A Directing III Project

The Boarder was produced as one of 23 Directing III class projects shot on Super 16mm film in the fall semester of 2004 at Florida State University Graduate Film School. The MFA program at FSU requires that all students work on each other's films in every crew position (producer, DP, editor, designer, sound mixer, gaffer, etc.), so juggling various responsibilities during the semester becomes a monumental task. The initial idea for The Boarder was pitched in late summer before a short semester break. Work on the script commenced in August 2004, followed by 3 days of filming at a private residence in Monticello, Florida over the weekend of October 10th (which, coincidentally, is the director's birthday).

The film was edited in 6 days on an Avid DV Xpress, followed by 6 more days of sound design and a half-day re-recording mix. As luck would have it, The Boarder was destined to become the first FSU film to undergo the digital intermediate process, an advanced color timing and image enhancement session. Director Susan Bell and DP Greg Jardin traveled to Miami to supervise the DI process, which allows precise color correction and shading of the image. Here the many digital visual effects that were created in post were combined with the original photography and all were then output back to 35mm film.

Breaking the Jar of Souls

The 3rd day of production dawned and the crew was clustered in the kitchen of the location. A false floor had been assembled and lights hung over the leather bag sitting on it. Above, Susan held a jar filled with a special concoction of "soul liquid," including glow stick fluid and oil. The crew readied themselves.....

The idea was to drop the jar and have it break, thus making one of several visual effect plates necessary to produce the illusion of the soul turning into smoke. Previous tests with Mason jars had proven that they were unbreakable under the present conditions, so production designer Shannon Gregory had substituted a mayonnaise jar. But there were still doubts about this jar breaking upon contact, so the director decided to drop it herself, with a bit of force.

Everyone nonessential cleared from the area, Susan told the AD she was ready. The camera rolled and she SLAMMED down the jar. In hindsight, it was a bit more force than necessary. The jar shattered spectacularly upon impact and oily liquid flew everywhere. The crew's clothes were ruined and the kitchen was covered in glowing oil. Shards of glass were all over the floor. But luckily no one was hurt and the camera caught it all behind a protective clear filter, which was now a bit on the oily side. Good thing it only took one take, because it was a mess to clean up.

Director's Statement

I have a taste for the macabre, a fear of what lives under the bed and an undying love of things that go bump in the night. I am a big scaredy cat at heart, and I like working in the horror/thriller genre because I get to see (and be!) the woman behind the curtain frightening other people. The Boarder is my third short film in this genre and the most reliant on visual effects. It was an adventure learning about this new realm and I hope to bring my knowledge to bear in future film projects. My entire production team did a fabulous job bringing the 1940's to life over a span of three days in October 2004, and I hope Charlie's quest to learn the boarder's secret keeps you on the edge of your seat.