Wholphin

Written and Directed by Peter Craig

Liner Notes:

Nevel is the Devil, which is a short excerpt from one of my feature scripts currently in development titled Green, is a testament to independent filmmaking. Not the “I’ve-got-Mark Ruffalo-cast-as-the-crooked-cop” brand of independent filmmaking we’ve all come to know and love, but the other kind. The kind where you recruit your brother-in-law to do sound by giving him a three minute tutorial on how to work the sound mixer five minutes before you begin shooting. The kind where your wife does all the catering, your friends do the “gripping”, and your cinematographer ends up being credited as a stuntman. That being said, I thought it might be beneficial to mention a three simple, yet slightly obscure lessons I learned from the making of this film that could help any of you out there thinking about diving head first into making your own short.

#1: Don’t Shoot Your Movie on the Hottest Three Days on the Planet

It may not look like it from the finished product, but Nevel is the Devil was shot on one of the hottest weekends known to man (or, at least, known to Central Illinois where it was filmed). Yes, the short was mostly shot indoors, but a few scenes set outside and let’s just say a heat index of 124 degrees isn’t something to mess around with especially when you’re filming on tarred rooftops and blacktopped parking lots. Needless to say it was hot. Like the Middle East in flannel hot. Now if you can somehow manage to defy the laws of our physical universe and manipulate the weather to your liking, do it. Otherwise, change your shooting schedule or shoot entirely indoors. Your cast and crew will thank you for it.

#2: If the Script Demands a Person to Jump Off a Building, Don’t Ask Permission

No matter who you are, it’s never fun to ask someone already willing to go out of their way to let you film inside their corporate facility to cast all liability aside and extend the invitation to allow you to shoot someone jumping off their roof too. It’s just not. But if it’s needed for the final product, just do it while no one is looking and you’ll probably get away with it. For me, it comes down to the law of percentages. Most likely if you do it early enough on a Saturday morning, there’s a good chance no one will ever see you borrow a pull vault mat from a local high school, transport it to the building where you’re shooting, make your cinematographer (the only one willing to give the untested stunt the good ole’ college try) climb a ladder to the roof and hurriedly free fall one and a half stories over and over again. Of course, it’s stressful having your cast and crew duck every time a car passes, but at the end of the day, it’s about getting the shot and we got it. No permission. No harm done.

#3: Never Have Actors Fight on a Glass-Covered Desktop That’s Not Yours

This one is simple and makes complete sense if you’re in a rational state of mind, but when you’re behind schedule and all your actors are leaving on a train the next day, all rationality is thrown out the window. The script simply read, “Out of nowhere, Meredith bursts forward, jumps across the desk, and tackles Nevel.” and that’s exactly what we shot. Of course, it didn’t take long for us to realize that º inch glass doesn’t have the structural integrity to support an actress “bursting forward and jumping across it” take after take after take. Fortunately for us the gentleman who graciously allowed us to shoot in his office didn’t seem to care we broke his glass desktop and, even though we offered to pay for it, he turned us down. Crisis averted.

So there they are…the lessons I learned from making Nevel is the Devil. I’m not sure if anyone can (or should for that matter) apply these lessons to their own independent filmmaking ventures, but I thought I would throw them out just in case. On a side note, I would like to thank my wonderful cast and crew for helping make this film a reality. I know for a fact I never would’ve been able to put this short together without the help and support of my producer Rachel Williams, my cinematographer/stuntman Ben Youther and my stellar cast of Brian Boland, Kate Fry and John Ferrick. Thanks guys.

Biography:

Peter Craig has written and directed an eclectic portfolio of award-winning films which have been shown at AFI Fest, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, Los Angeles Film Festival and many more. His work has garnered further recognition as a part of national ad campaigns for Converse and Travelocity, broadcast programming on IFC, and by winning numerous awards including the BAFTA Award of Excellence (SXSW) and the Christopher Wetzel Award for Independent Comedy (Gene Siskel Film Center Chicago). Peter’s feature script, Green, which is in development, was selected for Film Independent’s Fast Track Program and Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s Lab. One of his latest features, Relativity, was purchased and is currently in development at Walden Media. Presently, Peter is writing a comedy pilot for NBC while negotiating the ever-changing dynamics of being a dutiful husband and a father of a three-year-old girl.

8 Responses to “Nevel is the Devil”

• Jen
  December 15th, 2008

  I thought this started out slow, but it built quickly and I couldn’t look away. There was something wonderful and bizarre about it. And, I absolutely loved your three tips for filmmakers. Very original and resonates with the millions of GenX minions trapped in these work situations. Bravo!
• Ernesto
  December 30th, 2008

  There’s that little bit with the cinnamon bear. Very funny. For the most part, statue kids can get a laugh out of me almost everytime. Good work on this.
• Stephen
  January 21st, 2009

  I can definitely relate to the content, I also love the generic office poster frames that are hung up around the office, definitely gives the film a more authentic feel. As far as the offbeat quirky delivery, it adds to the tension. Great work.
• bob
  April 4th, 2009

  I thought it was hilarious. I’ll tell my friends to watch this.
• Arts and Entertainment » Film fest titles announced
  June 16th, 2009

  [...] shorts “Nevel is the Devil” and “Kidney Thieves.” (Watch the latter two here and [...]
• gulliver62
  October 7th, 2009

  LOVED Nevel is the devil. A tad off on timing occasionally, but really funny. Statue kid is a nice touch. I hate my job.
• simple
  November 4th, 2009

  Heh. Actually laughed at an internet indie short. Thats a rarity. I thought Nevel was hilarious. What are you shooting on?
• Chris
  November 24th, 2009

  This felt very contrived to me. The boss seemed like a mixture of characteristics from Bill Lumbergh, the boss from Office Space, and John Scott, the boss from The Office; combining Lumbergh’s passive-aggressiveness, abuse of authority and lack of empathy for his employees, and John Scott’s feigned professionalism. Gil’s character didn’t feel fleshed out enough; he seemed like he fell somewhere between a background character and a supporting character. There’s a close-up of Gil giving a discontented sigh in the testing room in the beginning and the story ends with him seeming fed-up, rebelliously smoking a cigarette in the office and then jumping off of the roof, but he has almost no bearing on the meat of the plot that takes place in Nevel’s office. Employees jumping off the roof and the boy posing as a statue were two elements that gave this short the air of fantasy, which felt incongruous with what would have otherwise been a real-life workplace parody. If part of the aim is to identify with an audience that is discontented with their job and hates their bosses, these more fantastic elements would work against that, as they only alienate the audience.

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