American Movie (1999)

1. I was a failure. I was a failure,

2. and I'd get very sad and depressed about it.

3. And I can't be that no more.

4. I really feel like I betrayed myself big time.

5. When I was growing up, I had all the potential in the world.

6. Now I'm back to being Mark who has a beer in his hand,

7. and is thinking about the great American script and the great American movie.

8. This time I cannot fail. I won't fail. It's not in me.

9. You don't get second chances and mess them up. You'd be a fool to.

10. Not just finishing films or in the long run, getting some money.

11. But right now, I feel like it's five, ten, fifteen years ago,

12. and now I've got the same options again.

13. This time I'm not gonna fail. This time it's most important not to fail.

14. Just to drink and dream, but rather to create and complete.

15. When did you first get involved and how and why?

16. I think I had done a radio show with Mark first.

17. And then, from— As part of the radio show,

18. he had mentioned other projects he was doing.

19. Not the 11th hour, this is the 12th hour. Lisa and Uncle Ed, radio show.

20. "Dear girl, do you know what you possess?

21. Do you have any idea of its capabilities?

22. Do you have any reasonable semblance—"

23. Look, what we're doing right here— It's past 3:00.

24. It's— Oh, my God, it's 20 after 3:00.

25. We've gotta get these pages printed, get them straight to the copier.

26. We've got madmen putting scarecrows up front, God knows why.

27. They have no pragmatic purpose to this show,

28. but I like to keep the troops motivated.

29. Idle hands are known to be the devil's workshop,

30. so we wanted to keep things along, you know?

31. I'm sitting here, you're asking me questions.

32. I'm trying to get this finished. I've got people walking around.

33. I wish I could give them destinies, but I have to adhere to this keyboard.

34. He asked me to come over and help him out.

35. He said he needs some help. I'm always helping him with his films.

36. We used to do a lot of partying together, but I don't party any more.

37. "Dear girl, do you know what you possess in your hand?

38. Do you have any idea of its capabilities?

39. Do you have any inkling, any semblance of understanding whatsoever?"

40. I just made that up. I want to write that down. "Do you have any—?"

41. Stevens? - He's ready.

42. Would you mind stepping out a minute?"

43. - Kicked out of my own kingdom? Sorry. I owe you one.

44. - She's such a delightful— Ken, listen up.

45. Why, thank you, Lisa. That really makes my day.

46. I didn't know— - That I was lurking, around the corner?

47. Well, then, surprise.

48. No!

49. No!

50. Well, we recorded The Creeps.

51. And while we were recording The Creeps,

52. I was smoking dope and drinking beer, and it really struck me.

53. I was no longer paying attention to the actors and the performances.

54. I thought, "My God, what am I doing this for?" You know?

55. I realized also when I was recording that I wasn't even a director.

56. I knew there was stilted performances,

57. and I did nothing to rectify the situation.

58. So I think it's good to face things like this

59. because then you can deal with them and realize them.

60. When you're ready to shoot Northwestern,

61. you've got these emotions and these complexities cornered.

62. U.W.M. "Amount due: $878.54."

63. That's funny. I just borrowed gas money from my ma tonight.

64. This is gonna be interesting. The IRS, Wisconsin.

65. Oh, my God.

66. "Amount delinquent: $81.11 Oh, man.

67. "Resulting in a lien on any real and personal property that you own

68. within 10 days of this notice."

69. September sixth, and we're October 19.

70. Luckily, it's just $81. What are they gonna take?

71. My Night of the Living Dead book?

72. Oh, my God. "Legal actions."

73. Unbelievable.

74. I mean, who wants to be faced with this crap?

75. "Your AT&T Universal card has arrived"?

76. Oh, God! Kick-fucking-ass! I got a MasterCard!

77. I don't believe it, man. Life is kind of cool sometimes.

78. Explain what you're doing today, Mark.

79. Today I'm going to be handing out flyers saying,

80. "Independent Feature Film."

81. It has the dates, the number for the casting and the crew.

82. And we're going to get that out to all the suburban libraries,

83. because a lot of people go there, and they'll see that.

84. Cool. Right there.

85. I'll move this sucker right there.

86. I think that he first started, he was

87. 14, but he said he was 12.

88. It was quite possible, because I think

89. he was always talking filming

90. and that he was going to make movies and so, always.

91. He used to have on his wall in his bedroom

92. just a wall plastered with movie ads.

93. Mostly horror movie ads, but movie ads of all kinds.

94. He got an eight-millimeter camera from a guy down the street.

95. And the focus was terrible, but instant filmmaker.

96. I'll tell you why films fail. I'll tell you why films succeed.

97. I'll tell you about this one right here, Northwestern.

98. A regular feature film shot on black-and-white negative.

99. It'll look beautiful.

100. There's your secondary lead right there. What do you think about that?

101. I mean, funding-wise, do you have everything covered?

102. You're gonna be in a drive-in, a beautiful drive-in,

103. with an umbrella of gray over you.

104. You're gonna be in a junkyard

105. with thousands of rusted memories just laying there.

106. You are gonna be among the company of filmmakers this time,

107. but you're gonna have something under your belt, man,

108. besides whatever the hell you throw in the wash.

109. He's like, "Ken, I'm gonna make a movie. Will you star in it?"

110. I says, "Well, of course I will."

111. So we went to Valhalla Cemetery

112. and shot our first Super 8 film.

113. It was called The More the Scarier.

114. You know, I was 11 years old at the time. He was 14.

115. Yeah, I was in The More the Scarier III.

116. What was that about?

117. That was about—

118. Well, we were riding into a cemetery in the back of a truck,

119. and we were drinking vodka, and I was playing my guitar.

120. It's a silent film.

121. We go out into the woods,

122. and there's this mystery killer that's killing all of us.

123. This is where the chick, Dawn, runs her haunted house, right?

124. But it's got to have some killer interiors, right?

125. 'Cause you don't know too many people running haunted houses, right?

126. In films, it's ad executives or whatever else the hell they do.

127. But this chick, man, is gonna be running,

128. working, doing a haunted house off to the side.

129. So you get some really cool interior stuff there.

130. You know what I'm saying? You ever see Manhattan?

131. You ever see The Seventh Seal where they have these great dialogues

132. with these great backgrounds?

133. Talking about the plague, and there's a gargoyle in the back,

134. or talking about life, and there's Jupiter or Saturn in the back.

135. I mean, this just looks right.

136. This is perfect. I mean, the way I see it.

137. Of course, there 'II be a whole crowd of people here,

138. so we've got to make a line where people can't go,

139. have a lot of assistant directors saying,

140. "Hey, could you step back, like, five feet?"

141. I was reading an interview of him, and he's going,

142. "This is my dream. Ever since I was a kid filming in a cemetery,

143. I've dreamt of making a feature film."

144. I was, like, "Oh, my God!"

145. You know, this is his whole life, making this one film.

146. I can lose ten weekends to help him.

147. A synopsis on the story? Yeah.

148. Okay, we're gonna go— The film starts- Check it out.

149. Beautiful, stunning black-and-white shot right now at the magic hour,

150. as we float past dilapidated duplexes, worn trailer courts.

151. I've been location-scouting them.

152. So when I do this, I've already got what's in between my hands.

153. Right then at that moment, people say, "My God, I'm glad I'm sitting here,

154. because I'm actually seeing something for once."

155. We get to see Americans and American dreams,

156. and you won't walk away depressed after seeing this.

157. Period.

158. My name is Matthew We is man, and I'm working on—

159. I'm working on a film entitled Northwestern.

160. I'm doing casting for the film right now.

161. Okay.

162. Um, do you wanna know about the film?

163. Yeah, I do.

164. A 186-minute phone call to California at prime rates?

165. What could you talk to that stupid-ass brother of yours about for that long?

166. You know he's been having psychological problems lately!

167. Not on my phone bill, he doesn't!

168. Take a motherfucking wild guess.

169. Well, look here. A 186-minute phone call to California on prime time?

170. What is that?

171. They're making a mockery out of my words, man.

172. This whole thing is turning into a theatrical mockery.

173. - You understand that, Mike? - No.

174. Well, you will.

175. I'm going to go in there flying, man,

176. and read this fucker like it's supposed to be read, 'cause I've had it.

177. You stupid fucking bitch!

178. There's a 100-and-fucking-86 fucking-minute phone call!

179. - At goddamn prime time! - I paid the fucking bill!

180. I'm calling you to let you know there is a cast meeting tomorrow night.

181. There's a lot of work we have to scrape together,

182. and hopefully everything will collide and we'll make our deadline.

183. I come to the airport all the time when I want to work.

184. There's no phones ringing. There's no people talking to you.

185. If you're hungry, it's like, tough shit.

186. You can't stop and justify your inaction of script writing

187. by making a pizza or something.

188. You gotta be in this car. You have no other choice.

189. Why the hell are we here?

190. We're working on Northwestern, the third draft.

191. I've gotta get it so it's not embarrassing to give out.

192. You know what I mean?

193. There's some corny dialogue that would make the Pope weep,

194. and I've gotta resurrect that, so to speak.

195. "I feel so trapped.

196. You know how long we've been living together?

197. Since high school. She dropped out. I graduated.

198. Her dad sold the house. It's almost paid off.

199. Why don't you move out? It's a free country.

200. I don't know. I guess it's just one of those things."

201. Who the hell in their right mind would tell the world,

202. "Yeah, I'm gonna do this."

