"Banak the Brave (The Half-Orc II)" - Director's Notes

A crew of gamers meet up in one guy’s nerdy man cave for a session of Dungeons & Dragons.  On this fateful day, a newcomer has joined their midst, and his outlandish character, named Banak the Brave, brings gaming to a screeching halt.  As they argue among themselves, their collective vision of the confrontation plays out with cinematic flare.

“Banak the Brave” is the second installment of the party’s adventure.  However, it works as a stand-alone tale.  If you like it, go back and watch the prequel.

Other Banak Videos:
Prequel: “The Half Orc Encounter”
Banak the Brave: Gag Reel

Director's Notes:  Making a Sequel

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND

I had no specific plans to film a movie this year.  Sure,  I may have gotten around to something at some point, but nothing major.  On the contrary, I had a lot of other plans in mind, all of which require a great deal of time.  I planned to take a break from movie making for as long as it took to make some headway.

During my hiatus I was solicited to shoot a commercial for CleanerB.  While I was working on that project I pulled up the statistics on the STS YouTube channel, just out of curiosity.  The numbers that came back did not make sense to me at first.  They were way too high.  Every time we have released a film there has been a significant spike in traffic to our channel - that “opening weekend” phenomenon.  After the first week, activity settles back down to its usual white noise.

In January there was another spike in traffic that mimicked the release of another movie.  Yet, the last movie we had made was Z.A.S.A. which was released near Halloween. 

So, where was the traffic coming from?  I traced the page views to two movies.  The first was Waterpark!!!, which did not come as a surprise.  It has always brought in a sizeable volume of views each month.  The second movie was The Half Orc Encounter.  That really surprised me.  It had preformed like any other video, creating a week-long spike in August, and then tapering off.  Now, for no apparent reason, it was getting a lot of love.  People were viewing it, “liking” it, and commenting on it.  Most of our other videos had traffic, but not much in the way of audience interaction.

Screenshot from "The Half-Orc Encounter"

One viewer in particular asked what happened to the characters next?  He said we should make a sequel.  If we did, he would promote it and share it with all the subscribers on his YouTube channel.  When I visited his page, I discovered that he had 16,000 fans!  If he held true to his word, that could mean a massive surge in viewership for Stranger Things Studios.

It was early spring at the time, so I could not have filmed the movie right then and there if I had wanted to.  Over the next few months I mulled the idea over.  There were other things I really wanted to dedicate my time to instead of filming.  At the same time, if I didn’t make the movie I would be sitting on the classic “what if” and “should of, could of, would of,” trains of thought.  It seemed the only viable option was to shoot the movie and hope the man kept up his end of the deal.  Besides, it would be fun, and it was as good of an excuse to shoot a movie as any.

By early June I admitted to myself that we were going to make this happen.

ASSEMBLING THE TEAM

One of the biggest challenges with shooting a sequel is casting.  It was hard enough casting a random stand-alone film.  Typically I would write a movie, contact enough people to make it possible, and set a date to shoot it.  Leading up to then people would drop out, sometimes the day of, and I would have to rewrite on the fly, or double up roles when possible.  There were even times when I didn’t have enough actors sign on from the get-go, and we’d have to work with who we had.

The original crew, all of who had to be willing and able
to participate in order for a sequel to happen.

A sequel requires all of the original cast, no exceptions, and no substitutions.  And... we all had to be free on the same days to be able to film it.  Well, TouYa was working the second shift at work, so mid-week filming was out of the question.  Zach’s wife was due early August, so we couldn’t risk filming any later than mid-July, and there was no way I would have a script ready before the end of June.  With the Fourth of July dead center in the middle of that narrow window, there weren’t that many days available. 

I think we had two or three potential days to work with.  The style of this movie required two separate days to shoot everything - one for the fantasy set outside in the woods, one for the gamers’ den inside.  We locked down a single weekend where we would shoot the fantasy set Saturday, and the gamer set Sunday.  The only person who wasn’t free was Travis, but seeing how his characters from the first movie were all dead, it was possible make a film without his character.

HOLDING ON BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH

I work will only the most qualified
of teams when location scouting.

As I vigorously plugged time into writing a script, and the film date drew nearer, scheduling conflicts arose.  Chad discovered that an out-of-town bachelor party for one of his friend’s back home was that weekend, and he would not be able to film that Saturday.  Sunday was no longer our fallback day.  Sunday was our only day.  I figured as long as we got the fantasy set done that weekend we could pick away at the gamer set when we could.  It’s a lot easier to go into my basement than it is to trudge a solid half-hour into the woods and back again just for set-up and take down.   Unfortunately, that left us at the mercy of whatever the weather was going to end up being that day.

