the wingnut was really invented. 

DW: It's been all over the map.  I've shown the film to audiences as varied as 6th-8th graders, fellow teachers, old engineering co-workers, parents of kids I coach, my family, etc. All three producers were able to observe the audience at the WARP Film Festival, too.

People who've never seen old filmstrips are rather confused and think it's weird (especially kids). Some people notice only the visuals and therefore miss all of the verbal humor. Most people appreciate all of the great visuals and catch some of the other jokes, so most people like it. The only surprising reaction is from a few people who thought the film needed a much faster pace and more rapid delivery of jokes to make it more modern. Since this would completely destroy an important element of satire, these people annoy me greatly.

7) What advice would you give to aspiring young filmmakers?
DB: Go out and shoot something.  Don't just sit and talk about what you would do if you made a movie.  Don't worry about perfection; Just make it as good as you can and make the next one better than the last.

DW: Keep track of everyone you know who knows some technical aspect of filmmaking. Keep track of everyone you know who has even the smallest piece of film equipment and will either let you borrow it or will help work on the film. Start out with something small and make everything about it as good as you can—writing, look, camera work, editing, sound, etc. See what other independent filmmakers are doing and then do something different. Tell a story visually.

8) Please tell us about the next film you plan to work on.
DB: The Surface is a Sci-fi, Film Noir about one man's quest to understand the world he's in.

DW:We are already in production on our next film, a short feature called The Surface. It is a modern noir-ish murder mystery with some surreal twists. We also touch a bit on a few different interpretations of the "Generation X" phenomenon.

It's the same production team (Brigham, Long, Wilmington) as on Wing Nut. All three of us collaborated on the story—with Matt Long and I writing the screenplay this time.

I am acting in this film, too, so it's been harder work for me than on Wing Nut; but based on the rough edits of the footage we've shot already, the finished product will be something for all of us to be very proud of.

9) What are your thoughts on the film industry in NC?
DW: Based on the huge number of festivals, small and large, independent film seems to be thriving. From what I've seen in this part of North Carolina, the film program at Piedmont Community College (in Yanceyville) is supplying the state with a good number of people trained in the technical aspects of filmmaking. It seems that anyone who wants to make a film should be able to find people willing and able to help out.