203. And then think, "Man, I'm broke. I gotta get gas tomorrow."

204. And dude's talking about making a feature film. Shit.

205. Now we're gonna talk about high-level negotiations,

206. because for the first time in your life, you're gonna make a profit.

207. Just like that.

208. No, you haven't even started at all, hardly.

209. Well, not hardly. You did start somewhat, yeah, but not very much.

210. Bill, traditionally, is quite

211. close to his money.

212. And, uh, it's quite a challenge to pry anything loose from him,

213. money wise.

214. And Mark, on the other hand,

215. has, if anybody, the ability to pry it loose.

216. Let me show you something, William.

217. Hm.

218. - Talk to me. That's right. - Wow. How about that? Wow.

219. - She wants to be in your film, Bill. - Oh, my gosh.

220. Okay, we can start then.

221. Um... Tom, why don't you show us what you've got,

222. as in the way of breakdown.

223. My duties on Northwestern are those of the production manager.

224. I've gone over the script on a scene-by-scene basis.

225. We've got it all broken down— Color-coded broken down,

226. so everything from cast to props to atmosphere, stunts—

227. I think what Mark's idea of this film,

228. and Torn Beach's idea of a film are just so different.

229. Both of them are knowledgeable filmmakers, but it's a different kind of knowledge.

230. One's more primeval and one's more textbook.

231. The location type, which would be interior day,

232. night, exterior night, day.

233. See, you've got to get a cameraman, a sound recorder, a boom operator,

234. an assistant cameraman to do the clap like that.

235. Then you want a couple others on the sideline running things around.

236. As far as where Mark's film stands now,

237. um, I'm not really too sure.

238. I know that we kind of have—

239. We sort of have had a breakdown in communication lately.

240. Thanks a lot, though. Uh-huh.

241. You know what would be really cool?

242. A cup of coffee. - Okay, I'll make some.

243. So I can get the hell out of this bed.

244. You know how many phone calls there are sitting there?

245. Oh, yeah.

246. A lot.

247. I'll put on the coffee.

248. I'd like to sleep here all day, but I can't.

249. I gotta type up sheets and have them copied for the meeting tonight.

250. Man, I gotta get some information across.

251. There's no excuses, Paul.

252. No one has ever, ever paid admission to see an excuse.

253. No one has ever faced a black screen that says,

254. "Well, if we had these set of circumstances,

255. we would've shot this scene,

256. so please forgive us and use your imagination."

257. I've been to the movies hundreds of times. That's never occurred.

258. You know, it's like you're the lone man on this—

259. The lone captain on this big-ass ocean liner.

260. It's like, goddamn, I need people to cook the food,

261. I need people to run the motors,

262. I need people to make sure we don't go into the rocks and so forth.

263. It's like that.

264. Oh, my God.

265. At about 12:30, the realization seriously hit me.

266. No way. I have absolutely no fucking money.

267. I have no hope of getting any money until Coven is finished.

268. Aesthetically, I'm not ready.

269. The script is not ready.

270. The casting hasn't even begun.

271. The locations are scant at best.

272. Are you crazy? That's 11 days away from now.

273. My first impression of him was he looks like a pretty raw dog.

274. You know he's pretty tall and crazy looking.

275. I liked it.

276. He showed a lot of promise, uh, as far as schooling—

277. That is, his testing was concerned. Not that he was that great a student.

278. But he qualified for that gifted schooling system they have in Milwaukee.

279. He dropped out of high school,

280. because he thought he didn't learn anything there.

281. His main asset is really just his mouth, his talking.

282. He can be pretty convincing,

283. because he's very assertive, very aggressive.

284. And, um...

285. But what he actually can do—

286. I think he's just best suited for working in a factory maybe.

287. When he decided to join the Army,

288. I think that was not only a decision to get away from here,

289. but to try to straighten out his life.

290. And, um, it didn't work too well.

291. Mark moved back from the Army and said,

292. "You know, let's make another film."

293. You know? And, um...

294. And made a couple of shorts, you know, from there.

295. Then along came Coven.

296. This is ridiculous. We started May '94. We've got every f-stop known in the film.

297. And right now we've got to take action. We've got to go out to that field,

298. put those scarecrows in on a killer slant.

299. They've been there for years. The farm's burnt down.

300. It's going to be the opening shots for Coven, you know.

301. - What is Coven? - Coven's a 35-minute

302. direct-market thriller film shot on 16-millimeter black-and-white reversal.

303. Uh, it's an alcoholic man compelled to go to this group meeting

304. by his one and only friend left.

305. But they're not that helpful, the group.

306. - You know about the group thing? - Uh, yeah.

307. Okay. So that's what we're doing a film on.

308. Coven, man. We got to get this sucker done, seriously.

309. Last night, I was so drunk I was calling Morocco,

310. calling, trying to get the hotel Hilton at Tangiers and Casablanca.

311. That's pathetic, man.

312. Is that what you want to do with your life?

313. Suck down Peppermint Schnapps

314. and try to call Morocco at 2:00 in the morning?

315. That's senseless. But that's what happens, man.

316. So we're out here today to try to redeem it,

317. get these establishing shots for Coven.

318. Do what you can, you know?

319. We're in America today, and we're ready to roll.

320. One, two, three...

321. Check it out, Mike.

322. You know the placement of the scarecrows?

323. What they're doing here? One's got to be on this angle.

324. The other one's gonna be on the other angle.

325. Check it out when you look at the scarecrows.

326. Do you see?

327. - Do you get it? Okay. - Yeah.

328. We did a lot of fun things making a movie.

329. One time, we brought Mark's car

330. into a vacant drive-through theater,

331. took iron rods and smashed up his car.

332. Another time, we dragged Mark, like,

333. headfirst through a swamp, like, 25 times.

334. Coven relates to Northwestern in this sense.

335. If I don't go into the black with Coven, if I don't make money back,

336. how am I gonna make Northwestern?

337. I've got to make money back on Coven.

338. When I did these figures— 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 units, right?

339. I said, "Check this out." Fuck this, man!

340. It's— I'm sorry for erasing that. But it's 3,000 units for 45 grand.

341. Because if I don't get that 45 grand, I will not be shit.

342. There's no 500 copies. There's no 1,000. There's no 2,000.

343. There's fucking 3,000 to be sold.

344. If I don't get that, I will never get— Uh— Uh—

345. The ability to make Northwestern.

346. You're signing for it, because those checks

347. are gonna be in Northwest Productions' name.

348. - And 3,000 plus interest if you want. Northwestern's name?

349. That's the title of the company.

350. That's who the checks get made out to.

351. Three thousand dollars of those checks goes to you.

352. You get your three grand back.

353. Doesn't sound very kosher to me.

354. Just make sure they're endorsed "Northwest Productions."

355. "Northwest Productions." Okay.

356. He's the only name on it? William Borchardt?

357. How am I gonna know about all this that you're doing?

358. It cannot leave the account without your signature.

359. - I don't know what you're doing. - No, no.

360. - Do you understand? - I don't have the books.

361. - No one can take anything. - You get a statement every month.

362. Nobody can take any money out unless you sign for it.

363. See?

364. It's under your control. - Sounds like the usual.

365. Mm-hm.

366. All right. Here, shake on it.

367. - Eh... - There you have it.

368. Well, Columbus took a chance. Lindbergh took a chance.

369. Have faith.

370. Faith on nothing.

371. Bill, you can't go out like that. You gotta be—

372. You gotta be upbeat. - Yeah. I mean, you gotta—

373. It's gonna work. A lot of good that is.

374. When you go in the grave, and you're laying there in the casket,

375. the last hurrah, the final goodbye,

376. what are you gonna think about, Bill?

377. - Huh? You tell me.

378. Well, that's the whole deal, man.

379. You've got to assert yourself and think, "I am here because—"

380. You ever think about that?

381. "I am here because."

382. Hey, man, you have two hours tomorrow

383. from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and be an extra in a film?

384. Are you sure about that, Charlie?

385. Do you know where I live?

386. I live two blocks from you.

387. All right, dude. You got a pen?

388. Can you get a pen?

389. You've seen a lot of movies, haven't you?

390. Yeah.

391. And you basically know how to frame shots?

392. I guess so. Not really.

393. But if you would see an action,

394. you would kind of, like, centrifugally focus on it,

395. it being in the center?

396. Yeah, I can figure that out. Yeah.

397. Fuck it. I think my ma's gonna have to go out in the woods.

398. It's one of those things.

399. I have my shopping to do, and I have so much—

400. I know. This is the last day I can shoot. All of the extras fell through,

401. except for Mike Schank right there, all right?

402. You gotta help me.

403. Mark, I have so much to do.

404. - I'm doomed. I'm doomed. What am I supposed to do?

405. Just stand there.

406. Hey, Mike, make sure everyone has brown gloves.

407. Does everyone have brown gloves?

408. No, dude, dude, dude.

409. You got— You got—

410. I have some here. Okay, yeah.

411. Shot the group of the coven, and then I got one shot,

412. which is a close-up of me

413. and one shot of a swish right to left of a tight of a coven member

414. as he sees him for the first time.

