Director of ‘Here Lies Joe’, Mark Battle gives an exclusive on the making of his film

HERE LIES JOE is a film about a deeply depressed, suicidal man named Joe Barnes who decides to attend a support group where he meets ‘Z,’ a defiant, nightmare-pixie girl who drags him on a whimsical adventure that changes the lives of the both of them.

The short film was conceived a few years ago when I pitched the idea to my co-writer, Pam Conway, whom at the time was writing her first novel. We wanted to tell a sensitive and realistic story about depression and suicide, but we also wanted to make it funny, too, but not at the expense of the subject matter. It took a long time to get that balance right and it was something we were constantly checking ourselves against; having both suffered with depression in our lives, we both knew how serious this was, however, twenty minutes of dreariness was something we weren’t interested in, either. Ultimately, the film is not about depression or suicide, but about hope.

We’ve been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to share the film with audiences around the world, from Spain, Germany, NYC, and most recently, California at the Napa Valley Film Festival,. We’ve had many people approach us with their very personal stories, thanking us for making the film. That’s really the greatest reward.

HERE LIES JOE rough cut complete!!! Now for the real work …#hereliesjoe #indiefilm pic.twitter.com/ivN5QSjhfC

— Sweven Films (@swevenfilms) August 4, 2015

indieactivity: How did you develop ‘your film’?
Mark: As with every film I’ve written, development is a long, winding, slow and challenging process. The screenplay is the most important part and the most grueling. It can be a very organic process. For HERE LIES JOE, I was very fortunate to have a co-writer to bounce ideas off of, play mental ping-pong with for a couple of years. We went through a few versions of the script before tossing them aside. Finally, we got it right, but it took time.

I sometimes latch onto a music track and take long walks, meditate on the music, the lyrics, the flavor of the song, in hopes of finding those ‘ah-ha!’ moments. I’m almost always stuck in a nasty narrative tangle. It’s a lot like trying to patch a hole in a boat; as soon as you plug up one hole, three others appear and the process starts all over again.

For this film, that track was ‘Razor Love’ by Neil Young. The title may seem a bit on the nose, but that was accidental. There was just something about the tone of that song that put me into the space I needed to be. I must have listening to it 400 times by the end.

indieactivity: How was it financed?
Mark: HERE LIES JOE was both financed personally and with gofundme. We had a tremendous amount of support from fans, friends and family that were able to contribute and make the film possible. There’s no way we could have made this without their help. Most artists hate asking for money, but this project had a really powerful and important message that we felt asking was justified. We were amazed at everyone’s generosity – and if anyone who helped fund the film happens to be reading this, thank you, again! We love all of you.

indieactivity: How long was your pre-production?
Mark: Years! I’m a little embarrassed by how long it takes me to finish a film, but I can’t touch a camera until everything feels right. It just takes me a very long time and I’m absolutely impossible to be around during those lulls.

indieactivity: What was your rehearsal process and period?
Mark: For HERE LIES JOE, we cast New York-based actor Dean Temple as the lead. I had worked with him previously on ‘The Convict,’ which was another short film produced in New Hampshire.

Dean is such a great talent and we share the same work ethic and passion for film.

Andi Morrow, who plays the enigmatic and flippant ‘Z’ in the film, was much harder to find. We knew that the film would collapse without the right actress, and it took a long time to find her.

As with most low-budget short films, everyone is so busy with their day jobs that we didn’t have a lot of time for rehearsals, so we just dove into everything the first day of shooting. By that time, we had already had many conversations before production about who the characters were, what they were about and where they were going that everything was pretty natural when we started.

Dean had worked with Andi before, so they had already established a rapport and that wonderful chemistry was already there.

indieactivity: You shot the film in days. How long were your days?
Mark: I shot my previous short, ‘The Convict,’ here in my home state of New Hampshire in the dead of winter and swore that I would never, ever shoot during that time of year again. HERE LIES JOE was shot in 6 days in the blistering heat of summer, many days, of which, were spent crammed in a small car without air conditioning and the windows up. I swore, after that, that I would never, ever shoot in the Summer ever again.

My new film, ‘Harmful,’ is shooting this fall, so, I am learning.

The days are always long and exhausting, but that’s normal when you’re a skeleton crew of two or sometimes three.

indieactivity: Did the tight shooting schedule make it harder or easier? How did it affect performances?
Mark: I try not to shoot more than a scene or two a day, that’s why, I think, I tend to take longer than other filmmakers. I work fast with the camera, but I love to get as many angles as possible and several takes per shot. For this film, the heat was the worst of it.

indieactivity: What was the experience like of working with such a small shooting crew (?)?
Mark: I’ve actually gotten used to small crews and enjoy how agile it can be. Sometimes, It’s just myself, a sound recordist and a makeup artist, and, other times it’s sometimes just me, running around with a camera, tripping and swearing as I get tangled in sound equipment – haha. Sometimes I think about how great it would be to sit behind a monitor and just direct, but then I wonder if I’d get bored.

It’s not unusual for me to go without sleep during shooting days; it’s a bit maddening but it’s something I love and have no control over.

‘Z’ in her sanctuary. #hereliesjoe pic.twitter.com/7Zeu3a32VD

— Sweven Films (@swevenfilms) July 30, 2015

indieactivity: The film looks stunning. How did you get such a good look when shooting so fast?
Mark: Thank you! I think that can happen when you have the luxury of time, which, is why I don’t like to overload the day with too many scenes. I like to let each scene breath, which allows us to breath and make good decisions. Sometimes, you don’t always have the budget to score the most amazing locations, so, you have to get creative and play with angles and try to turn an ordinary location into something more interesting. It’s my favorite thing to do on set.

indieactivity: Did you look at rushes? On what format?
Mark: We don’t usually look at dailies while we’re shooting and many times, the actors prefer to get my thumbs up over scrutinizing their own work. Some flat out refuse to look at rushes for fear that it will influence their decisions adversely. It’s also a time issue, and sometimes we just don’t have the luxury to stand around and look at everything.

indieactivity: What were the advantages and disadvantages in the way you worked?
Mark: We tend to work fast and light, and, I think we can get a lot done in a short amount of time and maintain some semblance of quality in the finished product. As I write, direct, operate the camera and edit the film, it also keeps the overhead extremely manageable and I don’t have to worry about someone else holding my film hostage because they’re not getting paid what their worth and it isn’t their passion project.

Every indie filmmaker suffers through these same pain points and I think I can confidently speak for many of us when I say that in the beginning, the more you can do yourself, the better off you’ll be – both creatively and financially. I think Rodriguez said it best during his amazing 10 minute film school: “technical people can’t learn to be creative but creatives can learn to be technical.” That’s what I’ve always tried to do.

One of the greatest downsides to this is that I’m usually doing too many things, and, consequently, my directing can suffer. It would be amazing to have a full crew one of these days so I can sit and JUST direct — with the option to run out and pick up a camera if I can too antsy.