John Sayles on Writing Part 1

EA - How do you make stylistically convincing dialogue for multiple characters set in a different time period, for example where does "Let's keep the wire singing" come from?

JS - You have to read a lot, not from biographies or historians writing at a later date, but primary sources. I read a lot of diaries and try to find good writers from the time period. I actually read a lot of Mark Twain for this story...you find phrases they used, some of which don't make any sense nowadays. For instance, "take off," like to tell someone to "take off" didn't come out until after World War II, because planes weren't that common before. You have to pay attention to that. And then you go back and say the lines again and again until it sounds right.

EA - Are any of the characters based on the journal authors?

JS - A lot of the soldiers are compilations of the soldiers I read about in many diaries. More specifically Chris Cooper's (Colonel Hardacre) is based on an actual Colonel named Hellroarin' Jacob Smith. Liutenant Compton's character is based on a volunteer officer, which would have been one of the better educated Americans who came to the Philippines for...glory or something. They eventually had to choose to go home or sign up as an officer. Compton's plays one of those men who begins to pick his head up and see what's going on. Rafael is based on any of the 100,000 or Filipino mayors who suffered by being caught between the American's and the rebels.

EA - When you're starting a new story, do you see the whole arc and then fill in the middle, or do you start with characters, or a concept...

JS - In most of my movies I see the whole arc - I know the ending, I know where I want the stories and the characters to end up and work from there. The one exception was Lonestar, in which I knew it was going to be "who shot the sheriff," Chris Cooper's father in the film, but I didn't know who did it.

EA - Are there any characters that you don't want the audience to empathize with?

JS - There are some in this movie that the audience may not like, but most undergo some transformation that makes them human. These are characters like Padre Hidalgo, who is kind of Machivellian, kind of the Iago of the village, but who eventually apologizes for what he did...It's important to know how the audience feels about each character and the plot and to try to steer them in a certain direction.

Billy Tango On Being A Young Actor

Billy “Bilippines” Tangradi

Character: Dutch Dortmunder

How he got into acting: Billy’s acting career began as a hyperactive 8 year old with a ventriloquist. “I was in a 3^rd grade talent show. Once I realized I was sitting in front of an audience laughing at my jokes I was hooked. I kept acting through elementary school, high school – I was always hanging out with the older actors. If I was 10 I was hanging out with 17 year old actors.”

Billy’s career became more serious when he great uncle, a preist oblate, founded a theatre program in his hometown of Allentown, PA, and later at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

How he got his first union job: A classmate became a manager and asked him to audition. Billy got a 5 line part in Law and Order Criminal Intent, but waited to join the union. “After your second union job you have to join (and pay $2000) or you can’t work…It wasn’t an easier once I was a SAG actor but it was a right of passage…it was a confirmation that acting is not a hobby, I was a real actor…but SAG has almost 70,000 actors, only about 1500 are working.”

On moving to New York: I chose New York over Los Angeles because its closer, and I had older classmates that had already moved to New York. It was only an hour and a half from family. Also I still wanted to do New York theatre, but it’s a really small community that’s able to make it in theatre.

How Billy made it to Baryo: “ I got a call from my agent about a John Sayles movie. I knew the pedigree of his work – I was shocked. Here’s what really happened, the casting director said they want young actors and what they got at the audition were Twilight actors. They told the casting director they didn’t want models, they wanted characters, so they went down the second tier agents and that’s where I came in. I got the part but I still feels like I’m double-A when everyone else is in the majors.

Will Baryo change anything? “I don’t know, maybe this will get picked up in Toronto [Film Festival] and get at least art house distribution, maybe it will win awards, you never know, maybe something will happen. Hopefully someone will see my face and say, ‘We want Bill Tangradi,’ but even then, you have to keep at it. In this business it never stops, you’ve never ‘made it’, you have to maintain…essentially you are a can of coke – you have managers, agents, business people all trying to sell you, keep you in the conversation. If you get a good agent you can get in through package deals, they may say, ‘you can have Kevin Spacey, but only if you take Dane Dehaan (Gil),’ you hope you can get an agent with that kind of leverage. It’s a very forgetful business.