415. Yeah.

416. Yeah, low angle, man.

417. Then I need somebody to scale the tree and get that snow off.

418. Son of a fucking bitch. Everybody just come up for a second.

419. Right up to the camera.

420. I'm just gonna go wide on you.

421. Yep. Oh, yeah.

422. Okay, this is kind of great.

423. Okay, you got to spread apart about five feet each.

424. Jump that way. Okay, very cool.

425. Kenny, can you please put my soda on the tarp

426. so it's not frozen when we're done?

427. I'd like to drink it, please.

428. Five—

429. We're gonna do, like, a five-six-eight split then.

430. You guys gotta look menacing. Can you be more menacing?

431. Oh, man. All right.

432. We gotta do what we can do, then, I guess.

433. I think it went pretty good, but I don't want to say that

434. until I see the footage,

435. because you never know what's gonna happen.

436. I've been out here five fucking times now doing the same shit.

437. But I'll fucking get this down, and I think with these last four shots

438. we might have this fucker in the can.

439. - Cut. How's that, man? Talk to me. - Good.

440. - Okay. - We can't see your beard.

441. How's that?

442. - What do you see? - You can see part of the beard.

443. - Okay. This is the edge of the close-up. - Fuck it. You're right.

444. Man, I go out here— Just go out there

445. for an hour, two hours, drive around these houses, man.

446. It's like, "Okay, now I know what I'm here for again."

447. Fine. You got that squared away.

448. But to be serious, the American dream stays with me each and every day.

449. I'm glad we're doing this today,

450. because I was really getting down and out.

451. And thank God they extended my phone bill till Friday and lowered it too.

452. But, anyway— So today, man,

453. I'm just gonna go right back to work, so we can get—

454. My house ain't gonna look like this.

455. It's gonna be flatter, a lot flatter and less obnoxious than this.

456. He wants to have the good life eventually.

457. He wants the big house and the nice car and all that.

458. But at this point,

459. uh, you know, for the last, I don't know, 10, 15 years

460. he's been delivering newspapers.

461. Then I realized one thing. In kind of a Christian-coated ethical arena,

462. why should you be successful while others are not?

463. You know what? I got over that guilt.

464. 'Cause you know what? Hey, I don't know that answer.

465. I don't know why. It feels like—

466. In a Christian— what Jesus would be saying.

467. It's totally un-Christian to try to get ahead,

468. because everyone's on an equal, level playing field, an equal par.

469. But you know what? I'm not a Christian.

470. I'm a half-and-half.

471. Half's the Satanist idea and half the Christian idea.

472. Satanist, which is the pursuit of human endeavors,

473. and Christianity, which is the pursuit of higher levels, you know?

474. Okay, part of the script is asking for a junkyard.

475. Um, there's actually several scenes.

476. This new girlfriend is slick. She's cool.

477. - Yeah. - You know? And she's, you know—

478. How did you meet this girl, Mark?

479. She's helping on the film, man.

480. If he's able to even do 25 percent of what he says,

481. it is more than what most people accomplish.

482. He's got a goal and he's going after it, one way or another.

483. And he's gonna achieve it.

484. Don't push me, you fox.

485. - I don't care. - [Cee-Cee] You're not a fox.

486. Happy birthday, little Cee-Cee.

487. [Cee-Cee] No.

488. You are a—

489. 'Hey, what are you saying? Pee-pee.

490. Say, "Hi, Daddy."

491. - Hi. Hi, pee-pee Daddy.

492. Happy birthday.

493. Mark's got three kids by Alyssa.

494. Uh...

495. I don't know. From what Mark tells me, they never get along anymore.

496. Alyssa shouldn't be worrying about what I'm doing.

497. I could just be having a fine time with Joan there.

498. There's, like, lots of connections when there's kids,

499. and, urn, sometimes it's not broken off

500. as quickly as it should be.

501. How do you feel about Joan? - I like her.

502. In fact, that's the one girl that I really respect and like,

503. because she's fun to be around.

504. You know? And I don't want to mess that up.

505. Bill! Hey, man, how are you doing? All right.

506. You're just sitting there, eh?

507. Hey, cheer up, man. The world is yours.

508. - What are you doing? - Just sitting here.

509. What, contemplating what you did with your life?

510. - Yeah, sort of. - What did you do with your life?

511. Well, What didn't I do?

512. What are your plans for the future?

513. Doesn't look like I've got much plans.

514. I heard you're gonna be a big-time movie producer.

515. - Really? - Well, good news, Bill.

516. We're working very hard. You'll have your 3,000 back very soon.

517. - Really? - Yep. And—

518. We've got the whole tomorrow story boarded out. Here.

519. I know. I saw that a couple of times already.

520. When did you see the storyboards?

521. Well, you gave it to me to peruse.

522. So I did.

523. You perused them? Where are they?

524. It's over there, under there.

525. How come every time I give you something, it ends up under the shoes or something?

526. Within weeks, the film will be cut, finished, mixed,

527. thrown in an optical track on the release print,

528. get it into 3/4 inch, bump it down to 1/2 inch for multiple sales.

529. - What do you think about that? - Multiple sales to whom?

530. To the buying audience. We're selling 3,000 units.

531. Who's the buying audience?

532. Bill, man, we're selling 3,000 units at $14.95 each,

533. which is a return of 45 grand.

534. Pay for the damn film, get the three grand back,

535. pay everyone back, take the profits.

536. That'll be the day. That'll be the day.

537. I'm gonna bring over a bottle of wine. Do you have a preference?

538. - That'll be the day. - Red or white wine?

539. Red or white?

540. Red or white?

541. Yeah, now you're thinking.

542. And you get your name on the credits, as a producer.

543. [Bill, sarcastically] Yay.

544. You are on the one-way path to hell.

545. - How's it going? - Really good.

546. - Looking good. - Thank you.

547. Action. - No, this is all wrong.

548. Goddamn it! It's too claustrophobic.

549. I don't know why Mark is spending all this time completing Coven

550. when this is supposed to be his pre-production time for Northwestern,

551. which I was originally involved with.

552. He's supposed to be taking care of my money

553. and doesn't tell me a damn thing about it.

554. And neither does the bank or anybody else.

555. How much money do you have?

556. 280,000 bucks.

557. Supposed to be, but I don't know if it actually is.

558. I spoke to some of the actors here today

559. and they said this has been going on for two years.

560. And one way you got to look at it— He's a determined motherfucker

561. if he's stuck this out for a half-hour film.

562. So I guess he probably will get Northwestern finished.

563. All we wanna do is finalize the kitchen, get the props set,

564. and all of that stuff ready for Tom's close-up.

565. We gotta keep moving, man. We got to move, move, move, move.

566. That's the bottom line. It's a noisy day.

567. This is supposed to take place in the dead of winter, but there's birds.

568. You hear those birds?

569. They're just going, so I'll cover that up a little bit more

570. and just make the best of it that you can.

571. I was actually looking at the storyboard here.

572. I hadn't looked at it since yesterday.

573. It refreshed my memory about shot 37 here

574. where my head goes through the cupboard.

575. I had done this one about a year and a half ago or whenever we filmed it last.

576. This was the one shot that I had hoped that we got right the first time.

577. Mark.

578. Mike, take it easy. Let's not go through—

579. Hey, man, what the fuck's the matter with you, man?

580. Man.

581. Did you get it? Oh, you did follow me.

582. Yeah.

583. - We didn't move out? No.

584. - Okay, we've got to move out, man. Right.

585. We're going do a take. A take three.

586. It's about 11:30 in the morning.

587. We got till 6:00 p.m. to do 52 fucking shots.

588. We're gonna do it, and we're gonna end it in a beautiful fucking blood bath.

589. So, I don't want to—

590. I'll be right there! I got the perfect blankets. I just found them.

591. That camera will be silent.

592. What the fuck is wrong with you, man?

593. What the fuck is wrong with you, man?

594. - What the fuck is—?

595. Don't fuck with me!

596. We're running a little late here, and I'm getting set up for the last shot.

597. You know, I always give a finite time that I'm gonna end,

598. so I can get out of here at a reasonable time.

599. But I'm also aware that it's kind of Mark's dream to finish the film.

600. So I try to strike a balance. You know, not split too early.

601. This is the door that Steve—

602. Tom Schimmels— is gonna get his head put through.

603. I put a few scores in here to lessen the blow.

604. So no permanent damage done to him. I'm sure he appreciates that.

605. Sorry. Your finger all right?

606. And action.

607. Motherfucker, man! Motherfucker, man!

608. - Motherfucker! Guys! Guys!

609. Oh, man, you all right? Yeah.

610. - What? Well, this door opened up.

611. Dude, you missed that scoring, man.

612. Motherfucker!

613. All right. Hold on, man. Cut, cut, out, cut, out.

614. Get this man an ice pack.

615. Oh, dude. You know what?

616. I'm sorry I tried to put your head in this.

617. This is gonna take some shit.

618. Go.

619. Action. - You sick motherfucker!

620. Motherfucking crazy— Come out here, man! Come out here, man!

621. Nerves twitching, please. Fingers. Just the fingers.

622. Just the fingers. Just the fingers, man.

623. Heartbeat.

624. The name of the film is Coven.

625. It's pronounced "Coh-vin." What else could it be pronounced?

626. - "Coven," that's the proper pronunciation. - No, no. No, no.

