Independent initiative - Corvallis man makes full-length movie on bare-bones budget
By GEORGIA KAY Staff Reporter
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Local filmmaker John Nilles recently finished his first feature-length film, "Little," using a 1950s Bell and Howell 16mm camera. JEREMY LURGIO - Ravalli Republic
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An eight-year-old John Nilles watched enthralled during the filming of "Disorganized Crime," a move made in the Bitterroot Valley in the late 1980s.
"I was always fascinated by movies and watching that just added to the mystery, the magic of making films," Nilles said.
So he set about to make his own movie with a budget of $3,500 and a 1955 Bell and Howell 16 mm camera.
Acquired by local photographer, Harry June, the camera is a wind-up with a turret lens that rotates around for close, medium and long shots and holds about two minutes and 45 seconds of film. Nilles mowed the lawn at June Photo eight times to pay for the camera.
Pre-production began with casting, scouting locations, writing the script, getting resources together, planning the movie, doing story boards and ordering film.
Kodak helps out independent film makers and even gave Nilles a little of the film he ordered for free, he said.
"But when talking to the reps (at Kodak) when I told them I was going to shoot a full-length feature film with that budget they just laughed," Nilles said. "They thought it was ridiculous."
But in October 2001, camera in hand, Nilles began shooting a film that would be called "Little."
Heavily influenced by Robert Rodriquez who made "El Marichi" for $7,000 in the early 1990s, Nilles said he admired the movie and read the book Rodriquez wrote about the making of that film.
"I tried to make as good a movie at half the price."
"In the book he (Rodriquez) said the only thing his movie was missing was a car explosion," Nilles said. "So I blew up my own car for 'Little.'"
It was the first car he had ever owned and the transmission was failing.
"I had owned the car for four years and my mom had wanted it out of the driveway for three of those years," Nilles laughed. "So I blew it up."
Shooting was scheduled to take three weeks but took three months and during that time Nilles lived with his mother.
"Making the movie was like a full-time job," Nilles said. "I couldn't have made the movie without the support of my mom, she deserves a lot of credit."
While Nilles spent a year at Montana State University studying film, he felt he wanted to make films and learn from the process.
"I learned more from the past 15 to 16 months than if I had gone to school for three more years," Nilles said.
One lesson learned during the shooting of "Little" happened six weeks into filming. In one particular scene the action called for a man to run down the street holding what was a fake gun while other cast members also had fake guns.
"If you looked at them closely you could tell they were fake but while shooting the scene a neighbor called the police," Nilles said.
Nilles was cited for disorderly conduct by the Hamilton Police Department a charge that was later dismissed by Judge Patricia Sanders.
"After I shot again in town I talked to Police Chief Alan Auch and he was very cooperative," Nilles said. "He asked that I let him know (the shooting times) and I had no problems after that."
The shooting of "Little" finished at the end of December 2001 and Nilles worked on the rough cut for a few months then got a job for a few months to purchase the equipment needed to finish the film.
Shot in 16 mm, the film was sent to a lab for development and to be put on video and then returned to Nilles who edited it on a computer. The music and dialogue were all added later because the camera is non synchronized.
It's a camera that can't be connected to sound equipment making synchronizing the sound and the film difficult, Nilles explained.
"It's one of the reasons there is little dialogue," Nilles said.
Actors and musicians involved in the movie all came from the Bitterroot and Missoula areas and the majority of the filming took place in Ravalli County from Lost Trail Pass north with the exception of a scene shot 20 miles west of Missoula on the interstate.
All of the actors and musicians in the film were volunteers and of the $3,500 budget about $2,600 went for film and lab fees. The rest went for equipment and miscellaneous production costs.
When asked about the title of the film Nilles said that it is about a little guy, his status and how the little guy poses a big threat.
"It's a little film by a little guy about a little guy," Nilles said.
"Little" is currently under submission to the Sundance Film Festival and Nilles has plans to submit the movie to other festivals.
"I'm looking for a sponsor to make a film print," Nilles said. "I'm also planning on scheduling a public showing of 'Little' sometime in December probably in the Missoula area."
Reporter Georgia Kay can be reached at 363-3300 or gkay@ravallirepublic.com.
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