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Foley Track
Jack Foley Under the Lens
At a Glance:
Occupation: Producer/Director
REVELATIONS Title: Director of Photography
RTOF: Are you a big Star Wars fan?
JACK: Most definitely. When the first film came out in 1977, I was working
in a store in a mall, right across the hall from the movie theater where
it was playing. There were no costumes or props available then, so we
made our own. My entire store crew dressed up as Darth Vader, Luke
Skywalker, Princess Leia -- I grew a beard specifically to be Obi Wan. We
even made two light sabers out of plumbing and fishing stuff and Lexan
rods, and lit them with disassembled flashlight parts. I prowled
hardware stores and plumbing stores and outdoor shops for weeks to find
the pieces I needed. They cost $12 each to make, and someone offered me
$100 for mine! Yeah, you might say I'm a pretty big fan.
RTOF: How long have you worked in the industry?
JACK: I have been in the video business for 23 years. Before that I was a
professional still photographer for nearly 10 years. I used to tell
people that the only reason I was shooting stills was because I was a
frustrated filmmaker and couldn't afford 16mm or 35mm. You've got to
remember that this was back in the seventies, long before the advent of
readily available video equipment. When the first video recorders came
out -- I think it was around 1979 -- I pounced on them. They cost $1,000
back then, but I didn't care. Two years later, I bought my first video
camera - a big clumsy two-piece thing that took about 20 minutes to
set up. I started shooting little artsy pieces and a few weddings. Then I
took some classes in professional production at the local college, got
a job shooting for a production house, and I've been at it ever since.
RTOF: How did you hear about REVELATIONS?
JACK: Well, in my job here at Arundel Mills TV, I do a lot of commercials.
Because of that, I use actors all the time. On one occasion I happened
to think Shane was a good choice for a spot I was creating for a jewelry store.
He came out, we shot, we talked, and he discovered I was a
fan of Star Wars - really, of science fiction and fantasy in general. I
don't know how it came out, but it could have been that the dozen or so
lobby-sized movie posters on the wall gave him a clue. Anyway, a few
weeks later, he called me up and asked if I would help out with the film.
I said sure, what would he like me to do? When he said Director of
Photography, I was a little taken aback. I'd never done anything quite
that ambitious before, but eventually I agreed. I don't think any of
us had any idea at that point just how ambitious it really was.
RTOF: What was it about REVELATIONS that appealed to you?
JACK: I agreed to do the film before reading the script, before meeting the
actors, before we really story-boarded the scenes, before we really
grasped the scope of what Shane and Dawn had in mind. As soon as I
found out we would be shooting in a muddy rock quarry at 6 AM, and
underground after midnight, I was sold!
Seriously, it sounded like fun. Secondly, it sounded like a challenge,
and I'm always up for that! Thirdly, the chance to work on a Star
Wars-type project has to be appealing to anyone who's a fan. I think
the large number of locations involved, the challenges associated with the
lighting and camera work, and the experience of shooting a lot of green
screen studio stuff, you know, footage that CG guys were going to work
with later, all of that was definitely very cool.
RTOF: Learn anything new?
JACK: I have learned a lot about shooting dramatic scenes: covers, angles,
all that. It is so important to have a clear idea of the finished scene
before you start. Storyboarding is critical to coming home from the
shoot with everything you need. And of course, you don't realize what
you're missing until you start editing. In our case, that was too
late. Most of the time, we could not go back to the location for pick-ups.
While I have always been a big proponent of pre-production planning, it
quickly became obvious that in filmmaking, it is even more important.
I also think it is extremely important that the Director and the D.P. be
a synergistic team, a well-oiled machine. They can't do each other's job,
and when they try, they gum up the works. Shane and I worked very well
together on the set, and even better in the edit suite. I really think
that kind of joint effort will show in the finished product.
RTOF: What's been the most exciting part?
JACK: The sheer number of professionals who
showed up on the set to help. At our very first location shoot, we had a
30-foot remotely operated crane -- with operator! At another location,
there was a group of at least 10 professional grips, gaffers, lighting
techs, and others who worked in the industry, who knew the gear, and
who understood the challenges we would face. And we always had high
caliber audio help, guys who brought their own gear. These were folks who
usually get paid well to do what they were doing for us for free! It was
awesome to have that kind of help. You really begin to appreciate what
a collaborative effort making a film can be. I am used to doing everything
by myself, but it was really exciting to have a team, people who knew their
business, making it all happen. I can't wait to do it again!
RTOF: What was the worst?
JACK: Without question, the worst part was the lack of time. At every
location, we had one day, or one night, to do everything. And the
scenes we were shooting called for a lot of different setups, multiple camera
angles, etc. At one location, we had 6 hours to shoot 32 set-ups! And
that time slot included all the prep -- wardrobe, make-up, lighting
setups, camera setups, some of which involved a jib or a dolly. We
ended up having to cut a few shots, but we got through 27 of the 32 we
had planned. Looking back, I wish we could have had time for more
covers, or more takes, on some of the shots. In a few cases, we
resolved some of the challenges by using multiple cameras, but time was always
an issue.