627. - "Coven" sounds like "oven." - No. No.

628. - That just doesn't work. - "Coh-vin."

629. "Coh-vin."

630. "Coh-vin"?

631. Unless you want to put an umlaut or something over the O.

632. A what?

633. Hold on a second. Those two dots?

634. Yes.

635. Possible.

636. There's something cinematic about it.

637. It's like a stage or something.

638. You look all around you. The graveyard is like a stage.

639. All of these dead people. It's, like, they can't bitch at you.

640. You don't have to hear their opinions. They're there, though.

641. They're here as decent human beings, finally.

642. Here you are equal.

643. Parents would be coming after you because you had a movie camera in one hand

644. and a beer in another.

645. They wouldn't tolerate. That was and is the joy of life.

646. That wasn't tolerated, man, when you were 14, 15 years old.

647. They'd start coming after you.

648. So you'd get out here into the cemetery

649. with your beer and your film camera,

650. and you were one with the world and equal with the world.

651. It was a vast work field.

652. He'd always say he was gonna become a millionaire

653. and all of us would be jealous of him.

654. It didn't really make us envious of him. It just made, at least me anyway,

655. feel kind of sorry for him, pity him, that he felt that way.

656. Honestly, I thought he was going to grow up to be a stalker or a serial killer

657. or do something where he would try to plan someone's death, you know?

658. And, unfortunately, sometimes that idea that it might be mine.

659. What were the films that influenced you most when you were younger?

660. Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

661. What about those films influenced you?

662. Simple.

663. Dawn of the Dead seemed a lot more realistic than Hollywood films.

664. There was gray skies and dead trees

665. and the National Guard out there.

666. It was just something I didn't see in other films.

667. It was great. The dialogue was different.

668. There was blood. Night of the Living Dead was in black-and-white.

669. Dead trees and gray skies.

670. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

671. was one of those 16-millimeter accident films they'd show you in school.

672. You know, the grain of it and the saturated color of it.

673. Just really— I 'd be having nightmares. That was really like being alive

674. and watching something instead of something dead, like a Hollywood film.

675. What was the last movie he took you to?

676. Apocalypse Now.

677. Did you like it?

678. He kept on saying, "The horrors."

679. Who said that? - The guy on Apocalypse Now.

680. I'm pretty sure my mom and dad live here. Well, they keep an address here.

681. Even though my dad, he's not around very much.

682. My mom— Swedish girl.

683. Uh, a little excitable.

684. Um, and my mother and my father don't mix very well.

685. The home environment wasn't what—

686. Had I had a say in what it should be,

687. it would have been somewhat different,

688. Um...

689. in that— Well, no, that's getting into personal—

690. There always was conflict. You never knew what was gonna happen.

691. Sometimes it would be a little bit scary.

692. I think how he dealt with it was completely withdrawing from the family.

693. Two tens and two dollars.

694. So I'll either win ten or a dollar if I win.

695. I didn't win anything.

696. - Yep, life is hard. - Life is hard.

697. A potato.

698. I need a mirac- I won two dollars on this one.

699. - Oh, you did? - Yeah. See? Two dollars.

700. It's two dollars, plus a potato is two dollars.

701. I've been losing about ten bucks a day for the last week.

702. Here's what I think of the lottery.

703. I think it's, like, when you play the lottery,

704. sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

705. But it's better than using drugs or alcohol,

706. because when you use drugs or alcohol,

707. especially drugs, you always lose.

708. I'm telling this to my ma. His Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor

709. drives him over to his Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

710. - Yeah. His sponsor also has a problem. - Yeah.

711. How does your sponsor gamble?

712. No— Well, I mean, does he do scratch-offs?

713. He goes there for scratch-off problems?

714. Maybe he buys $5 ones.

715. What do you owe? How much do you owe?

716. - Dude, I owe, like, 10,000 to my dad, - That's nothing.

717. 3,600 to child support,

718. one and a half thousand to the IRS.

719. MasterCard, 500. Marshall Field's card for about 100.

720. The phone, probably 300.

721. I owe, like, state tax, 50.

722. I mean, that's not paying the state tax—

723. Did you say Cliff said he won't give Mark any more money?

724. No, he said this is enough, because he owes him so much.

725. I'm not interested in financing something

726. that I can't be 100 percent in sympathy with myself.

727. He'd have to cut out the language part of it

728. and get off this kick with the bottle and all that sort of thing.

729. What we've gotta do

730. is film you coming down like that at the same pace

731. as you coming into the leg like that.

732. I don't know what about his movies he's making,

733. the message he's trying to send.

734. If they're supposed to be entertaining, have some kind of moral value.

735. I don't know. It just seems to me that

736. with movies out there,

737. so many movies being made and such a big selection,

738. that people can choose from, what is it about these movies

739. that he thinks are special

740. that people will go out of their way to purchase?

741. Here we go. He bent your knife. Hold on.

742. - That sucked, man. - Let me unbend it. Hold on.

743. Don't cut yourself.

744. One day, I was partying in my basement.

745. I always used to get pissed off inside,

746. 'cause I would want to party really heavy

747. and no one else would, you know.

748. Then, all of a sudden, Mark came over,

749. and, uh, either I had a bottle of vodka or he had a bottle of vodka.

750. But, anyway, we were drinking vodka, and I was so happy

751. that I found someone who would drink vodka with me, you know.

752. So Mark would drink vodka with me all the time.

753. I'd go over there all the time,

754. and we'd buy a fifth of vodka, and we'd share it, you know.

755. And, uh, that really made me happy.

756. Get ready again. Put your hand on the button.

757. Now, I'm serious, man. Make sure it stays integrated, enmeshed.

758. Okay, action.

759. Keep it rolling.

760. Cut.

761. Thank you. Done good, son.

762. Alyssa called, saying she was gonna take the kids away.

763. Why does she want to take the kids?

764. Because I won't marry her.

765. Because Joan's around.

766. I mean, she's living with this dude now for three years, you know?

767. And my kids live over there.

768. I mean, why can't I be with Joan and have my kids too,

769. just like her situation, you know?

770. - And I can't, man. - Did you tell her this?

771. Hell, yeah, I told her that. She don't give a fuck.

772. Are you afraid?

773. Oh, yeah, because people take action, you know?

774. People say that it's just words,

775. and all of a sudden, one day she's moved out of state,

776. which she said she's gonna do, and all kinds of stuff, you know?

777. So it's like if she can't have me, she's just gonna take the kids away.

778. I can't even believe she would say shit like that. I mean, that's crazy.

779. I love my kids, man, and I want to be a good father.

780. I'm trying to get all this shit done.

781. You can't have your cake and eat it too all the time.

782. You know? I don't want to end up being a nothing.

783. Holy shit!

784. Bill, where are you?

785. Yeah.

786. I'll show you this song. I'll sing it for you.

787. That's the end.

788. - That's a pretty optimistic view. - That's not the one I had in mind.

789. - I had another one in here. - Where'd it go?

790. I don't know. I couldn't find it.

791. - Are these songs you wrote? - This is what happened to me.

792. Well, not every day, but...

793. I'll visit it sometime if I ever find it.

794. I will find it. They'll tell me where it is.

795. That's nonalcoholic, man.

796. Let me open this up and let me get this sucker out.

797. Check it out. Put in my first goddamn turkey.

798. Yeah. Okay. Bye-bye. See you.

799. Okay. Have a good time, Ma. - Yeah.

800. Listen, would it make you feel better if we get that house schnapps?

801. - Yeah. Do that. - Would you like that?

802. Yes, I would.

803. What would you like, man?

804. Well, I'd like to have a peppermint schnapps

805. with Sprite and ice in it.

806. And two gobs of it.

807. Got a good taste.

808. My dad's up north. He called, wishes us well.

809. My ma and brother are having a very sterile dinner somewhere,

810. talking very sterilely about some very sterile subject.

811. - Willy, you ready to take that bath now? - Yes, sir.

812. - Okay, let's go, man. - Okay.

813. - Bill, Bill, Bill. - I'm trying, I'm trying.

814. - Bill, Bill, Bill. - I'm trying!

815. - Bill, Bill, Bill. No, no, no. - I'm trying!

816. Just, no, no, no, no. Put your feet back.

817. - Put your feet back.

818. Yeah, well, same deal.

819. You're a man out of control. Just lift your other armpit.

820. Oh, my god.

821. That's a wicked-ass toenail, dude.

822. Whoa! That toenail's more than a quarter-inch thick.

823. I know.

824. That's a science photo. "Science photo"?

825. Yeah, they could use that in science class.

826. "Science class"?

827. All right, Bill. I think you're done here.

828. No, you got to do my back part.

829. Well, you got to lift your back up.

830. What am I doing? I'm washing Bill's "clotheses."

831. Fucking man's inhumanity to man!

832. Doesn't mean you have to be a goddamn saint

833. to wash the boy's handkerchiefs and socks.

834. So how long has he been soaking?

835. You know the man's freezing in there.

836. Just ten minutes. No, I'm trying to jack him up with hot water.

837. With his peppermint schnapps?

838. Yeah, well, that was his idea.

839. Not mine, believe me.

840. Well, I hope he doesn't pass out in there.

841. No, it's strictly monitored.

842. - Who's monitoring? - I'm monitoring.

843. What the hell's so funny about that?

844. Come on, pull.

845. - Bill. Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill. - Pull!

