Production NOTES

When independent filmmaker Clarke M. Smith met actor Ron Rogell in, of all places, a temp assignment in Stamford, CT, they discovered they had similar interests in filmmaking and science fiction. Clarke had written a treatment, which at the time was called "Dimensions", and he showed it to Ron. Ron, subsequently got excited to work in a Smith film after viewing a short he had just recently completed, called "Distant Echoes", which was screened at the New York Independent International Film and Video Festival in May 2000.

At the time, Clarke was not entirely ready to take on a new project, having just finished "Distant Echoes," but Ron liked the treatment so much, he encouraged Clarke to finish writing it as a feature length screenplay.

Within a few weeks, Clarke hammered out the first draft, and the title changed to "The Ethereal Plane," a title thought up by Clarke's wife (and eventual co-producer of the film) Leilani L. Smith.

Shooting lasted for 15 months, beginning in August 2000, ending November 2001. Ironically, the film’s storyline takes place in one day, specifically a 6-hour period. One of the challenges of the film was to maintain hair lengths, clothing, goatees, etc. Ron had to put on the ‘bloody shirt’ several times throughout the year, and of course, it could not be washed. Also, much of the film takes place in a grungy alley, and during the course of shooting, things changed.

All of the actors and crew in the film had ‘day jobs’ to attend to, and could only shoot one day a week, (which was usually Sunday). It became a scheduling nightmare, because several shoots required all or many of the actors to be present. Getting a group of volunteers together a few times is one thing, but the shoot required this to happen many times. And many times, all actors were not available.

“Filmmakers complain about having such a low budget,” one crew member explains. “We had NO budget. The film cost roughly $5000, and that was for the camera, and the editing system.” This of course doesn’t include the gas used to get there (much of the cast lives in New York, one in New Jersey), and the food courtesy of Leilani running over to Subway or Dunkin’ Donuts.

Director Clarke M. Smith goes on to explain, “When you have a movie like say Titanic, or any Cameron film for that matter, a big budget is obviously necessary. I wanted to prove, among other things, that it's possible to have a really good-looking movie with little or no money. I dare say that nothing as ambitious as The Ethereal Plane has ever cost so little.”

‘Little’ being the operative word. “However, I don’t necessarily ever want to make something this big again without money behind it - the hard working cast more than deserves to be paid. Thank God they believed in the script and the project as much as I did.”

Yael Martinez adds, “Yeah being paid – not that I would have turned it down. But we all did if for the love of the art and a chance of being part of something unique and ambitious. But most of all, because it was a blast, and I can’t wait for the next one.”

As shooting and editing would bring scenes together, Yael started working on the electronic score. “Music is my first love, and Ethereal Plane was my first acting gig. I’ve done a lot of R&B, and background vocals, but working on my first film score was a great experience. I could easily do this for a living.”

Casting the film was an interesting process. After Ron and Clarke agreed to do the film, with Ron playing ‘Damon Taylor,’ they starting thinking about who would be a good ‘Harrison.’ At the time, Ron was co-starring in a community theater production of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” with actor Gene Gabriel. Ron mentioned to him about this movie he was going to be in, and Gene took a look at the script and instantly loved it. Before anyone knew it, they had their ‘Harrison.’ Clarke and Leilani came to the show to meet Gene, and the deal was done.

Interestingly, when it came time to find the evil agents, Ron had an acting buddy named Tom Shay, and Gene had a high school buddy named Yael Martinez, who could also do music. So, each of the film’s leads brought their own agent, so to speak.

The last principal cast member to find was ‘Kayla’. Ron and the others had several possible ideas for an actress, but Clarke had his eyes on Elizabeth Gallo. “I cast Gregorio de la Pagiano as Uncle Clarence. He was in the last 3 short films I had made, and I thought he would be good in this supporting role.” Turns out that acting runs in his family, as he sister (Gallo) has had various film and television roles. “I thought Liz would be a great Kayla. I thought she could pull off the sort of sadness necessary to show what we don’t get to see in the film – that of her and Harrison’s friendship. We only learn of their relationship in exposition, and I needed someone who could make the audience feel her sorrow over his death, without ever seeing how or when the 2 characters knew each other.”

Midway through shooting, the production had to shut down for 5 months for several reasons, namely because winter had set in, and the film takes place on a ‘sunny summer afternoon.’ But it was also during this sad time that Clarke’s stepfather Ande Felix, who for the past year had been battling an incurable case of melanoma cancer, passed away on New Year’s Eve of 2000.

“If there’s one thing I wish about this movie,” Clarke explains, “its that Ande could have seen it. He would have loved it, and been proud. I hope he’s proud right now.” Mr. Felix had appeared in no less than 5 of Clarke’s short films over the years, during his college days. “You’ll see the dedication I put at the end of the film for Ande. He was always so encouraging and supportive of my work. For a while after he died, I didn’t care much about The Ethereal Plane, and we almost shelved it, especially when it was getting increasingly difficult to schedule actors at the same time." In the spring time, all of a sudden it seemed, a bunch of the actors got acting gigs that they signed up for.

“But as soon as the weather got warmer, we were back in the swing of things, determined more than ever to finish this movie.”

Shooting finally wrapped in November 2001, just in time to beat the cold weather. “Well, we didn’t beat the cold weather,” Ron interjects. “That awesome scene when my character is walking around the backwards world with nothing more than a shirt and pants, was freezing! After every take, I scrambled to put on my heavy coat.” That was the last day of shooting.

“I was a happy camper when we wrapped,” Clarke goes on. “I mean, I have literally put my life on hold to finish this movie. The shooting was one thing, but with all the complicated special effects and action scenes, this was a killer to edit. It took such a long time. I haven’t exercised, haven’t done anything to the house we moved into 4 months ago, I stayed up half the nights, and been pulling my hair out to finish what seemed like an endless battle. And I've developed what I call 'mouse elbow' - inflamed joints in my elbow, because editing is all mouse work. Creativity mixed with stress and burnout is a ferocious combination of emotion. Yes I love my movie, but I don’t want to see an editing console for the next 6 months!”

With the movie finally done, the producers put on a huge premier party at Clarke and Leilani’s house. “We decided to go all out, “ explains Leilani, co-producer of The Ethereal Plane. “After all that work, the least we could do for the cast was have a huge party to say thanks.” A huge party indeed. Leilani was able to get a video projector and screen, and they turned the basement into a terrific screening room. “Yes, the party cost some money, but it was worth it, “ she says. “All that work truly deserved a party of this magnitude, and it was a full house full of fans!”

“Even though the film is done and over, “Clarke says, “its now really just beginning. It's not my field, but we all want to get the film seen and even distributed in some way. We want to present it to several film festivals, of course, but also see what kind of market there is for distribution of this kind of production. I mean, if Blair Witch can do it, why can’t we?”

Ron adds, “This could easily be a series pilot for a great show on something like the Sci Fi Channel.”