On being an extra: “I did some extra work on Saturday Night Live, but it was miserable. It’s not bad money and it’s good to get on set, but I’ve always had a feeling I’m going to be a star, so being an extra was just depressing…If you an extra enough time you can collect vouchers, and after a certain number of vouchers you become eligible.

Kokoy

1st Assistant Director

"I've seen 1st AD's fired for nothing...I've seen a 1st AD have a heart attack on set" ~Yul Vasquez

Duties: Prepares everythign for the director. The main man with all the departments concerned. Make life easier for the director. Coordinate with sound/art director.

"I am the great facilitator."

- Organize the set for the director, if he wants anything make sure its there.

-Telling the camera department what kind of shots

- Handling the crowd

- In this movie there are 3 AD's

What makes a good 1st AD: - Able to adjust to the mood, try to balance things out, if the director is quiet you have to compensate, if he is loud you have to mediate. Try to get people smiling.

"A lot of 1st AD's are assholes. If you can't push you have to shove."

- "I am lucky because I am working with all my friends. That makes things easier."

- Most 1st AD's are very noisy. Sometimes you have to push during crunch time.

- "In this particular movie one of

the concerns is keeping the union actors on schedule. We strictly adhere to those rules. They have to be fed 6 hours after they're called in and that dictates the shooting schedule. We also have to keep track if they're going into overtime. The standard time is 10 hours, including travel."

How he got into the business: "The last movie I did was ages ago. Here in the Philippines I do documentaries, theatres, TV, live performances.

How he got the job: Met John through Mario the editor. Mario and Joel were his students at La Salle University in the Philippines. "We all belong to the same theatre group, so this movie is kind of a reunion for us."

On John Sayles: "It helps a lot if you're director is as organized as John. He's one of the few who is always 5 steps ahead of his crew. He is a master...during the rice paddy shoot it would have been easy to lose your patience - the squibs weren't going off, the weapons weren't firing, everyone was stuck in the mud, but John keeps his cool."

On the weather: Everything weather-wise has happened save for a typhoon.

What he will do next: Go back to old job as a freelance director in theatre and opera, maybe some commercials.

On using the RED Camera instead of 35 mm: It's cheaper to bump it up to 35 mm after than to shoot in 35 mm. A lot of fgeature films are using RED cams but you have to figure out a way to give it the texture and depth of 35 mm. That's why we use the smoke. If you don't do things with smoke or lighting the digital picture is going to look flat.

Still Waiting

Kenny Guay and Erik getting into character

8:30 AM - leave wardrobe/make-up

9:00 AM - enter standby room

12:00 noon - leave standby room for lunch

1:00 PM - return to standby room

3:30 PM - leave standby room for set

4:15 PM - shoot a marching scene

4:30 PM - return to wardrobe/return to Ladaga

Jan 16th - More Bio's

Jose with Chris Cooper
Conversations with Chris Pt. II.

On working internationally: I always like working abroad. The Bourne Identity was great because we were in France, Russia, Germany. I like being abroad.

Favorite films he's worked on: Lonestar (by John Sayles), Adaptation, American Beauty

What comes after Baryo: On the 21st Chris is leaving for New York where he has to do some publicity event, then the day after he flies to L.A. for the premier of Remember Me. "I really enjoyed working with Robert Pattinson. Robert's a great young guy and the script was practically tailor made for him."

On fame: This is a terribly difficult world for young people, it's rediculous. Robert literally has young girls flying in from Japan because they heard he'd be shooting in public locations around NYU.

On getting into the business: I started getting serious in my 2nd year at University. At 23 I started out in theatre. Everyone has a different little route to get into the business. I made some money in soap operas and regional theatre around the country. I did my first short film with Bobby and Kenny's (Garrison soldiers) Mom at NYU, but I didn't get a feature film until I was 35."

Margie

Line Producer

Duties: "NO idea. It's kind of like the general manager. A producer provides resources and a line producer manages those resources. I also do scheduling, budgeting, and manage all of the crucial partnerships, and make all the deals. One of the target results is to finish cost-wise, time-wise, and quality-wise."

How she got the job: Recommended to Joel Torre, the Producer, by another producer.

Her first job in film: studied film at the University of the Philippines, took all the workshops she could get, always actively involved in projects as a director or producer. "My first actual job was as a segment producer for a children's show. It was like Filipino Sesame Street."