With only days to spare Erica approached me and warned me that she had a second filming commitment that weekend.  Seeing how it was an actual professional gig, and not a group of buddies shooting an amateur video, I agreed that it took priority.  Luckily, almost all of the filming was suppose to be that Saturday (which was already ruled out due to Chad’s other engagement), with any wrap-up scenes taking place late Sunday.  Being an outdoor set, we had to be done by then anyways because otherwise the sun would be too low in the sky.

Realizing just how tight his schedule had become, Chad started to get cold feet.  He wanted to do everything, but it was looking like a grueling weekend for him.  He contacted me, concerned that something could happen.  What if he slept through his hangover from the party and showed up late?  What if his car broke down en route back to the cities?  He asked me if I had a back-up plan in mind in case something like that happened.  If so, he felt that it would probably be better if we carried on without him and avoided the risk.

I wasn’t a fan of coming up with a back-up script; I was willing to roll the dice on the project and just have faith that everything was going to work out.  However, Chad’s concerns were contagious, and reluctantly I started conceiving of a back-up script.  It was really hard to motivate myself to do so.  After all, if everything did work out, then I had a wasted script that I had wasted valuable time on when I had an almost finished script that absolutely had to be completed.  I made a rough draft of it, and figured we’d wing it from there if it came down to it.

FILMING: DAY ONE

En route to the set, Day 1 of filming.
Pictured: Erica and Chris

By the day of filming, Erica’s schedule had become very tenuous.  She had two scenes from the other production that had to be shot that day as well.  One was in the afternoon.  The other  was that evening.  By the time I had everyone’s schedules pieced together, our shooting schedule went like this:  We would film everything that did not have Chad’s character in the morning.  He was sure that he could be on set by 11:00 or noon.  Erica had to leave at 1:30.  That gave us at least an hour and a half to film anything that had both Erica and Chad in it.  Then, after she left, we would take care of the scenes in which she wasn’t present.  If we absolutely needed to, she could come back between sets and wrap up filming with us.  It sucked, but we had no other choice.

Here’s how things fell apart instead:  Chad did not arrive until closer to noon - still in the window he said he’d be there, but leaving us with exactly an hour and a half to pull off the scenes with him and Erica.  Well, I forgot about travel time between the parking lot and the set.  I had to sprint the distance to get to him, and together we jogged back. 

In the middle of our hustle my phone rang.  One of Erica’s costars called saying that production was ahead of schedule, and she had to leave immediately.  As is, she would already be late and possibly cut from the scene.  So, just as I’m showing up with the would-be Banak, she’s on her way out.  However, she did not know the way back, so I had to walk her back to her car, and then run back to the set.  I put in a full hour of running all said and done.  Oh, I forgot to mention:  it was 95 degrees and sunny that day.  Yeah, that sucked. 

Location for the fantasy sequences.

By the time I got back to the rest of the crew, they had been standing around in the sun and wanted to get back to filming.  All I wanted to do was take a break.  I don’t feel like I ever got my energy back, and as we filmed the heat pretty well baked the energy out of everyone else.

We got a lot done, though.  We had filmed the opening scenes with Erica and TouYa, as well as the major face-off between TouYa and Chad (Aldran and Banak) that comprised the final 40% of the film.  However, that success was heavily tempered.  We were missing all of the scenes requiring a full ensemble, as well as anything that had both Erica and Chad at the same time.   Unless I figured out some loophole, or a miracle happened, there was no way to film the rest of the movie.

FILMING: DAY TWO

Even with a good third of the movie presumably impossible to shoot, we had to trudge on as if everything would work out.  Already we were rescheduling the gamer set because we had lost that Saturday.  Fortunately, Friday evenings were a possibility, so five days later we assembled at my place to film in my man-cave.   There’s not a whole lot to report from that set.   It was far more comfortable, and our time frame was far more relaxed.  We had fun, we joked and laughed.  The best material from out gag reel came out of that evening.

FILMING: DAY THREE

Lord Vader presides over Day 2 of filming - the gamers' den.

Between the first and second day of filming I had the conundrum of figuring out how to film the rest of the fantasy set.  The only solution I had come up with was a nightmare, but it was possible.  I would have to shoot the missing scenes with different sets of people at different times, and cut the footage in a way that it looked like everyone was present at the same time.  That’s movie magic for you.  The only shot I absolutely needed everyone together for was the upward angle shot from Banak’s point-of-view after he was knocked out at the end of the film.  Because the backdrop for that shot was nothing but sky, we planned to shoot it on our second day of filming quick before we assembled indoors.  All we needed was a nearby park, or possibly my backyard.

Then, something almost too good to be true happened - a third day of filming opened up.  I had written off the coming weekend because Zach had a man-shower in his honor.  However, that was only Saturday.  Sunday was wholly free!  And everyone was available!  Although, it did seemed like everyone was a bit reluctant.  I think we all had the same internal monologue running through our heads: “Okay, we’re here.  Let’s just get this done with.”  Yet, despite that resigned and determined vibe, everyone was onboard because we had all invested so much time into the movie already.  Without the footage from that third day of filming, there would have been no Banak the Brave. 

