all concept art for Grinder by Brandon Ruckdashel part of "Club Nights" series
Beginnings of Grinder
Back in the spring of 2014 I decided it was time to make my first feature film. I'd been acting for over a decade and experienced everything from stage to screen as a performer, but had not made the jump to directing yet. About two years previous in 2012 I had been the cinematographer and editor of a horror film called Gravedigger and this gave me the confidence to know I could finish a film.
What is a Director?
Being a director means you must understand the process of making a film from beginning to end. You must be a Swiss Army knife on set. There are many directors who leave school without technical knowledge or skills. I believe these people to be lost in the wilderness when they enter the real world. I have seen many who do not know how to turn a camera on, record sound, or even edit. They spend most of their careers at the mercy of others who have these skills.
Through working with Fred Olen Ray, Jim Wynorski, and Rick Bitzelberger I had learned the many lessons needed to run an efficient and economical set. All of the projects I had done with these directors were low budget. We had shot at an astounding average of 16 pages a day. A regular high budget film set is lucky to shoot 1 page of dialogue in a day.
I loved spending my days on these director's sets. I could talk to people in all the different departments. I shared secrets with my boom operators (they hear more than anyone else on set), I would sit on the dolly (when they would allow), and join the director in video village to watch the different takes. VIDEO VILLAGE is the term applied to the part of set where the video monitors and chairs are setup for the heads of all the departments.
The Key is in the Marketing
Every time I am involved in the concept stages of a film I ask "Who is the target market?"
Most writers respond with confusion. "Why does that matter?"
"I want to know who you think will buy tickets to see the film."
This conversation is quite literally the deal killer when I am looking at projects to be a part of.
When you are making low budget indie films there is never enough budget to afford A or B list talent to drive ticket sales. A films script must be targeted at an audience. For GRINDER this primary audience was going to be LGBT and more specifically Gay. We also decided to forgo drag queens and other theatrical devices which normally make their way into films of this genre. I knew the subject matter was going to be dark and I didn't want a musical number or drag performance pulling away from the tone of the story.
The gay audience is one of the only audiences left which is supportive of and pays to see independent films. The other niche groups are christian, latino, and urban/black. There is also a dedicated LGBT film festival circuit (more on that in a later part).
I started the marketing part of my development phase with concept art I shot of male strippers in a club in downtown Manhattan. I also came up with a title...
You shall be called GRINDER
For me a title must say it all. The target audience must know immediately it is for them and it must pique the interest of others. I was very intrigued by a famous cover of Penthouse Hustler with a woman's legs coming out of a meat grinder. There was also particular app which was new to the gay community, which I knew would be a signal for the type of content in the film. Knowing we could deal with trademark infringement if I were to steal their spelling of the app I went with the corrected spelling.
I had a title and I had a concept for the artwork. Now I needed a poster and a font. I chose Antipasto because I believe it looks like neon lights. This would subconsciously give the title the feeling of a sign in the red light district.
yes this poster does change quite a bit in the next version
In Part 2 we'll talk about attaching the first cast members and the beginning of the writing process.
Wait? You had actors before you had a script? Yup, sure did!
If you liked this post check out some of my others! To read more about Grinder and to follow our progress you can check us out on Facebook, the Official Website or our Trailer:
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