What Margie is doing after Baryo: continue with the projects she started before. She is also the owner of Arkeo films. "I'm actually in the middle of financing an art house film with Germany and France. We're still very independent. That's going to occupy me for the next three years. It will be a real test for the company to see if we can make quality cinema in the Philippines.

What does Baryo mean to her career: "This kind of project is once in a lifetime. We don't usually get international projects of this stature."

Thursday Feb 11th - Behind the Scenes

As part of their education Jose, Erik, and Brian took it upon themselves to compile brief bio's and descriptions from the crew.

Anabel

Casting Coordinator/Bohol Production Assistant

Duties: Cast extras, coordinate extras

Boss; Vives, Assistant Director

How she got the job: Introduced by someone already in the company

What's next: Find another job. After many years in the business "Baryo" is possibly the last film job Anabel will take before moving to Canada to pursue caregiving

Jo-Will

Production Assistant/transportation coordinator

Duties: Manage the flow of people between set locations and Ladaga

Who's your boss: Under Rolly, the production manager's team

How he got the job: Interned with Rolly on his first job and has been on every film with him since.

On working in independent films: "We're freelancers so its more of a hobby. It's part-time, not necessarily a career. There's a period in the year when there are no movies made. You should not rely on it for a main income. After talking with people in independent film in any country including America this is how it is. The commonality is everyone involved in these projects loves filmmaking. You have to. The benefit is the freedom allowed in independent filmmaking - you can try experimental shots. That's what John Sayles is known for."

Marinette Lasanta

2nd 2nd Assistant Director

Duties: Work with 1st assistant director to get the cast ready after a change, make sure everyone is on time

Who's your boss: 1st assistant director

How she got the job: Used to work as 1st assistant director in TV/Film/live staging in the Philippines; 20 years work experience with Cocoy

Mary explaining a grayscale to Garrison soldier, Luke. Mary's camera is encased in a very rare and very expensive plastic and foam cover to muffle the shutter. With this system Mary can shoot stills while standing next to a boom.

Cooper Resabal

3rd Assistant Director/Production Coordinator

Cooper's duties: "Police Erik, coach the villagers and some of the characters"

Who's your boss? The 3rd Assistant Director reports to Cocoy, the 1st Assistant Director

How he got the job: Cooper trained as a director and scriptwriter. When John Sayles came to negotiate with local officials he helped out as he is a Toril native. Many of the scenes in the movie are shot in Cooper's childhood stomping ground.

What will you do next? Cooper has several projects lined up, the next in Thailand. Cooper also

Clarissa Delos Reyes:

Position: Second Camera or Camera B operator/Director of Photography’s Biatch

Duties: Basically shoot when you’re asked to

How she learned the trade: Clarissa is currently a graduate student at NYU as a directing major. “It takes courage, because directing is a man’s world, but I’m still into cinematography. I shot many short films which turned into paid work…I heard about this project from Mary (the stills photographer). My resume had a lot of camera experience…sometime later I got an email from the director of photography offering me the job.”

What makes a good camera operator: “Part of it is physical – to be able to execute the movies, smooth pans and tilts, you can’t shake. You also have to be able to listen to the director and figure out what they want. You can’t be afraid to ask what they want. Also a sense of good framing and knowing what’s going on in the script.

What she hopes Baryo will do for her career: It’s always good to have on a resume. It’s hard to say. This could be the last feature film I do, you never know. I learned a lot about directing, about how relationships work on set. I guess it doesn’t matter if it gets me a lot, whose to know what will come from this concretely, but If I move on to a new project I think I will better understand the intricacies. I’ve learned about how Sayles is very economical with shots.

How she got into film: As a kid I was always into film. My grandma used to bring home these beta max tapes, classics from America and everywhere. My parents let me watch anything I wanted. In grade school I would also bully everyone into letting me direct the classroom skits and whatnot. My aunt gave me a camera, and then I knew I wanted to do film. In college my my taste in film started to form…to be continued (Clarissa’s steady hand was needed urgently on set)

Camerawoman Clarissa Delos Reyes with her crew

Enrico: Meals on Location

Judy Karp

Sound Mixer

Duties: Record the sound and the sound effects when the camers is rolling

Who's your boss? Judy is relatively autonomous on the set, reporting only to the Mr. Sayles. She may find out from Mario if there were any issues

How she got the job: Has worked with John on 7 films.