846. Here, let me hold your arm. Here.

847. It's not really coming in pieces. It's coming in flakes.

848. So cooking it at 325 was actually the right thing to do.

849. Mike! Dude, what's up? Hey, what's up?

850. I haven't seen you for a while.

851. - Your smiling face. - Yeah.

852. - What do you have to say for yourself? - Happy Thanksgiving.

853. Happy Thanksgiving. What do you have to say for yourself?

854. Nothing, really.

855. - What do you got in that bag? - Soda.

856. - Soda? - Yeah.

857. You're lucky we got all ends "tooken" care of.

858. Yeah.

859. - You look happier than hell, Jack. - Yeah, so do you.

860. Well, I ought to be, man.

861. What do you know that we don't?

862. Well, I won $50 on a lottery ticket today.

863. But I don't want them guys to know,

864. because, otherwise, they'll want to borrow money from me.

865. Have a seat, Bill. Dinner's served.

866. Right here? - Yeah, have a seat.

867. Good. - Head of the table.

868. You're executive producer.

869. Okay, Bill, what you need?

870. You want peas, corn, potatoes, turkey?

871. - I need a knife. Here.

872. I could see great cinema in this.

873. - "Cinnamons"? - Cinema.

874. Cinnamon?

875. Dude—

876. Dude, I see great cinema!

877. Well...

878. That's good.

879. That's something good, anyhow.

880. But I don't know what it is.

881. Yeah. You know?

882. You can spend your whole life surrounded by people—

883. "We're gonna do this," and "We're gonna do that."

884. What do you think? What do fucking really think? Huh?

885. Huh? What do you really think?

886. About what?

887. For years I've been trying to face up to who I am and shit like that.

888. But I can't. I don't know why, man.

889. It's like I know where I want to be and what I want to do.

890. So I don't know. I want to come out of all of this stuff.

891. He wants to be somewhere where he's not.

892. But, then, don't most people want to be somewhere where they're not?

893. Hey, man, you ripped that one song off,

894. I hate to tell you, from Black Sabbath.

895. I didn't. I wrote all the words. - Yeah, but, dude,

896. I'm saying there's an unconscious influence.

897. Yeah, but all your ideas come from somewhere else, Mark.

898. You can't make up an idea by yourself.

899. - Well, no, dude. - It's gotta come from somewhere.

900. - Yeah, but— - An idea has got to come from somewhere.

901. Have you listened to the tune? That's an exact copy.

902. - No, it's not. - You changed one word!

903. No, I changed a||-- I used one word.

904. - I used the word "insane," and that's it.

905. - What's that? - The Ghost of Christmas Past.

906. Oh. Heh.

907. You have to whisper, Okay?

908. All right.

909. Yeah, 'cause, otherwise,

910. - we'll get into trouble. - What?

911. Dude, otherwise, we'll get into trouble.

912. All right.

913. I've really been unhappy probably at least for a week,

914. and it just got worse.

915. I decided to use it to my advantage

916. and just start working on Northwestern.

917. It's gonna be a long, tough road writing this script,

918. but I'm taking my depression into Dawn's character

919. and trying to get some good stuff out of it.

920. Are you thankful, Mike?

921. I don't know. For some things, I guess. I don't really know.

922. Like I'm thankful that I won 50 bucks, you know, the other day.

923. Thankful

924. that I won another ten dollars today.

925. Thankful for all the food that I've been eating,

926. you know, around Thanksgiving time.

927. He came over and put a smile on my face.

928. I didn't even want to wake up tomorrow morning, man.

929. I had nothing to look forward to.

930. I'm thankful that Mike came over, and he put a smile on my face,

931. talking his shit.

932. That is wicked.

933. Oh, yeah?

934. Oh, yeah. What are you watching?

935. Northwestern from 1990, six years ago.

936. And, uh...

937. we're looking, and we're thinking about stuff right now.

938. That is really, really—

939. That's really cool with that hand-held wheelbarrow,

940. but it's gotta be smoothed out. But at least—

941. You started shooting this six years ago?

942. Oh, yeah, absolutely, man.

943. I felt it many years before that. Many years before that.

944. And Why'd you stop?

945. I think, obviously, there's got to be some fear,

946. like, if you actually go ahead and do it and complete it,

947. there's more consequences to it.

948. You let a day go by and fantasize, and that day slips into years.

949. All of a sudden, you're sitting in this living room

950. watching something from six years ago.

951. And that shot does look good.

952. Right there. Down the aisle.

953. I'll be right back.

954. And don't stop till I say, "Cut." Roll it.

955. - Now you're off. - What? Cut. What? Now what?

956. Because of that door, you can hardly see your mouth.

957. I cannot be dead center in the frame.

958. - 80— - In front of my sight of vision,

959. that should occupy more of the frame than the back of my head.

960. Okay, Ma, just tell me how it looks.

961. You go down when you do this.

962. - No, I'm trying to get out of frame there. - Yeah.

963. - Okay. Camera rolling.

964. - Did you just turn off the camera? - Yeah.

965. - Cut. Am I framed up?

966. Yep. Oh, now I see there's a frame there.

967. Yeah? Oh, no! What are you talking about, Ma?

968. - Yeah. - Just— Okay, just never mind, man.

969. Okay, the camera's rolling, sound is rolling.

970. - Am |--? - I see a frame inside here.

971. Yeah, it's the TV frame. That's the frame we're trying to—

972. Oh! Then you should be higher up, much higher up, though.

973. Your face is— Yeah, more above you.

974. Where am I at now, Ma, with all of this film burning?

975. - Yeah, that's okay, because it's— - Okay. Ready?

976. - Yeah. - Absolute quiet, please.

977. See, you got out of the frame several times,

978. and then you jumped in again.

979. - Gosh, it's so uncomfortable here. - Did you turn the camera off?

980. Yeah. I didn't say, "Cut."

981. Now, cut.

982. Excellent.

983. Okay.

984. Okay. You want to roll this, honey?

985. Good morning, Monica.

986. Mark just wanted me to call to let you know what was happening.

987. Right. And then we're gonna come over by you

988. and finish something up over there, something with the car.

989. Joan came, and Alyssa was here, then left.

990. Mark is right in the middle between them.

991. Mark, you've just ended what we've just begun.

992. You fucking left me

993. - three fucking years ago! - I needed a break.

994. - Why are you—? - You're not just gonna fucking walk away.

995. There's nothing that lasts, you know.

996. But I think that this will last for some time.

997. You think what will last?

998. Um, the problem between

999. Alyssa, Mark and Joan and Mark.

1000. What are you doing here?

1001. Um, when I run this Bolex, that'll be the last take of Coven.

1002. You know, I don't know. I get the, you know—

1003. It's kind of weird to...

1004. to do the last shot of the film.

1005. Well, I guess not. I think everything actually makes sense.

1006. It's me alone, you know, doing it.

1007. Sitting here in this car—

1008. Thing is, Joanie put it, "Now you got nothing."

1009. So,

1010. she walked off into the sunset.

1011. Alyssa ruined— We were just

1012. really getting so well along and just starting into things,

1013. and Alyssa came over, man. I was humiliated.

1014. The situation, and—

1015. I'm just gonna do the last shot of the film here.

1016. My ma's coming out to take a picture.

1017. He lives for movies, making movies.

1018. Always dreaming that someday he will make a big movie.

1019. Do you think he ever will?

1020. It costs money, and where's he getting the money from?

1021. I don't know.

1022. I don't—

1023. I don't think so.

1024. Favre, looking around.

1025. It's across the middle, and there's Beebe at the 30.

1026. To the 25!

1027. Wow, a gain of 40 yards.

1028. You know the ship is sinking when that happens.

1029. Dawn, what are you doing?

1030. Nothing.

1031. You get settled, now.

1032. Okay, Robert, you ready?

1033. You're ours! You belong to us.

1034. I'm listening to the A.D.R. work right now.

1035. What's A.D.R. work?

1036. "Additional Dialogue Recording."

1037. What's Additional Dialogue Recording?

1038. When the original dialogue recording, while the camera was running,

1039. is not good enough because of camera noise or extraneous noise,

1040. you must rerecord it in a more subtle environment.

1041. - You understand now? - No.

1042. What is it you do not understand?

1043. There you go. Here.

1044. Are you editing? You are through with that too?

1045. The editing— Every scene has been edited.

1046. Right now I'm fine cutting.

1047. Tomorrow, man, I'm going in there.

1048. I'm staying the whole day. Staying overnight.

1049. - Boom. Doing what?

1050. - If you are fine editing— - Editing.

1051. Fine cutting. Fine cutting.

1052. Oh, fine cutting. Oh, hallelujah.

1053. I'm never drinking or using drugs again.

1054. - Are you sure about that? - I'm 100% positive.

1055. I did that myself, man, on the word processor.

1056. - See? I did two different types of print. - That sounds good.

1057. The description sounds intriguing.

1058. You know, Mike, I could really use your expertise at remembering things

1059. to figure out where frame 6962 is at this point.

1060. This is definitely a sign of voodoo.

1061. Why is that a sign of voodoo?

1062. It's an unnatural cross, Mark. It's not like a—

1063. You think when Jesus was hanging there, he thought it was natural?

1064. Are you coming down here tomorrow, Mark?

1065. Yes, but I gotta work at the cemetery tomorrow.

1066. in 17 plays.

