The yodelling mushroom people of Saskatchewan's Torch River area have
brought their musical touch to a Vancouver film festival.
The ReelFast 48 Hour Film Festival is billed as Vancouver's premier
independent filmmaking challenge.
Films can be no longer than 10 minutes and have to made within 48 hours.
Teams making films for the contest had to register starting at 5 p.m. on
Friday and had to have their film back 48 hours after their individual
registration time.
The tight deadline usually means everyone makes the film somewhere in or
close to Vancouver, but one group managed to get it all done in
Saskatchewan.
The Torch River team included Shannon Jardine, an actor and play- wright who
grew up in the area, her boyfriend and filmmaker Terry Mialkowsky, father
Bud Jardine and friends Dave McCulloch, Marvin Torwalt and Virginia Pavo.
Bud Jardine, McCulloch and Torwalt live in the Torch River area, about 130
kilometres northeast of Prince Albert.
Pavo is from Saskatoon and the other two live in Vancouver but work a lot in
Saskatchewan.
The film they made is called The Land of the Yodelling Mushroom People.
Shannon said the basic story is of two city girls who try to buy
hallucinogenic mushrooms from three country fellows and there's some
scamming attempts on both sides.
The team described the film as a comedic action movie.
The girls wind up captives at the end and are tortured with country music
yodelling.
Some friends were at the film's screening in Vancouver Wednesday night, said
Shannon, and passed on to them what the crowd's reaction was to the
organizers' introduction of the film.
"When they said 'Team Saskatchewan ' the crowd went wild," said Shannon.
Both her and Mialkowsky have been in the competition before, but on those
occasions they were in Vancouver.
This time they had friends in Vancouver do the registration on Friday and
e-mail the necessary items or their description from the inspiration
package. The script writing and planning was done Friday night and shooting
started on Saturday at about 9 a.m. It went until about 10:30 p.m., said
Shannon, while Mialkowsky did the editing that night. Friends helped compose
music to add on Sunday morning. Then Shannon and Mialkowsky drove to
Saskatoon to e-mail the film, even though Mialkowsky was doing last-minute
editing in the back of the vehicle. When it looked like e-mail would take
too long, the film was put on digital tape and couriered. Mialkowsky said
the time stamp on the courier package from when they sent it was acceptable
as their dead- line for finishing within the 48-hour timeframe.
He said they like to do "firsts" when they enter the ReelFast event and this
time was no exception. They did some of their filming from a small airplane
owned and piloted by Bud Jardine. The camera was mounted on the outside.
"We used a lot of duct tape -the old Red Green solution," said Mialkowsky .
"That's the first time in the festival they've had an aerial view," said
Shannon.
Torwalt, Bud Jardine and McCulloch all made their acting debuts in the film,
and Shannon said they all did well.
She is especially proud of her father.
"My dad was flying, and then acting, and he was cooking for all of us," said
Shannon.
Bud said he enjoyed it all.
"I haven't been in a play since I was 11 or 12," said Bud, 66.
The team didn't let a little rain on Saturday stop them, either. "It was fun
except for the rain," said Torwalt. One o the vehicles used in the film is
an old Dodge Custom Royal of Torwalt's that had sat in the bush for 31
years.
It had no glass, no floor, very little for seats, more than 100 bullet holes
in it and a huge dent in the roof from kids jumping on it for fun, said
Torwalt.
Even so, it still runs. While Torwalt was driving it in one scene after a
rainfall, he hit the brakes as directed.
."All the water that was in the dent in the roof came right in to the front
of the car and we got soaked," said Torwalt.
But the unexpected is part of the contest right from the start.
Every team that enters has to submit an "inspiration package" consisting of
a sound bite, a photograph, a location idea and a surprise. The surprise is
a random item such as a cowboy hat or rubber gloves.
Teams also have to bring a food donation that can be consumed or used as
part of the film. There must be enough for 10 people, the maximum number of
team members.
At the start of the contest, teams pick items from the other teams'
inspiration packages and must incorporate them into the film.
Torwalt said the sound bite they got from their Vancouver liaisons was the
theme song from the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool's 70th anniversary.
The team never would have chosen it on purpose, said Torwalt, but it was
just right for their movie.
"That's just the way it worked out," he said.
Besides the old Dodge, Torwalt also supplied a 53-year-old tractor with a
loader for Mialkowsky to use in the production.
"He used it for a camera crane," said Torwalt.
The films were screened in Vancouver this week, and the Saskatchewan entry
was well- received, said the event's publicist.
"I saw the film last night at one of the screenings and it was a delight,"
Thrasso Petra said Thursday in an e- mail interview from Vancouver.
"It received a huge round of applause from the crowd."
Petra said they had a record-breaking 79 teams competing this year, 77 of
which managed to complete their films.
He is fairly certain the Saskatchewan film is the only out-of- town entry
this year, which is the sixth annual for the contest.
Six judges select the top 10 to be shown at a gala screening and awards
ceremony on Saturday, also in Vancouver.
There is $30,000 in awards and prizes in categories that include best
picture, best actor and best use of the inspiration package.
An audience choice award is decided by ballot and is presented at the gala
after the screenings. Plus, two significant achievement awards are given to
individuals who personify some kind of creative excellence.
The above article was taken directly from the Prince Albert {Saskatchewan]
Daily Herald, dated August 20th,2004.
The 53 year old tractor mentioned is unusual in that it is a 55 Massey
Harris, built in 1951 and powered by a 1972 Chrysler V-8 engine and will
travel in excess of 30 MPH [50 kph] on the road. It has been further
modified by having the factory steering replaced by a hydra-static steering
unit and live dual hydraulics were also added.
The story of the old Dodge can be found elsewhere on this page
