If
Ed Wood finally had an epiphany telling him to step up his technical game,
imagine what he would have produced.
That is sort of-kind of the challenge two amateur filmmakers looking to
go pro (or at least semi-pro) set for themselves. The production of their ambitious new zero-budget
science fiction short film is well documented in Myles Kane & Josh Koury’s Journey to Planet X (trailer here), which screens
during the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Eric
Swain and Troy Bernier are genuinely credentialed, buttoned-down
scientists. Like many of their colleagues,
they have always been attracted to science fiction. For years, Swain was essentially a hobbyist
filmmaker, employing cheesy 1990’s technology.
An invitation to appear in one of Swain’s films led to a fast friendship
and a close creative collaborative relationship between the two. However, cognizant of the advances in digital
technology, Bernier is no longer content with their current level of
professionalism. He convinces Swain it
is time to produce a film that can compete on the film festival circuit.
Swain
and Bernier (or Bernier and Swain) proceed to make that film, to the best of
their abilities. The plot of Planet X (a.k.a. Planet X: The Frozen Moon, a.k.a. Planeta Desconocido, a.k.a. who knows what) remains rather baffling
even after watching the co-directors shoot nearly every scene. However, they do seem to improve on a technical
level, upgrading to HD and switching from an old blue screen to the more
digital friendly green. They have a legitimate
casting call and hire a small but professional crew. Whether they pull it off or not, they are
really going for it, which is cool to witness.
Simply
the notion of producing a feature length documentary about the behind the scene
making of an upstart short film will sound odd to many people. Frankly, it also rather sporting of Tribeca
to select Journey, considering both co-directors
are co-founders of the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival and Bernier’s efforts
courting South Florida’s Geek Film Festival factor prominently in the third
act. Good for them, but they are missing
out by not scheduling a special screening of Planet X (or whatever it’s called now) as well, because anyone who
sees Journey will immediately want to
watch Swain and Bernier’s film, on the big screen, in all its raging glory.