1067. Here's Brett Favre...

1068. The boss looked at me in the eye and said,

1069. "Mark, I hope this is the beginning of a long relationship."

1070. I'll tell you what, man. It scared the shit out of me.

1071. Years of vacuuming at a cemetery? Uh-uh, man.

1072. I don't see how people can go year after year

1073. at these fucking stupid jobs

1074. and not want to make something of themselves.

1075. I don't get it, man. You ain't gonna see me vacuuming no floors.

1076. Give this a handful of weekends, man, and it's south.

1077. Where are these from, Mark?

1078. - They're from the cemetery. - They sell flowers there?

1079. No, this is, like, from the flower shop or something.

1080. I have no— Look. I don't really care.

1081. All I know is that it has nothing to do with any grave or taking anything.

1082. - This is flowers— - They don't have graves anyway, right?

1083. They just have vaults.

1084. Right. That is a grave.

1085. They've got graves in the yard. But I'm just saying, it's a new thing.

1086. No one possesses it. No one owns it.

1087. It's my flower to you.

1088. Hey, hey. Now watch out, man.

1089. Dawn, get your sleeping bag ready.

1090. It's not a sleeping bag.

1091. - Shit. - Shit.

1092. All I can see is purple and—

1093. Is that the first—?

1094. - Did you swear, man? - And just purple.

1095. - I don't care. I'm just asking. - No.

1096. If I'm hearing things or I'm going to sleep—

1097. 'Cause I never hear you swear.

1098. - I never swear. - I thought you said "shit."

1099. - No, I didn't. - Did you? Huh?

1100. - No. Did I? - Yeah, you did.

1101. I just want to know. I don't want to be hearing things.

1102. - No. - I don't care. I'm just asking.

1103. - You're hearing things. - No, I don't. I got good auditory senses.

1104. If he patted his right hip, how would he snap the ball?

1105. He would have patted his right hip before...

1106. Wow.

1107. My dad has always had a host of recommendations

1108. for what career fields I should pursue.

1109. Uh, truck driver, police officer,

1110. electrician, et cetera, et cetera.

1111. What does he think about your film making?

1112. He thought it was thoroughly foolish when I was, like, 14.

1113. Now he's very

1114. adamant about me getting the film done.

1115. I says, "Maybe I should just get a job and quit this film."

1116. And he's like, "No, you can't. You can't quit the film.

1117. You gotta get it done."

1118. What's the relationship between your parents?

1119. Oh, man, they're always fighting, all the time.

1120. Always.

1121. I never— They never got along.

1122. I mean, since I was around.

1123. I wouldn't allow my kids to go through that shit

1124. because, you know, you give them a destiny,

1125. and they've got something to look forward to.

1126. It was totally uncool. I mean, it was totally without thinking,

1127. the way they acted, and what effect it would have on us,

1128. you know, all three of us, growing up.

1129. Now they're totally cool. You couldn't ask for better parents.

1130. But they were out of control.

1131. Hey, how the hell far away is this marsh, now?

1132. Well, it's coming up.

1133. This is sound for the woods.

1134. It's gonna totally suck.

1135. That's a cut, because there's not one fucking bird.

1136. All I hear are trucks.

1137. I am gonna have to go to...

1138. Kettle Moraine or something like that.

1139. So there's absolutely nothing recorded for Pike Lake.

1140. Hi, Mark. - Hey, Mike.

1141. My morn packed us a lunch. Did she? Oh, that's cool.

1142. Yeah, we got polish sausage, cheese and crackers,

1143. and other stuff.

1144. Good to see a smile on your face.

1145. - How you doing? Who else is here?

1146. We're gonna do this by the numbers. We got to do a little sound recording.

1147. - Tell him we have to do it now. - Yeah, all right.

1148. Yeah. Okay.

1149. Yeah. Bye-bye, now.

1150. Okay. Thanks a lot, Ma.

1151. We'll see you around 1:00. Yeah. Bye-bye.

1152. Okay, we got to do one line for the film.

1153. No one can hear you say, "It's all right. It's okay.

1154. There's something to live for. Jesus told me so."

1155. When am I gonna eat my dinner here?

1156. Can you give him some cheese and crackers?

1157. Can we get the man something to eat

1158. so we can record this one bit of dialogue here?

1159. Aw, nuts.

1160. Try a piece of this.

1161. - Oh, that's good stuff. Yeah.

1162. Don't have a damn thing to drink either?

1163. Here. Here, Bill. Get him a soda, Mike.

1164. Here you go.

1165. - Here's a soda, Bill. - Oh, thanks.

1166. Don't spill it.

1167. Never heard of that one.

1168. Oh, that's good.

1169. That's brand new soda from Coca-Cola. It's called Surge.

1170. It's the first line of the film, man. It's got to be on the money here.

1171. Roll down the window, Bill.

1172. It's all right, uh—

1173. Okay, cut.

1174. All right, man. Shit.

1175. It's— You gotta give it some passion too, man.

1176. And you gotta— "It's all right! It's okay!

1177. There's something to live for!

1178. Jesus told me so!"

1179. It's all right!

1180. Uh...

1181. There's something to live for.

1182. Jesus told me so.

1183. Okay. Great, Bill, but we gotta—

1184. We have to have fluidity in there.

1185. It's all right! It's okay! Uh...

1186. Okay. Okay, cut.

1187. - You gotta bring passion to it. - Oh, nuts.

1188. A message— It's a message.

1189. This is the shits. It's for the birds.

1190. This is for the birds.

1191. Okay. I believe we can do this. I believe this can be done, Bill.

1192. - Mike, why don't you keep track of takes? - You haven't got the line here.

1193. Is this fucking take seven? Okay, let's do take seven, man.

1194. It's all right! It's okay!

1195. Um...

1196. Cut. Okay.

1197. You have to believe in what you're saying, Bill.

1198. I do?

1199. Well, I don't.

1200. I don't believe in nothing what you're doing.

1201. All right. Give it some passion.

1202. "It's all right! It's okay!

1203. There's something to live for!

1204. Jesus told me so!" You did it before. You can do it again.

1205. Okay, this is take eight.

1206. It's all right!

1207. It's okay!

1208. Uh...

1209. Okay, that's fine. You gotta watch your teeth,

1210. 'cause they clack a bit when they loosen up in the mouth.

1211. And take ten.

1212. It's all right! It's okay!

1213. There's something to live for!

1214. Jesus told me so!

1215. Bill, you couldn't ask for anything better.

1216. I think it was recorded too high.

1217. Give it all you got! What take is this?

1218. - Sixteen. - This is take 16.

1219. - Let's go. Take 30. - It's all right!

1220. - Hold up. Take 30. - It's all right! It's okay!

1221. There's some— Jesus told me so!

1222. - There's something to live for. - Okay, cut. Take 31.

1223. - Ain't that enough now? No. Listen, Bill—

1224. I ain't gonna do this anymore. That's all for me. Good-bye.

1225. Okay. I'm gonna see what we have to work with.

1226. I'm gonna—

1227. Jesus Christ, man.

1228. And it's like the whole room is just filled

1229. with this thick green and red web, you know?

1230. And it's coming out of Laura, and it's coming out of the table,

1231. and it's coming out of the walls,

1232. and it's coming out of the floor, you know?

1233. And all of a sudden,

1234. my face hit the table, you know, and I blacked out.

1235. So Laura dragged me outside and laid me on the grass, you know,

1236. hoping I'd wake up, you know?

1237. And then her grandma came home, who she lived with, you know?

1238. And her grandma called an ambulance, you know?

1239. So I'm laying in the hospital, passed out.

1240. They got my brain on a brain scanner.

1241. You know how your brain's supposed to go, "Beep, beep, beep"?

1242. Well, mine just went "Unh..." straight across, you know?

1243. And, uh, the doctor goes to my ma,

1244. he goes, "I don't think your son is gonna make it. Sorry.

1245. I think he's gonna die, you know.

1246. I don't think there's any way we can bring him, you know—

1247. Wake him up or nothing, you know?"

1248. So, all of a sudden, I smell this real strong smell,

1249. and it's smelling salts they got in front of my nose.

1250. And I start to wake up, and all I see is bright lights.

1251. And I'm like, "Damn, where the hell am I?" You know?

1252. And then I realize I'm in the hospital,

1253. so I start checking my pockets for the acid, which they analyzed one hit.

1254. It turned out to be blotter paper dipped in liquid PCP

1255. with a little bit of downer in it.

1256. And they said if it hadn't been for that little bit of downer,

1257. I would be dead. But, anyways,

1258. I'm checking my pockets for the acid, you know,

1259. 'cause I was gonna drop my other three hits in the hospital, you know,

1260. and all of a sudden my ma walks in the room,

1261. and she's holding the bag of acid like this, you know?

1262. I'm like, "Damn, now I can't drop the rest of my acid in the hospital."

1263. So she— She flushes it down the toilet, you know?

1264. And, uh, so, um—

1265. Then they kept me in the hospital another month.

1266. And they said I was the worst case they ever had,

1267. and they let me go.

1268. And I continued using drugs all the way up until, urn...

1269. a little under a year and a half ago.