RTOF: If there was something you could change, what would it be?
JACK: I guess it would be what I just alluded to -- more time. Two days at a
location instead of one. Another thing I would do differently is to
insist on storyboarding every scene completely. Because of the fact
that we all have regular jobs, there wasn't always time to storyboard each
scene in detail. Every time we did, we did better. When we tried to
wing it, we ran into problems. When time is as much of a factor as it
was for us, knowing exactly what you want to see on the screen in the
finished scene makes all the difference in how smoothly the shoot will
go.
RTOF: What bit of advice could you offer someone looking to do this type
of work?
JACK: Get help. Good help. Recruit people who know their jobs and let them
do them. You cannot imagine how important it was for me to know that the
lights would be positioned properly, flagged and gelled and ready to
go, and that the audio was being attended to by a pro, that the actors
would know their lines, and the makeup applied correctly for film. As D.P.
it was my job to get the scene on tape in a creative and interesting way.
Doing that meant selecting camera angles, lens settings, positioning a
dolly or a jib; selecting an aperture that gave me the depth of field I
wanted; fine-tuning the lighting -- a lot of stuff to think about. Not
having to worry about any of those other things made it possible for me
to really focus on MY job, and know the rest was taken care of.
RTOF: What was your favorite shoot?
JACK: Well, all of them were really cool in some way. If I had to choose one,
I would say the Ambassadorial Reception. That was the one where we had
32 setups to do. We went into it with the best preparation, we had the
biggest and most experienced crew, the biggest cast, the most equipment --
some 30 lighting instruments, for example, and an absolutely fabulous
location. We used virtually every camera platform known that night --
tripod, jib, dolly, hand-held, everything except stedicam (which we used
at two other locations). We sailed through most of the early setups
because we were so well prepared. As the night wore on, the shots became
more complex, and took a little more time, but we got virtually
everything we wanted. We were asked to be finished by midnight, and we
wrapped the last shot at 11:50 PM. It was a truly awesome night.
RTOF: Since you do this for a living, why would you do this in your spare
time AND not get paid?
JACK: Many years ago, I had a dream to make a series of dramatized
documentaries on the Civil War. The project involved using anywhere
from three to nine camera crews, in a series of middle-of-nowhere locations,
shooting for 12-14 hours a day, wearing wool clothing in the middle of the
summer, and the project took five years to complete. Obviously, when I
started, I had no money to pay anyone, and had to rely on volunteer cameramen,
tape operators, etc. Somehow, I managed to find them, and, after two years,
I was finally able to pay them a fair wage for their time and effort. Even
then, they gave me more than I asked for. My project, and the business it
spawned, was a huge success. When Shane came to me, I immediately
thought of myself back then, and how much those volunteers had meant to my
success. It seemed like a nice thing to be able to return the favor to
someone else who had a dream -- and no money. I knew that whatever
money there was would go for the things you have no choice but to pay for,
and I was happy to provide my experience and my equipment as a
contribution.
Besides, it was a blast!
RTOF: It seems you really appreciate volunteers. What's it like working with a bunch of people who don't do this stuff for a living?
JACK: Well, you know, that's a funny question, because I often felt like I was
working with people who do do this kind of thing for a living. As I
mentioned, my crew was usually made up of pros and semi-pros who gave
me the same quality of work they would have given Spielberg or Lucas or
anyone else. The principal actors were very, very good! They gave
excellent performances over and over again. I think that all that
professionalism on the set actually raised the bar for everyone else,
and they rose to the occasion in most cases. Obviously, there is the
issue of experience, and for some, the stress of long, late night shoots was
new. Not everybody responded ideally to the strain. But there are
frayed tempers and personality conflicts on every set, in every film,
no matter how experienced, how professional, or how famous you are.
So working with this group was not much different from the normal routine.
RTOF: What's your biggest contribution to the project?
JACK: I brought a lot of equipment, I know that! No, really, I don't think
that's for me to say. I hope I brought a sense of vision to the photography,
a sense of professionalism with regard to camera position, camera
movement, and to the lighting. I often see real life in terms of a camera move,
or a lighting opportunity, and I believe that my sense of vision has
complimented Shane's vision. He had a pretty clear idea of what he
wanted to see, but not necessarily how to translate that to film.
Learning to see the world through a viewfinder or on a monitor screen
is not the way most people go through life. For me, it's second nature,
And maybe that will make a difference in the final product. I hope so.
RTOF: What do your wife, friends, coworkers think about this?
JACK: Most of them think it's pretty cool, although they weren't aware of the
"fan film" phenomena. My wife is really supportive, although she wonders
and often asks, "Why are they doing this? What do they hope to get out
of it?" She went through the whole building of my other business with
me, and fully appreciates the challenges associated with using volunteers
to accomplish an ambitious goal. Most of my friends are really anxious
to see the finished product, even if they are only what I call "casual
fans." I think they are going to be very, very pleasantly surprised.
RTOF: Knowing what you do now, would you do this again?
JACK: In a heartbeat! Can I get a trailer next time, though?
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