Filming Dreams

WHILE MANY OF US spent much of last summer watching TV movies. John Farrell '84 directed and wrote the screenplay for one.

Farrell, an English major at Winthrop House, has had some prior experience in the medium, having filmed three half-hour satirical movies starring his high-school friends since the age of 15. But the movie he made last summer involved professional actors, lasted two hours, and will soon appear on cable TV.

Farrell had entertained thoughts of filming Richard II since sophomore year. One of his favorite works of Shakespeare. Farrell describes Richard II as serious poetry that portrays an element of sadness. "It is not depressing sad, but the kind that makes you think." Filming Richard II also had practical advantages. Not as popular as other Shakespeare plays such as Hamlet or Macbeth, a production of it leaves more room for creativity and less room for comparison. Also, as a work of Shakespeare, Richard II is guaranteed an audience.

Farrell's latent ambitions became a concrete project when he discovered Milton Cablesystem's community center. The center provides video equipment for non-profit productions. Ordinarily, the cable station focuses on local issues, filming such events as football games, debates, or talk shows. Very few movies appear on the station, and those that do usually last 90 minutes or less. How then was Farrell able to use the center to make a two-hour movie? According to Farrell. "We were in the right place at the right time."

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Kathleen Isbell, the program director who also has a small role in the movie, had a different answer. Though at first skeptical about the idea of students using thousands of dollars' worth of professional video equipment, Isbell says she was strikingly impressed with Farrell's early films. "Even at a young age, his films showed remarkable talent. He has a natural ability for it."

With a gold mine of equipment from the cable station, Farrell needed money, manpower, a set, and costumes. Joseph Erickson, a senior at Boston College and Farrell's longtime friend, produced the film. Ads in the Phoenix attracted a cast of professional actors who were willing to work for nothing.

The City of Boston allowed Farrell to use Fort Strong on Long Island as a set for the movie. The fort held prisoners of war during World War II and has since been inactive. One other structure, a hospital for the chronically ill, stands on the other side of the island, leaving Fort Strong almost completely isolated, thus making it a perfect set for a movie.

The producers of the movie cut costs on costumes and lighting with ideas equally innovative and economical. Richard II takes place "in a world out of time," World War II, in fact. All of the characters, including the Queen, sport khaki uniforms. An outdoor setting and torches for the indoor scenes provided all the lighting needed. Altogether, the production cost about $1200, and the producers expect to make none of it back.

Though this version of Richard II takes place in a modern setting, Farrell insists that the point of the play remains the same as in the original Shakespeare. Some scenes had to be out in order to limit the movie to two hours, while all the key scenes remained intact in the film version. Farrell himself thought that the film looked good. "I'm pretty sure the audience won't be bored."

AND YET THE AUDIENCE does get bored until the war scene, where, ironically, the actors seem to pick up life. Running from gunfire and explosives during these scenes of death and destruction in this watered-down version of what might have happened in WW II, seems to provide the actors with the energy to more completely fulfill their roles. Bullingrook (Bob Kane) was a better conquerer than a man exiled, and even the Queen (Stephanie Roth) gained color in the tumultuous scenes. Robert McCffesty, however, maintains an evenness of performance and fits perfectly into his role as King Kicked the minute he first adorns his crown, a baseball cap decorated with an eagle. At the end of the movie, he dynamically portrays the humility and grief of a king deposed.

In addition to the lack of morale in some of the actors, technical difficulties also reveal the movie's low-budget nature. Glare plagues the outdoor scenes and the tone and volume of the sound changes erratically.

Technical difficulties, however, do not overshadow Farrell's directing and editing ability. Farrell makes the most of his unique setting, aristocratically captivating nature scenes into the than storyline. Because of its entertaining musical score, McCafferty in the lead, and Farrell's ingenuity Richard II successfully represents actualization of a person's dream once given the opportunity to fulfill it.