1270. And that's—

1271. I have more stories like that I could tell you too.

1272. All kinds of drug-related stories.

1273. Could tell you, you know—

1274. I'll try and keep you awake with them tonight.

1275. Need another tape in there.

1276. It's almost like the day before Christmas.

1277. That's right.

1278. Ooh, gosh! Look at that. Right—

1279. First play. That's it. Game's over.

1280. S-They got more close-up. - I don't want to take no phone calls.

1281. You take a paper route, you buy a CP-16

1282. and you shoot the film.

1283. Why is it every time you talk about making a film,

1284. they talk about "dream"?

1285. "Oh, I'm gonna go work in the factory."

1286. "Oh, yeah, that's cool, man. We're gonna drill holes together."

1287. Here, man, come on in.

1288. All right.

1289. - Hi. Hi.

1290. Hey, you know what?

1291. - Somebody win? - Yeah, I won $200 today.

1292. What are you gonna do with that 200 bucks?

1293. I don't know. I gave 100 to my dad,

1294. and I got 65 at home in my room, and I got 20 in my wallet.

1295. If you can think of something we can spend 20 bucks on,

1296. maybe we can spend it.

1297. You know what you can spend 20 bucks on?

1298. About four pitchers at Jim Mitchell's.

1299. I don't want to buy no beer.

1300. I don't either, man, but if you're willing to buy it, I'll drink it.

1301. Oh, I don't know.

1302. The Patriots are coming back.

1303. They're getting into position.

1304. There's four minutes left.

1305. Yeah, that's what we are going to see now.

1306. We're going to Jim Mitchell's.

1307. - Yes, we are. - Are you—? I'm not going to any bar.

1308. Mark, I'm not taking you to any bar.

1309. You have had more than enough today.

1310. Okay. You know what? Weak.

1311. He can never quit.

1312. When he starts drinking, he can never quit.

1313. - Close the door. - Yeah.

1314. Shit!

1315. This is what it's all about, winning a championship.

1316. Yeah.

1317. That's cool. Packers won the Super Bowl.

1318. Look at that. Look at that screen!

1319. Every bitch-ass, motherfucking

1320. factory worker is gonna go down like that too.

1321. Bitch motherfucker!

1322. Mark, none of that conversation.

1323. Just like that.

1324. I will never be like you, you fucking job-working,

1325. 40-hour motherfucker. You can go to fucking hell.

1326. It's a pity.

1327. By tomorrow he will be okay again.

1328. I'll be okay again. I'll be just like you, wandering around the kitchen.

1329. Just like you. Yeah, you're right.

1330. Never.

1331. - Yeah. Well, I'm glad the Packers won. Yes. I'm glad they won too.

1332. Sunrise to sunset.

1333. Sunrise to sunset.

1334. That is sweet. - That was the line.

1335. Hit me— Yeah. Hit me with a couple more.

1336. Hold on, Dawn.

1337. Sunrise to sunset.

1338. Mike, are you all right? Are you all right, Mike?

1339. Every time I spoke with him, every time we got together,

1340. there was something that seemed to go wrong

1341. or did not go as planned,

1342. and he always seemed to forge ahead

1343. and go through with the project,

1344. and I think that's the best thing I can say about his character.

1345. - He's indomitable. - The place you want to be.

1346. I'll say, "Take two." Give it a couple seconds, and you're burning in hell.

1347. Move up a little bit, Robert.

1348. Okay, cool. And take two.

1349. Ready, Mike? When I say "Take one," give it a couple seconds. Take one.

1350. That was wicked, man.

1351. Robert. Okay.

1352. Man, oh, man, oh, man.

1353. I'll take off the scarf.

1354. Oh, she's set to roll.

1355. How tight are you on her? Like, this tight?

1356. You're looking better now, Robert.

1357. I'm cold as hell.

1358. You might as well keep the jacket on for a few, definitely.

1359. - There you go. - All right, freeze that.

1360. Freeze that.

1361. Dude, you just arched your eyebrow!

1362. Yes. Shouldn't I have?

1363. It's cool.

1364. This is great. Right here. Hold that, please.

1365. It's the year of the independent film.

1366. Great performances, new faces. I mean, really new faces.

1367. Who are you people?

1368. I'll tell you who they are. They're unbelievably talented people.

1369. Great films, unusual films, risky plots, great direction—

1370. Okay, great.

1371. You forgot to wiggle. - Yeah, you forgot to wiggle.

1372. I think 22-A really is the keeper.

1373. - Mega. - Okay.

1374. - So these are mock-ups that I did. - Okay.

1375. And I can do a lot of different things with them,

1376. depending on what size and what you want to print on them.

1377. Somebody made that up, you know.

1378. - Oh, it's Bill's birthday. It's Bill's birthday.

1379. Happy birthday, William. What do you think about that?

1380. I don't know.

1381. Doesn't do much for me.

1382. You look at Bill today— He was a scholar at one time.

1383. You know. But he really was.

1384. And I always looked up to him, as a brother.

1385. Like, he had an answer for everything.

1386. I mean, a proper answer.

1387. Or how to spell a word, or— He knew all that stuff.

1388. Nice day if it doesn't rain.

1389. What are some of the influences that helped shape

1390. the Mark Borchardt format, or the Mark Borchardt style?

1391. When I was growing up and drinking, the people that I was around,

1392. they were the Americans who were still fighting the West

1393. with a bottle of vodka in their hand, man.

1394. There was still territory out there, you know,

1395. in the mind or around the block or something like that.

1396. Expand on that a little. I mean, this sort of—

1397. Okay, listen, man. They didn't—

1398. There was no such thing about college or religion or anything.

1399. There was drinking. Drinking, drinking, drinking.

1400. And everything would revolve around that,

1401. the money, the time spent, everything.

1402. And it was— It was America at that point.

1403. And we had, like, 15 people in Mark's backyard.

1404. We had, like, five cases— I ain't exaggerating.

1405. Five to six cases of beer cans just sitting there.

1406. And my dad came over.

1407. "Yeah, Pops, we need more beer." So he went and procured us some beer.

1408. Uh...

1409. Came back and he drank a couple beers with us.

1410. All of a sudden Mark's parents pulled up.

1411. My dad immediately flanked around the garage

1412. and, you know, cut through the back.

1413. He was out of there right away. Didn't want nothing to do with it.

1414. He knew what was going on.

1415. What do you think of Ken Keen?

1416. He is a bad influence, and Mark is a bad influence for Kenny.

1417. Those two shouldn't be together.

1418. With the parents, you know,

1419. "It's Kenny Keen's fault. He twisted your arm."

1420. With the other parents too, you know,

1421. and that's all bullshit because, I, you know, as far as—

1422. I think peer pressure is bullshit.

1423. Where are we headed? - To jail to pick up Kenny.

1424. He'll be happy as hell. He's only— He's out in two minutes, man.

1425. How did they get him? - They were inside the house,

1426. and all of a sudden, him and his ma—

1427. The lights went off, and, uh...

1428. they went downstairs to check the fuse box,

1429. and the boys were right there waiting on him.

1430. Who are the boys? - The detectives.

1431. They got him. Definitely.

1432. Now it's 10:04. There's the boy.

1433. There he is. Yup.

1434. Now you gotta fit him in the car. Oh, yeah.

1435. Hey, Kenny, what's up?

1436. You sure we got enough people involved?

1437. Where are you sitting?

1438. How's it going? I don't know. I guess I'm sitting up there with you.

1439. All right. I'll move over.

1440. Whoa, whoa! Dude, dude! You're pressing the gas!

1441. Sorry about that. - What the fuck, man?

1442. Um... Okay.

1443. Right here I had 7-9-9-9,

1444. and then right here I had 7-9-8-0.

1445. So I had to take the marker and cross out 7-9-8-0 and put in 7—

1446. I mean, 8-0-0-0— 8,000.

1447. What are you doing here, Mike?

1448. I'm doing X numbers for Mark and Kenny and myself.

1449. What time is it?

1450. It's about 14 to.

1451. I need some fresh air. I'm just gonna suck in a lot of fresh air.

1452. I'll see you to the door.

1453. - Here. After you, Ma. - Okay.

1454. As soon as I wake up tomorrow, Mark, I'll be back.

1455. All right. Cool.

1456. Action!

1457. Urn... When you swing here, swing in the middle.

1458. - This is the last one we got, man.

1459. Hold up. Where's that plane at?

1460. - Action? - Action.

1461. Action!

1462. Take 14. Action!

1463. I'm hitting it as hard as I can,

1464. - but it's not doing nothing. - One more thing.

1465. Come down here.

1466. I gotta get the headlights. Knock out—

1467. Do you think this is a little bit cathartic for you?

1468. - Very cathartic, Mark. - You know what "cathartic" means?

1469. No.

1470. It means, uh—

1471. I think it means getting things out of your system, man.

1472. - Yeah, okay, then it's cathartic. - Is it?

1473. - You got that out of your system? - Pretty damn cathartic, Mark.

1474. Cool.

1475. Last time I was out here was about seven, eight years ago

1476. to shoot Northwestern, and we shot here

1477. in the summer— Dead of summer, dead of winter, man, all of that.

1478. I'll be back.

1479. With Northwestern, he's putting more drama into it.

1480. Obviously this is not a horror film. This is more of a life and times.

1481. Probably going to use a lot of his own experience,

1482. you know, as far as what he went through in life,

1483. is gonna be in this film.

