Alumnus produces film locally
For years, Erik Bateman saw failure as a bad thing. After nearly three years of work producing the feature-length film “Equilibrium,” the USU alumnus has come to realize success isn’t necessarily found on the red carpet, but in achieving difficult things.
Bateman’s 76-minute movie was filmed entirely in Cache Valley and surrounding areas, starring local actors associated with the Caine Lyric Theater, Ellen Eccles Theater and USU.
“It is a romantic comedy and murder mystery that is loaded with metaphors as a commentary on contemporary society,” Bateman said. “It’s not rated but I would give it a self-rating of PG-10, due to subject matter and a scene of brief violence.”
The cast and crew consisted of less than 15 people, the majority of whom attended USU, and even included several USU faculty members such as visiting assistant professor Richie Call, associate professor of scenic design Dennis Hassan.
“Most of us involved either went to teach at or work for USU,” said Bateman.
Bateman said due to the small crew, many of the cast had to work together to produced complicated scenes involving elements such as artificial wind and rainfall.
“Every member of the cast at some point helped with the production in one way or another,” he said.
The majority of the filming took approximately three months, shooting from June through August of 2010, though some scenes had to be redone as late as October.
“In the beginning, I thought it was going to take maybe three weeks to shoot this whole thing,” Bateman said. “Man, did I live and learn.”
Some of the difficulties Bateman experienced included dealing with actors’ involvement in other productions as well as having to shoot the majority of the film in the summer while needing a nighttime setting for the film.
“They would get off at eight o’clock at night, and then they’d have to be at my shoot at nine because that’s the only time they could be there,” he said. “So we could only shoot from about nine o’clock at night until about one o’clock in the morning.”
Shooting the film with a single camera, a Sony EX1, Bateman said he had continuity issues from having to repeatedly shoot the same scenes from different angles.
“If your hand is here in one shot, it has to be in the same place in the next shot,” he said. “I told them in the beginning, ‘You have to be mindful of where you are in each shot – be consistent with it,
because when I go to edit, if it’s not consistent we’re going to have to shoot it again.’ All in all I think the continuity turned out well.”
Bateman said the camera he used was developed by Sony and George Lucas for the University of Southern California with capabilities well-suited to students and independent filmmakers, but it is people make the movie rather than the camera.
“Cameras are just tools,” he said. “People make the movie and they use tools to get there. You can make a really great movie with a crappy camera. If I were to do it again, I would probably do exactly the same thing, except have another one to shoot with.”
The monetary commitment fell primarily upon Bateman, though he had no set budget for the production.
“This is a credit card movie,” he said. “If I needed something, I bought it. We didn’t have a specific amount of money. It was ‘We’re going to buy what we need,’ and that’s what we did. So all the money that spent was spent on production equipment, camera, microphones – all that you need.”
The cast and crew participated for experience and participated without wages in hopes to eventually receive pay based on the film’s eventual financial success, according to Bateman
“Luckily for me, all the actors all the crew that helped, they did it for experience with the idea that if I ever recoup enough money to pay for my investment in it, then I will pay them a specific percentage of that,” Bateman said. “The hope is that one day we can make enough money from it that everyone gets paid, but we’re still working on that.”
Ashley Underwood, a junior majoring in theater performance and acting, worked as Bateman’s assistant throughout the production and said the experience was very educational and helpful to her.
“I went purely for educational purposes,” Underwood said. “I didn’t know anything about film work so I went and observed and helped in any way that Erik needed me to. I wanted to learn.” I went to
Underwood said the experience helped her learn about aspects of theater and film such as sound, lighting, camera angles and how to control the dynamics of a film using these elements. She also plans on exploring filmmaking more when in grad school.
“It introduced me to an entirely new world of theater – well, film work,” she said. “It was interesting to watch a director work and create. It definitely sparked my interest. Before, I only had the intention of doing stage work, but working with Erik made me more curious about film work and wanting to explore that option.”
Underwood first got involved with the production through her professor Richie Call and said USU students should talk to their professors to look for opportunities that provide real-world experience.
“Real experience is the best way to learn,” she said. “I went with the intention of it just being an education thing and then at the same time was able to get experience. Go talk to professors. They know a lot of what is going on. Put yourself out there. As soon as you hear about anything that’s happening, just grab onto it and go with it.”
Bateman said he has several ideas in development for another feature length film involving local legends and ghost stories and is also looking into doing a web series.
“I hope I get to do it,” he said. “This is probably not the last that everyone will hear of me.”
Bateman said the most rewarding part of the experience was the fact that he was able to do it and came to better understand what it means to “meet the challenge.”
“Instead of wanting and hoping, I did it,” he said. “The university there across from the stadium has the big bull, and underneath it says ‘Meet the Challenge,’ right? When I was in college I thought that was really corny, but what you don’t realize when you’re in college is just how difficult life is going to be when you leave. That corny saying underneath that bull took on a whole new light for me.”
Success through failure is one of the lessons Bateman learned, and he said each time he fails he sees it as an opportunity to progress, refine and correct mistakes.
“One of the greatest lessons I learned is that failure is good, because I come away with the perspective that when I fail, I’ll know exactly how not to do it the next time,” he said. “I’m really glad for that. Beforehand, I was tremendously afraid of failure. I learned that when I fail, I become better. Failure is one of the greatest things you can do, as long as you learn from it.”
Bateman said his time at USU helped him to explore many different venues and shaped his eventual career and achievements.
“At Utah State, the greatest thing that I did there was that I explored almost every major that I could,” he said. “I took classes in almost everything. You name it and I probably took a class in it. When you’re a student, you often complain about all these general classes that you have to take. I can’t tell you the value the breadth of classes has been in my experience.”
According to Bateman, standing out and being your own person is a key to success a lesson he has learned in life and through the production of “Equilibrium.”
“The key to success is not being like everybody else: The key to success is being you,” he said.
– calewp@gmail.com