What kind of system does she use? Mary uses a Sound Device 552 mixer with a Sound Device 740 T which records to a hard drive. Two booms catch sound in scenes with little motion, but one in which there is a lot of motion, for

instance if Chris Cooper yells a line while riding out of the Baryo, Judy uses remote mics which transmit to the 552 mixer.

How she prepares for a job: "As a sound mixer you should read the script first for content, to see if you like the story. Then forget the content and read it again to figure out how many characters are talking in what situations, what kind of background noise there might be...It's also important who the director is and who the camera people are. You are working with them constantly. Working with Ms. Lee (camera woman) is great because she and her crew have worked together for a really long time. That makes things smoother."

What she is doing after Baryo: Judy is working on another film in Albania

Where she got her start: Went to film school at Stanford, had no idea what to do after.

Biggest surprise about the industry: "The film industry is not collective. Each person collaborates, but on a set you have to work independently and trust that everyone else is doing their job.

How Judy got her first job with John: Had a friend that used to work with John, heard they needed a boom operator. On how people get jobs in the industry, "It all word of mouth, all conections. You never know where you're going to end up."

On working with John Sayles and Baryo, "John is the best to watch because he is so prepared all the time and knows exactly what he wants, and knows when he gets it. That's rare. John has it all in his mind ready to go. He makes it really easy for me to figure out where I'm supposed to be, for me to figure out the angles. John sees it all."

The local Filipino extras

Dwight: Props

Joyce "Jo-ee" Mejias

Wardrobe

Duties: Organize costumes/art department/purchasing accessories

Who's her boss: Gino Gonzales, wardobe coordinator

How she got the job: Referred to Gino by a director/friend

Experience: This is Jo-ee's first big film

What she will do next: Go around the country looking for a new job, establish small studio

February 8th Waiting

The soldiers slept in again while on-call, which means they can't travel farther than fifteen minutes of Ladaga, half an hour from the set. The reason for this is that if something goes wrong the director may choose to shoot another scene. To set up another scene and to get the actors to the set would require approximately the same time.

Director John Sayles with

Miguel Faustmann and Lucas Neff

Rainer Moore was called in in the afternoon to shoot a brief scene. Several other members returned to Alona beach. Erik Anderson and Merlin Bonning had the pleasure of spending the morning with Chris Cooper, discussing a range of topics including the transition from theatre to film, and the benefits of finding the right acting coach.

Chris Cooper with Yul Vasquez

When asked whether or not he had enjoyed his long and decorated career as an actor, the usually stoic Cooper said, "I consider myself the luckiest man on the planet to live this life, everyday."

Sunday February 7th

On their day off the cast rolled out of the night before into vans to Alona beach, where Bembol acquired a boat to take them to a snorkeling destination an hour offshore.

After enjoying the reef and a fresh fish the boat left for the Virgin Island, an island a quarter mile in diameter with an equally long sand bank. Most agreed this was a good day.

Saturday, Feb 6th Into the Mud

For the sake of continuity, all 11/12 Baryo soldiers along with James Parks, Dane Dehaan, Jemi and Bill Tangradi had to put on mud soaked wool uniforms and re-submerge themselves to the waist. The notable exception was Erik Anderson who fell in battle face first in the mud, a position he would be required to maintain for the next 8 hours of filming. The main upshot was that he was accompanied and coached in the fall by veteran Filipino actor Joel Torre.

But for much of the day the soldiers came to grips with much of what being an actor is: waiting. If an actor is not in a particular shot, but are anticipated to be in the next they are to wait on the sidelines. If they are not in a particular scene, but will be in the next they are required to wait in the "holding area," which in this case is a tarp. The conditions are not by any means extravagant and in fact are quite uncomfortable, but it is in this common experience that the cast, lead actors and extras, have most contact. And this, perhaps even more than the time spent on camera is the most valuable aspect of extra work.

At the end of a 6 day week the cast were surprised by free Red Horse beer at wardrobe in celebration of Dane Dehaan's birthday.

Later that night James Parks hosted another party for Dane on the beach, featuring the newly arrived DJ Qualls, Miguel Faustmann, and Lucas Neff.

