Part Six - Out Takes/The Esther Project

Who could blame her for laughing?  It was all so corny.  However, Brenda's inability to keep a straight face during the 'NEW Esther' segment of this boring little movie, ultimately led to a number of takes being unusable. Yes, we eventually got the reasonably convincing shots we needed to advance the storyline, but it wasn't easy.  On display in this short blooper reel though, are a few bits and pieces of film that were tossed out because of Brenda's constant need to giggle; which went against her character's newly exposed character.

And while I really wanted to use this scene (left) of a city bus rushing to Don's rescue as the gang closed in on him, my friend Bill noticed (after an early screening of the finished film with scene included) that the first bus was clearly not the same bus that Don eventually boards. I hadn't noticed the different paint jobs until he pointed it out. (I wonder how many other viewers would have noticed.) So this otherwise perfect visual addition to the big closing chase scene - which also featured a glimpse of the store my parents operated for a few years back in the late 1940s (Dairy Dale) - had to be sliced off and discarded forever. Or at least until an opportunity like this video blog out take bizniz came along.

Part Five - The Esther Project

Don has promised me that someday we'll get around to shooting a sequel to this crazy Esther movie, but I think I'd be just as happy to redo this first one over again from scratch. To try and eliminate the glaring errors I made this first time as the so-called writer/director/gaffer. The biggest of such errors (as I've said more than once) was killing off the suitcase in the opening scenes! If you bother watching this fifth and final chapter of the film, try to imagine the hilarity that was denied us because Don wasn't fumbling with a suitcase during the big chase.

Another mistake I made was refusing to use a tripod for any of the long shots - not that I had any tripods to use anyway. This award winning moment (picture left) of the four tuffnik friends coming to the rescue of Esther was undermined by a less than steady camera. I also learned that close ups are an important part of any feature film (experts suggest 90% of a movie should be close ups) and proper focus in these scenes can't be stressed enough.

So I considered it all a learning experience at the time of production and was looking forward to making bigger and better films because of it. However, when Don left the world of Blazerville a few short weeks after this movie wrapped, the bottom pretty much fell out of the local super 8 film studio rivalry and no further attempts were made to replicate the grand Hollywood epics of yesteryear.

The opening scenes (of Esther's home turf) were actually shot in the famous rough and tumble 'downtown eastside' of Vancouver.

Part Four - The Esther Project

In order to stitch the two halves of this boring movie together; and in order to hit the viewer over the head with exactly how out-of-touch our hero's fantasy about Esther had become, Don and I ventured down to the grubby part of town, an old deserted railway station in the late summer of 1975, to capture some 'soul searching' moments on film. Why in the world Don's character would choose this destination for any soul searching has always been a bit of a question mark, and I understand there are some fan websites set up that still discuss it. But at least on his way down here, Don managed to purchase a new tie.

Yes, Esther finally makes her first appearance in this short section - or at least how our hero remembers her. I was trying not to reveal too much of Esther for the audience; as if this was more a dream than reality. But in retrospect, maybe the footage of Don and Brenda strolling thru Stanley Park together in their best Sunday clothes, should have instead been shot amongst the same dirty train tracks and overgrown weeds as the sulking scenes were. That might explain why he came down here, plus it would have been plum hilarious to watch.

And while it's far too late now to fix it, I still think Don should have been carrying his old brown suitcase in each and every bloody scene of this movie! Even in the lovely soft focus flashbacks!

Part Three - The Esther Project

It's part three already and still no sign of Esther. How long can we stand the suspense? In the segment we're about to see today, we find that Don's search has led him down another dangerous road.

Finding flaws in this movie is pretty easy I'll admit, but it bears repeating once again just how much funnier it COULD have been had Don continued with the dragging of old brown suitcase and the wearing of dark formal jacket. And now, for some reason, even his smart-looking tie has gone AWOL! Why would we chuck out the tie? It's not as if the tie was inconvenient to carry like the suitcase. (We should have had him wearing a little red BOW-tie from the start anyway.) I'm surprised a sock or shoe wasn't lost during this third installment.

Even without the props, there's still some fine acting on display here, especially by the trio of no-good thugs (George, Doug and Joe) who obviously don't like being interrupted during their back yard jamming sessions. While I often employed George and Doug for my cinematic endeavors, this would be Joe's one and only film credit. (And doesn't he look like one of the Monkees on the album jacket he's holding?) But in a true story that I'm guilty of retelling many times, Joe (in real life) would eventually end up marrying the lead actress in this picture - the ever mysterious (and soon to make her debut) Esther! Played by his future bride, Brenda. And it's all thanks to the producer/director... me! The children they would bring into the world owe their entire existence to this awkward, silly movie of mine. Think about THAT for a minute, why don'tcha.

Part Two - The Esther Project

One of the (many) mistakes we made during the filming of this dramatic photoplay, was when we decided to 'lose' one of our best props before the movie was even 3 minutes old. I'm referring to the brown, touristy suitcase Don started off with. In retrospect, the main character should have been kept 'whole' from start to finish in this story. When the suitcase was eliminated (after hitchhiking in the yellow sports car) we lost what could have been the best ongoing visual element of humour. Don should have been required to drag that thing around with him everywhere he went.

If only we'd thought to have Paul (the sports car driver) toss the tattered suitcase back out onto the road behind him as he sped off in that final scene (from part one). He didn't really want it anyway; he wasn't a thief. Having the suitcase available for Don's frantic chase scenes in the film's second half, would have raised the laugh level of this movie from a paltry two stars to SIX!

In this second of five installments, we follow our hero again as he continues in his quest to reunite with Esther. It's unclear to us at this point exactly how long they've been apart, but we're starting to get the hint that Esther ain't fondly remembered by the simple folks in this dusty town. Part two today features a totally convincing fight scene with Dan (wearing my sister's old red kimono) during which, unfortunately, we lose yet another good comedy prop that should have been kept in - Don's squaresville smoking jacket. Thankfully, Dan's red kimono will make another guest appearance later on.

Part One - The Esther Project

That's me sitting on the ground and Don (in his final role) walking towards the camera during our first day of principle shooting for the 'Block Blazer' blockbuster "In Search Of Esther" - a 1975 whodunit which still manages to draw crowds whenever it plays late at night on the local home theatre screen. And thanks to some devoted fans (groupies) of the super 8 film medium of the time, a few photographs from that day (taken from a respectable distance) have been uncovered that capture the art of moviemaking in the act.

This was a rushed production. With a deadline fast approaching of Don's departure for Australia, there was little time for rewrites or second takes or even a coherent storyline to stitch the project together. As I recall, my main objective was just to make a long movie. The longer the better. Ideally, I wanted something approaching the running time of an actual Hollywood movie - about 90 minutes! But what I settled for, with outtakes and bloopers, was around 20 minutes. Still; a sizable investment of time and effort.

Since the edited version of this movie is currently being torn down from its perch on the Youtube website, the new home for this epic feature should be right here at Blazer Central. But it should be offered up in chunks, rather than as a full meal deal. Starting today with part one; the opening scenes as Don returns to his hometown after a long absence. (Art would soon be imitating real life as we would eventually discover.)

What's STILL missing from this opening, was the original plan I had to run all the text credits over a few still photos I'd taken of Don at the airport pretending to have just arrived (while wearing those icky striped pants). Those pictures still exist (in slide format) and may eventually be employed for their original purpose. But not for this showing.