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::::::::::::::: Craig subjected himself to
poverty and humiliation in order to see production of The Guatemalan
Handshake come to be. Craig gave
away his only pair of shoes so that others would not have to suffer
from swamp foot. He also set many a young farm girls' hearts
a flutter during the shoot. A true man of the time, a man who
can't turn down a turkey club sandwich...Craig Moorhead.
A: I don't get it. A: It's simple really. I was
the 2nd AD/2nd Unit Producer/Associate Producer/CommutaCar wrangler
#5/Location scout/Actor.
In Hollywood, they would understand that. A: My 2nd unit crew consisted of
Charlie Cline, Kenny Wilson, Lantz Barbour, and Tim Ronca.
They all performed and/or
outperformed each other on a daily basis. Charlie was the
director, Kenny was our shooter, Lantz was our 1st Assistant
Cameraman, and Tim Ronca as our all around all-American All Star
grip. I'm feeling like I'm leaving some people out.
We called
in a lot of favors on that crew and we got a lot of help. A: Yeah. The first draft was
a lot better. I remember laughing a lot during my first reading.
Then I read that last draft in
July and I just remember saying "Huh." Like, out
of tired interest. "Huh." A: Physically, quitting my job was
much easier than getting the perm. But getting the perm was
much funnier than me quitting
my job. A: Some people I talked to thought
I just permed it because that's how I roll. And since I'm
sure I corrected that perception
with about 5 people, there are at least 15 other people who
still think I'm into perms. If it wasn't for the movie
'Napoleon Dynamite', though, I might've been down one girlfriend.
Napoleon made it cool to have a perm again. Finally. A: Not at all. It's like the
time you left work early to sleep with that prostitute. Sometimes
you just can't pass up a great
opportunity, no matter what. Truthfully, I'd hate myself now if
I hadn't worked on the movie. I knew it had to happen. A: Kenny, like most cinematographers
I've met, was the most laid back guy in our unit. I'd be panicking
about finding a
location or an actor, Charlie would be panicking about how to shoot
a dream sequence, but Kenny would be chillin' next to the
camera, shirt off, taking in the sun, ready to roll. A: For 2nd unit, we had to do some
effects that we ended up not being able to get, which was unfortunate.
We wanted to blow
up lights from a billboard, for instance, and just couldn't make
it happen. I blame myself. One of the most difficult things
we
did was the animated wanted poster, because we really had no idea
what it would look like in the end. But that was one of
those things that was a true team effort and turned out great. A: I don't know what we only raised
thousands of dollars instead of millions. That's the thing
I puzzle over the most. We had,
like, 6 months! Come on, guys.
There's really nothing we should have done differently, I think.
Whatever problems we had, if we had solved them, there
would've just been other problems, ya know? A: Hmmmm... well, Rich and Sheila
are an obvious choice. They just took me by surprise in general.
On and off set. There
are few joys as sweet in the world as hearing Rich and Sheila fake-drunk-fight.
It's better than real-drunk-fighting. Really.
Then there's Katy Haywood, who was just the kind of actor that made
you want to keep shooting. Nothing showy or stagey
about her. When we were in fields being chewed to death by
all manner of parasites, you'd look over at Katy playing with a
lightning bug and realize that maybe, just maybe, everything was
going to be all right. Andy was also surprising.
A: It's a strange process.
I think most films, they get a little more specific about who they
want for what roles. But with
the Handshake, almost every role could be filled by anybody.
It was a matter of finding people Todd responded to.
Turkeylegs started out as a boy character, for instance, but when
we saw Katy, everything clicked. It took a long time and
caused a lot of stress, but casting is so important. And we
have an awesome cast. And I'm not saying that because I was
cast in a tiny role that gets almost no screen time.
Mr. Rohal is a genius, and when someone is a genius, you don't question
them. That's what he told me. A: Well, I had no intentions.
I inadvertently had taken two different pictures of my feet that
ended up on the journal and then
some folks asked me what was up with the feet. So I kept it
up. It was a desperate ploy for attention and acceptance.
I'm
glad to say that it worked. A: Charlie applied sunblock to Kenny's
back. If you know what I mean. A: There was the derby, which was
a lot of fun. The roller rink was a great couple of days.
I really liked shooting out in the fields.
There were some insane vistas. And shooting there gave me
an excuse to use the word 'vistas', which I've almost never used.
But
then there were those crazy Guatemalan nights... A: Well, I'm working at National
Geographic for the time being, writing a couple of scripts of the
horror persuasion and trying to get
those going. I've just released the new CD "Speed Equals
Distance Over Time", which is really the same as the CD I gave
to friends
last year, when I didn't think it was done. Back I called
it the "Not Done Album". Fitting, no? But
now I decided it's fine. It's finished.
If you want one and you know me, you'll probably get one forced
upon you at some point. But if you don't know, they cost a
paltry
$10 at www.craigmoorhead.com. A: I finally got an iPod.
There's that. And I'm selling my car. A 1996 Honda Accord
LX for $3500. It was used as an
official transport vehicle for the feature film "The Guatemalan
Handshake". A: Easy. Those great salads.
Mmmmmmm-mmm.
12.13.04 |