CASUALTIES 

Day Three of filming was awful!  It was another intense day of high humidity, low-90s for temperature, and constant sun.  For the sake of footage, it was a stroke of good fortune.  If it had been overcast or rainy, the continuity between Day One and Day Three footage would have been a lost cause.  That, thankfully, was not the case.  Day Three was damn near identical to our first shoot.

Does this look like a man who has been stung repeatedly by bees?

However....we didn’t have to deal with bees on our first day of filming.  Turns out, bees hang out in tall grass.  They didn’t appreciate that we were flatting their turf in order to film.  Before many of the shots where Erica is stuck laying on the ground she was being swarmed by bees and had to flee a safe distance away.  I’m glad she never got stung.  I, on the other hand, was not so lucky.  In fact, during one of those bouts in which they were swarming her, she backed away, and they came after me instead.  I got stung in the elbow.  It must have hit me in the nerve, because I was still feeling it a day or two later.  Let me tell you, that is not the best way to find out if you’re allergic to bees or not.

Chad got the worst of it.  When I was swearing up a storm from getting stung he informed us that he had already been stung in both legs.  The man was in a kilt after all, and even though he wasn’t going commando underneath (‘cause that would have been a disturbing shot when he goes to stomp TouYa’s head) the bees had no problem finding his legs and stinging him through his socks.

When we at last wrapped on filming, Chad suggested we all go out to Dairy Queen to celebrate.  TouYa was suppose to join us, but while he was en route he discovered he already had two ticks burrowed into his skin, and a third crawling across his chest; he rushed home so he could properly remove them (by burning them off) instead of coming with. 

Dairy Queen was a nice reprieve, but I couldn’t stay long.  My mother-in-law was watching my daughter and I was already an hour late to pick the kiddo up.

From what I’m told, after I left DQ Chad started to look ill.  By the time he got home he had broken out in an epic case of hives.  In hindsight, he found out it was likely due to severe dehydration, but knowing he had taken multiple bee stings as well, I was really worried for him.

On set, Day 1, Take 1

So, for anyone fantasizing about how wondrous it must be to film a fantasy movie in the wilderness, it’s not.  Not at all.

POST PRODUCTION

I spent the next six weeks editing the film while Randy - who’s way out on the east coast - wrote all the music.  I knew the movie was going to be long.  It didn’t take long in the editing room to discover that 15-20 minutes was as hopeful of a goal as I could aim for.  That’s three times as much work as I usually put into a film. 

It did not help that I came down with the worse virus I’ve ever had during that time.  I was out of commission for a solid week, suffering a rotation of every symptom I’ve ever experienced.  Then, as it was starting to wrap up, I contracted some freakish viral version of Pink Eye.  It burned to close my eyes, and it was physically impossible to keep them open for more than a few seconds.  It sucked, and I had to push the release date into September because of it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don’t usually do premieres for movies, but we did one for this film at the end of August.  Unfortunately, I did not have the movie done by then, but again, it was the only day that kind of worked.  Even then, TouYa was not able to attend because he was out of town.  I had a mostly completed film by then, and a first draft of a gag reel that went on way too long.  It was still a fun night to be had.  I usually don’t get to just chill with the cast.  Anytime I’m having a lot of fun on set it means I’m not working, which in turn means we’re not getting any filming done.

I gotta say, Banak the Brave is probably the best movie Stranger Things Studios has pulled off.  I’m amazed that we did pull it off.  Looking at the final product, it’s the first time I’ve watched something we’ve done and thought “Wow, it looks like a movie.  Not an amateur film, but a high quality production.”  I don’t know if it’s because of the nature of the movie and how a lot of it takes place in a fantasy realm, or just the energy of the music and the acting, but when the credits roll I feel like I was watching someone else’s work.  I’m not trying to gloat or anything.  If anything, I’m just awed by how everything fell into place, and amazed that we somehow lucked our way past every huddle in our path.

In the future, I’d like to break away from the farces and gimmicks and create something serious.  Comedy is great and all, but sometimes it’s a defense mechanism.  If a comedy falls apart, you can always hide behind the claim that it was suppose to be that way.  Something edgier is harder to back-peddle on.  However, if you can pull it off well, the final product would hopefully cast a different like on Stranger Things Studios, one that showed that we could create something more powerful and more real.

Oh, that back-up script, by the way:  I wrote it in such a way that it was chronologically interchangeable with the story of Banak the Brave.  Those final lines at the end of the credits are referencing that script, assuming we ever get around to making it.  Someday.  Maybe.

The mysterious figure from the prequel makes a
brief appearance at the end of the credits.