BINARY FILM and the Birth of The Five Stages of Beer Though filmed entirely in San Diego, California, The Five Stages of Beer actually had its beginnings in Seattle, Washington. Two friends-Mark Yturralde (Writer/Producer) and Brian Mix (Writer/Director)- started pitching ideas, writing scripts, and shooting commercials in San Diego, but it wasn't until they got together with a group of their "film friends" from the northwest that it all came together. One of the members of this group, John Patzer (Director of Photography), called a summit meeting of sorts, summoning all his friends who worked in television or film from one end of the country to the other. They all gathered at a house on the Washington coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. John had an idea: "Let's stop talking about how much we want to do our own projects and form a production company and make our own projects!" Since Patzer was at the forefront of the digital video revolution, he explained that feature films no longer had be shot on film. At this point, all eyes lit up and gears started spinning. Six months latter. Mark and Brian had a first draft of a script tailored to be shot on a micro budget and in a short time frame. They brought it back to Washington for a read-through, and it was a hit. Everyone was excited, and that first group of seven literally took out their checkbooks, ready to spend whatever they could on their first feature film. Out of that group of people came Yturralde, the Producer; Mix, the Director; Patzer the DP; David McNeill, the Associate Producer; Joel Fry, the First Assistant Director and Editor; Thomas Conger, the Key Grip; and Randy Dickey, the Line Producer-basically, the whole crew for the shoot. The Five Stages of Beer was on its way, but there was one more stop to make. Yturralde is a native San Diegan with many friends and contacts willing to lend help finding locations and providing other favors. Among those friends is David Glanzer (Casting Director/Co-Producer). Already doing casting in Los Angeles, Glanzer was more than willing to help out in San Diego, also his hometown. What he discovered during his initial meeting with Yturralde and Mix, however, was that because of the tight budget constraints, the film would have to be shot over nine consecutive days. . . and the production had to begin in seven weeks' time. During that meeting, Glanzer asked general questions on preproduction and production; most were answered right away in detail, but some items seem to fall through the cracks. His ability to spot those cracks lead Yturralde and Mix to ask if Glanzer would like to co-produce. He jumped at the challenge. Soon the production was signatory with the Screen Actors Guild, and casting was well on the move under the SAG Experimental Agreement. Five weeks and countless actors' headshots later, a very professional group of talent was hired, most of whom, oddly enough, are from Los Angeles. As The Five Stages of Beer was written with a short shooting schedule in mind, 75% of the story takes place in one location: a bar. The owners of Live Wire, a popular San Diego watering hole, were willing to allow Yturralde, Mix, and company to film during the hours the bar was closed. The crew could shoot from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with absolutely no overage. This required a great deal of discipline, since, promptly at 6:00 p.m., the bar's employees would start prepping for the night ahead, camera crew or no camera crew. This also meant nothing could be left behind, so each day the bar had to be redressed and relit from top to bottom, and then stripped down and returned to normal each night. Storyboards and shot lists are a must in a situation like this. and director Mix had notebooks full of them. The shoot target of 16 pages a day was met, with some time to spare on the last day. Of course this "spare time" was quickly filled with new angles and pick-up shots. Other film tricks had to be applied in order to cut down on locations. The same front door was used for each of the two different apartments in the film. The setting had to be relit and shot from different angles, saving the time and expense of a company move. Similar shortcuts were taken in the bar, which was smaller than the one in the script. An actor would look off-camera at a wall, then later the crew would re- dress the same part of the bar with a stage and a band for another actor to respond to. This gave the bar a much bigger feel. One of the most useful locations was the Park Manor Hotel. This location stood in for a fancy restaurant and two characters' apartments, while also housing the entire cast and crew for the duration of the shoot in San Diego. Though a small-budget film, The Five Stages of Beer is big on technology. Shooting DV-CAM PAL is only the first part of the technology story. The film was also shot direct to hard drive. "Never on tape" is Binary Film's war cry, and this was their first try at putting the pixels direct to disk, ready for edit and dailies every night. The story of The Five Stages of Beer would not be complete without mentioning the Grip Bus. This isn't a grip truck; it's a converted school bus. And it's not just any school bus, at that. The Grip Bus used to be a picture bus from the wildly popular syndicated television series "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." This bus, which belonged to members of the crew, held anything anyone would ever need to make a movie. "Need a light-stand? It's on the bus." "Gaffers Tape? It's on the bus." Candles? A bar stool? "It's on the bus." Needless to say, "It's on the bus" became the crew's mantra. In fact, the bus even served as sleeping quarters for one crewmember. With care and attention to every detail, Yturralde, Mix. and company were able to create a feature film on (short) time and within (micro) budget. The project was not only an enjoyable experience for all. but an invaluable learning experience as well. Now that The Five Stages of Beer has finished post-production and is ready for viewing, the guys at Binary Film are already reviewing scripts and ideas for their next project.