1484. You know, these are the vistas right here. And what does it feel like

1485. to have a couple rusty cars parked right against a rusty background?

1486. Because this is really fall

1487. and winter, when the Earth decays and the cars have decayed,

1488. and these guys are decaying, you know?

1489. And that's what it's all about, you know? It's—

1490. That's what it's all about, rust and decay.

1491. But then, within that is the warmth of the soul

1492. and stuff like that, you know?

1493. It's lonely roads, but there's warm houses and cars.

1494. This is the Gardens of Eternal Life, man.

1495. They got these people stacked six high.

1496. Six high, man.

1497. You got one underground grave. That's one amount of money.

1498. You got six of them. Man, it's a vertical business around here.

1499. You know, they just keep build— Stacking them up.

1500. But what we're doing, man, is making sure people are out of here.

1501. This dude claims I locked him in a couple times,

1502. and now that I think of it, that could have been any time during the week.

1503. I just want to

1504. make sure we don't lock anyone in.

1505. This— This place is big, man.

1506. In fact, we'll just kind of go over here.

1507. There's a river, and—

1508. Oh, Jesus.

1509. This has been going on now, literally, for three years.

1510. Thursday night's opening will be just ten days shy of three years.

1511. But through all of this, Mark has kept an equanimity.

1512. Oh.

1513. All right, thanks.

1514. Here.

1515. You know what? We just ran out of a bunch of flyers,

1516. so this is all we got left, so you can't be putting them everywhere.

1517. - You gotta put them strategically, okay? - Got it.

1518. - Do you have it, Mike? - Yes.

1519. - Hey, Mike. Mike, Mike— - Yeah?

1520. - Dude, the flyers, man. - Oh, yeah, that's right.

1521. - I'm gonna pass them out. - Dude, where are you walking?

1522. I'm walking in there, to hang them strategically.

1523. Well, you need flyers, man.

1524. I know. That's why I'm asking you for them.

1525. No, that's why I'm giving you them. Now listen, dude.

1526. So you and Matt, man, make it look good. Make it look sharp.

1527. I know you can do it.

1528. We were in the Union,

1529. and we put the flyers on top of a bunch of newspapers.

1530. Yeah.

1531. The newspapers were like The Wisconsin Light, okay?

1532. So some guy came in to replace the old copies of The Wisconsin Light

1533. - Yeah. - with new ones and took the old ones.

1534. And he took the flyers that were on top of the old ones

1535. and took off with them,

1536. because he didn't realize that they were our flyers.

1537. So that's what happened.

1538. But, dude, that doesn't make any sense.

1539. Made sense to him.

1540. I'm in the process of taking down over 1400 flags.

1541. I believe it was yesterday.

1542. I was called to the bathroom at the cemetery

1543. to take care of something.

1544. I walked in the bathroom, and in the middle toilet, right there,

1545. somebody didn't shit in the toilet, somebody shat on the toilet.

1546. They shat on the walls. They shat on the floor.

1547. I had to clean it up, man, but before that,

1548. for about 10 to 15 seconds, man, I just stared at somebody's shit, man.

1549. To be totally honest with you, it was a really, really profound moment,

1550. 'cause I was thinking, "I'm 30 years old,

1551. and in about ten seconds,

1552. I got to start cleaning up somebody's shit, man."

1553. What do you think are the rewards for this, Mike?

1554. I don't know. Maybe you'll be a famous movie producer or something.

1555. A what? A famous movie producer.

1556. What are the rewards of that?

1557. Uh... I don't know.

1558. Sex, money, power?

1559. Sex, money, power.

1560. I don't know.

1561. I was gonna come in and help Mark cement splice, then I, um...

1562. then this little disaster happened.

1563. So now I'm just pulling the shots that were supposed to be cut—

1564. The two frames that are missing.

1565. Big delay. Big problem.

1566. Hopefully we can splice it so it doesn't show up too bad.

1567. But...

1568. Mark's in full depression at this point.

1569. Here is a piece of film.

1570. This piece of film must be up on the screen.

1571. This is what happened, man.

1572. Where are those other— Where is this part of the film?

1573. What, are you gonna have a blank spot on the film?

1574. What are you gonna do?

1575. You gotta find each missing piece and tape this in.

1576. That's what I mean. You go to a movie, you see this.

1577. You don't pay to see that.

1578. What the fuck is supposed to occur here?

1579. You guys want to make films when you get older?

1580. - No. - No. No.

1581. - Why? - Yeah!

1582. Because you gotta buy some stuff,

1583. and it takes so much money and so much time.

1584. And you gotta work a hundred years.

1585. - No, you don't. - Yes, you do.

1586. That's gonna go on the other side now. We need two more— Where's our leader?

1587. It'll be done in about less than an hour, and...

1588. so I will be drinking now.

1589. Yup. That was the last splice in my film, man.

1590. Now we'll roll through the end, right here, roll black along the song.

1591. I think there'll be a break for a little while from—

1592. Maybe two days.

1593. No. Hopefully a little longer than that.

1594. But I think it will start up right away again.

1595. - Would you buy this movie for 14.95? - Yeah. Hell yeah, man.

1596. If I can find 3,000 people like you across this country man,

1597. I'm in business.

1598. Of course, man. I mean—

1599. Shit, that's what Rush tickets were.

1600. After this car, run.

1601. The next car, we're gonna stop traffic.

1602. I hear that he finished it up a couple of minutes ago,

1603. - so we're right on schedule here. - It's hot off the presses.

1604. - Did you get some sleep? - No, dude. I'm—

1605. I'm going to sleep now. I can't even stand up no more.

1606. Three years in the making, you know.

1607. This ain't my film, but I put a lot of work in this film.

1608. I've known Mark for 20 years,

1609. and he's like my best friend, and it's done.

1610. So after tonight, we can sleep and then on to the next project, you know.

1611. Uh-Oh. Uncle Bill!

1612. There you go. The executive producer, man.

1613. - Watch your head. - Come right on over here, man.

1614. Hey. Oh, it's all right, man.

1615. Those are tickets that you're selling now.

1616. - I was wondering. - Dude was wondering.

1617. Well, you happy now?

1618. Or you got finances on your mind?

1619. When I hear the projector rolling

1620. and I see Coven on the screen, then I'll believe it.

1621. This is the start of your money back.

1622. - Yeah!

1623. Yeah!

1624. It's all right! It's okay!

1625. There's something to live for!

1626. Jesus told me so!

1627. - How's the writing going? - How's it going? It's going fine.

1628. - Is it? - Hey, did I stutter?

1629. I said it's coming along fine.

1630. You just don't get it, man. You're nowhere near getting it.

1631. Hey, man, what the fuck's the matter with you, man?

1632. Mike, take it easy.

1633. Here's one on your first book.

1634. - Good luck to you. - Thanks, Ray.

1635. Trying to help me now, man? Trying to help me now?

1636. Very good.

1637. Thank you, mister. Hey, Uncle Bill, thanks.

1638. Dad and Mom, for all the sandwiches and the money.

1639. I'm gonna wake up to hell tomorrow, man.

1640. Those credit cards ain't gonna look nice, man.

1641. But I'm always a man for my word. Mike Schank, you happy?

1642. Yeah, I'm happy. - How happy are you, man?

1643. I'm very happy. - Well, good, 'cause don't drink.

1644. You're gonna set the world's record.

1645. Okay, man, I'm cooled down, but— Hey, I'm serious, man.

1646. If I missed somebody or anything, thanks a million for helping out

1647. 'cause I couldn't have, whatever, done it.

1648. Yeah!

1649. Yeah, it was fun. I enjoyed doing it, you know?

1650. I value his friendship and enjoy doing stuff with him, you know?

1651. And making movies is what he does, you know,

1652. and so I make movies with him.

1653. Well, I hope all the best for Mark. He works hard.

1654. And he has a lot of dreams.

1655. And I hope they come true.

1656. Product—

1657. Product accomplished.

1658. Whatever.

1659. God told me so.

1660. You done good, Bill. Congratulations.

1661. So are you ready to make the next movie?

1662. - Sure. - Good. Forty to fifty grand.

1663. Yeah, you told me that already.

1664. You want your dreams to come true?

1665. My dreams? What dreams is that?

1666. What's your American dream?

1667. - I don't have any dreams anymore. - You don't?

1668. - No. - You can't stop now.

1669. What are you gonna do, sit around outside of a trailer?

1670. We'll film you sitting outside of a trailer, man,

1671. but we ain't gonna live sitting outside of a trailer.

1672. Where else am I gonna sit?

1673. You're gonna sit out by a large green grass.

1674. Look, man, let me tell you something.

1675. All people are yammering and yammering about

1676. - is the American dream. - It's half past 3:00 already.

1677. All they're talking about is the land of opportunity.

1678. - Almost time for me to eat. - All it is is lip service.

1679. Here, we're living it.

1680. And I will be goddamned if I don't get the American dream.

1681. Hello?

1682. Come again?

1683. Come again?

1684. Stay. Stay a while.

1685. Stick around a while.

1686. Stick around as long as you can.

1687. Heaven help you.

1688. God help you. Jesus help you.

1689. Everybody else help you.

1690. Everybody— Everybody make happy.

1691. Make everybody happy.

1692. Be a comedian.