Friday, Feb 5th

The cast were awake and in the van by 6 am for their first shoot at the recreated "Baryo" village.

The morning's shooting schedule would divide the soldiers into two teams of six to shoot the final scene of the movie.To recreate the village Sayles, known for investing heavily in preproduction built an entire village out of traditional materials, and Spanish Catholic Church, and a bell tower.

The scene featuring Brian Lee Franklin and James Parks went relatively smoothly, wrapping just before lunch.

The afternoon scene would begin one of the most complicated yet. The scene required coordinating nearly all the main cast, including Chris Cooper, Garret Dillahunt, and Merlin Bonning on horseback, and choreographing squibs (minitature explosive divises), and finally the death of extra and contributer Erik Anderson's character.

The weather again proved problematic and most of the scene would have to be completed the day after to match the afternoon light.

The Marathon Within The Marathon

February 4th

The hardest day of shooting began at 3:55 AM.

Notice Bembol Roco in the back.

At the set the cast and crew ate a spam/hotdog/egg breakfast with coffee which Garret Dillahunt described as "needing a knife and fork to consume," the soldiers waited for makeup with Mami (Apocalypse Now/Platoon).

At around 9:00 the soldiers were called to a tent in a nearby field where they received rifles, bayonets, ammunition belts, satchels (man purses), canteens, and direction from Mr. Sayles on how a soldier would conduct himself in the field.

We cannot divulge any details of what took place in this scene, but it required 15 takes and three hours. Despite the alternating rain and sun the crew reported that continuity would not be an issue. "Luckily everyone knows we are supposed to be in the Philippines, if it was sunny the whole time or raining all day no one would believe we're here."

Lt. Creighton and his soldiers in between takes

After a fried chicken lunch and a warm reception from the local village, despite this day marking the 111th anniversary of the beginning of the American-Filipino War, the cast changed locations to the hills.

Mr. Sayles set up multiple cameras at different levels to capture a march up and down the Philippine hill country. Mr. Sayles complimented the actors on their ability to feign exhaustion and to "sweat at will," while marching up the muddy slopes and back down again for 3 hours.

Sayles with James Parks and Jemi

Back at Ladaga Inn the cast was rewarded with complimentary massages in Tagbilaran. After dinner and dailies from the night before most went to sleep before another early morning.

Day 2 - Rest

On day 2 the cast took a last day off before a long block of continuous shooting.

After Brian Lee Franklin had an unfortunate encounter with sea urchins at the Ladaga Inn beach the soldiers took the van and a pair of diving shoes to the Bohol Beach Resort.

The Filipino beaches are known for white sand and clear blue shallow water.

At the end of the day the cast congregated at Ladaga to watch the first dailies with director John Sayles, which Sayles considered a huge success.

At 9:30 the cast and crew went to sleep before what Dane Dehaan called "the marathon within the marathon."

Day 1 - Introduction and Fitting

Febuary 2nd:

The last of the Baryo soldiers have arrived at Ladaga resort outside Tagbilaran from Spain, Manila, Sebu, and the United States. 8 "Garrison" soldiers and 4 "Hardacre" soldiers met over lunch with Dane DeHaan (Gil), Bill Tangradi (Dutch), Garret Dillahunt (Lt. Compton), Brian Lee Franklin (Cpt. Lynch), and reknowned Philippino actor Ronnie Lazaro.

While the cast and crew completed a successful first day of shooting, the soldiers spent the day in Tagbilaran City getting a feel for Philippines, enjoying 3 dollar massages, and getting accustomed to the Philippino style "tricycle."

After dinner at the Cantina with Director John Sayles, Producer Maggie Renzi, Chris Cooper, and the newly arrived Yul Vasquez (Padre Hidalgo), the soldiers went to wardrobe with "Mami." The costumes are custom made to resemble the uniforms American soldiers wore at the turn of the 20th century: two woolen shirts, suspenders, a heavy ammunition belt, gaiters, leather boots. and hat. To complete the transformation the soldiers were given haircuts and instructions on how to part their hair down the center. Think Dwight Schrute + Young Indiana Jones.

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At Maggie Renzi's suggestion the soldiers surrendered to jet lag before 9 o clock.