On Set! "7045 Steps" Short Film!

A few weeks ago I acted in Shukai Wang's latest short "7045 Steps."

The short film was adapted from the Kevin Wilson short story "Blowing Up On The Spot."  Kevin Wilson has also written "The Family Feng," which became a feature length movie in 2015 starring Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman.

The description of the short film given to me by Shukai was:

The story is about a confused man called Vincent who works in a factory that produces Scrabble tiles.  Trapped by the meaningless and trivial job, he has to cope with the death of his parents, a younger brother who constantly tries to kill himself and his burgeoning affection for Joan, who is the daughter of a cafe owner. At the end of the story, Vincent reconciles with himself and begins to cherish the mundane pieces of everyday life.  

Shukai reached to me with the script and the story.  I was to play the role of The Manager.  Although, not a prominent role in the short story, Shukai expanded the role with me in mind.  There is a dramatic scene at the end between my character and the main character, Vincent.  

The short story is a very surreal tale, that borders on absurdity.  Yet, similar to the writer George Saunders, the story remains grounded by just enough of a tether to reality.  The tale lingered with me for days after.  

I was excited about the script, but I was still curious to see how Shukai was going to follow through with some of the more outrageous elements.  

I had worked with Shukai before.  Last year I had a fun part in his short film "Banker By The Lake." 

I played a jack-ass co-worker to that story's main character.  That film has made its way through the film festival circuit, picking up awards and accolades.  I had a great time shooting my role and I'm glad to see the movie getting its due.  

A link to my time on set can be found here: 

https://thecommonone-jtw.blogspot.com/2018/05/on-set-banker-by-lake-short-film.html

For this short, I was only needed on set for one day.  

All of the factory shots were to be in one location, a rented warehouse space in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  

By the time I arrived, the productions staff was already busy creating the set of the fictional Scrabble tile factory.  The process would take all day, with constant adjustments of the props, lighting, and angles.  

For this production, Shukai had a much larger staff.  The lighting, production, sound and costume departments had all increased since his last short film.  However, the feeling of closeness and friendship that was apart of Shukai's first production hadn't diminished.  

I tried to stay mostly out of the way, but the space was fairly tight for the size of the production and the amount of people.  

During rehearsals I had been fitted for my costume.  The decision was made to give me a sleeve tattoo on my arm, for a grittier look.  While the crew was busy capturing outside shots with the main actor, I sat in makeup and my tattoo was applied.  

The day was unseasonably cold.  Plus, the heat remained off inside the warehouse.  A large part of the day was trying to stay wrapped up and warm.  

The first scene I was in was shot outside the factory door, as the workers trudged into work.  There was a constant dance in-between takes of covering up then ditching and hiding the coats once rolling was yelled.  

Even on a lazy cold Sunday afternoon, Bushwick has a strange industrial energy.  Planes flew overhead on their way to LaGuardia, cars roared past, construction noises up and down the streets, and bands blasting their rehearsals out into the streets.  A simple shot became not so simple.  

As often happens when adjusting to unforeseen events on set, the cast and crew quickly bonded.  

After shooting outside we broke for lunch and then started filming the internal scenes.

The art department captured a feeling of dinginess and desperation perfectly.  Plus, by this time, the cast knew each other and their roles well enough to fall into character easily enough when action was called.

Woodrow and I filmed our scene first.  Shukai's method of shooting is very direct.  He knows exactly what he wants out of each shot, but is patient enough to allow the actors time to get there.  Once shooting begins, the process goes very quickly.  

From that first scene between Woodrow and I, we then went through the rest of the scenes and covered the entire shot list ahead of schedule.  Each actor had their moment to shine and do their work within the scene.  If there was tension on the set, Shukai never let the actors know.  We covered a lot of ground without ever feeling rushed, hurried or stressed.  

My day ended early, the actors were released and the production crew stayed to breakdown the sets.  

I'll post more information when I learn more about screenings, festivals, etc.

A brief look at the temporary tattoo.  Funny the next day I was cooking in the kitchen and looked down realized that I looked the part of an East Village chef.  The word to stress though is 'temporary.'

A quick glimpse of the production when I walked onto set.

Breakfast time on the craft services table.  Which coffee cup was mine?

The crew trying to dim the lights.

Outside in the rain and cold getting ready to film the first scene.

Looking down the street while local bands practiced.

A look at the set before filming

During the middle of one of the takes.

Rehearsing with Woodrow and Shukai.

In the process.

Working during Woodrow's close up.

Another look at Woodrow's close up.

A screen grab from the filming.

The 'Q' is the thing

By the end of the day, the tiles began talking to the director Shukai 'Vincent' Wang.