Being Bergman

Perhaps it is good that Ingmar Bergman is already dead given my recent foray into moviemaking. Sure I made a few movies on my Super 8 camera when I was kid, but this undertaking was going to be a bit more ambitious.

“The filming of trailers for Saving Erasmus”


We gathered our eclectic crew last Thursday with the vision of creating cinematic history. Eric (the filmmaker), Brita, Wendy, Kris, John and of course, the author. Gathering this group was “like herding cats” which is an oft used phrase for mobilizing Quakers.

We congregated in Rosendale, NY which is small town south of Kingston. Eric had selected it for our location because it was a small town like Erasmus, there would be good opportunities for filming, and he had his acting class there Tuesday nights-great decisions are often made for other reasons.

Our first scenes were made at a small local park. I played the Angel of Death initially. My reasons were practical. I hate being photographed and this allowed me anonymity. Eventually I relinquished the role in order to keep all of the actors busy.

Now and then there would be grumblings for food, but I held them to completing scenes. Some of the actors were asking for the caterers ….but of course our budget was slim and potato chips and various food items had to make due.

Scenes were made of the Angel of Death in a park seeking Erasmus, someone with an “End is Near” sign scaring the Angel and someone confusing the Angel for a member of a rock band. Much of the time a small child and her parents played nearby. Oddly I noticed with this shoot (and our previous adventure in Union Square) that small children are not only not scared but they are quite fascinated by the Angel of Death. At one reading a small child made her parents come into the bookstore I was in, in order to see the Angel of Death.

We stopped for lunch. Pizza. Not much to explain there. You’ve seen pizza.

Our last goal was to film Laundromat scenes. I was a bit nervous. Getting a Laundromat owner to allow us to film was going to be hard enough but our scenes required allowed people in the machines.

Rosendale had a Laundromat in pretty vacant shopping center. The two guys managing sported shaved heads, and after a bit of talking, agreed to let us in once business died down. We had a short window of time…and business was …well…sort of busy.

I made a decision to shoot to New Paltz to check the possibilities. It seemed a long shot at best but so were the 1969 Mets. New Paltz offered us a Laundromat (once again near a post office and next to a liquor store-do people drink cocktails and write letters while they wash clothes? Just a question).

Anyway, my choice of actors turned out to be quite advantageous. Kris is a makeup artist and as it happened so was the woman at the counter. A short chat in make up artist language, a call to the manager and we were allowed to shoot what we needed. As luck would have it the large dryers in the back looked like washers and two of the large dryers on the bottom had signs that said “Out of Order”. Perhaps my book is prophetic. Filming progressed and those present in the Laundromat appeared mostly oblivious to the Angel of Death walking around. I have seen scarier sights in Laundromats. In my laundry basket.

Filming was finished ….many minutes of film that need to be whittled down to just a few. That work is happening this weekend. So, soon, you will see some short movie trailers that advertise Saving Erasmus. Hopefully they’re done in time to enter in the DIY Book contest (thanks Bob K.)

I can’t tell exactly what we filmed but suffice it to say that it is of the same ilk that you experienced when reading Saving Erasmus………….you did read it..right?

Blessings,

Steve
















*(One must reference Bergman in this situation as his Angel of Death figures in the beginning scene of Saving Erasmus).