Short Film THE BROTHERS

Here is a short film, The Brothers, to get you in the mood for late-spring/summer.  It's a small film about judgment.  The story is here.  Adapting it for film was interesting.  The story didn't translate exactly and then, shooting it for zero-budget in two days with three other 'crew' (and mostly just one other), an untrained cast of kids and a dog, the shoot didn't translate exactly to the script.

It was not only interesting to make the film.  It was fun.

It was fun to build because of the story, of course.  It was mostly fun because we shot it with local kids and a dog, which is not easy.  My son, Callum, stepped up.  An older boy in town, also a Callum, was great.  He is I believe going to pursue film acting as a career (not just because of this experience).  We met the older Callum when he was my son's 'reading buddy' when our Cal was in kindergarten.  The other 'older boys' are kids I coached in little league and they all took it very seriously, worked hard, had fun on the ski jump and really paid attention and worked.  Young Park Crist plays the younger brother.  He is great.  I never coached him in baseball but wish I did.  He paid attention and did awesome.  It was funny too because he was so serious during the shoot and then became this goofy little kid again.  Actors.  His parents were cool with the script, too, which was nice ("okay, Park, you can say the word while filming but normally you can't! ...").

The crew was terrific.  We shot the film in a few days and needed to drive all over Vermont because I had specific places in mind for each shot.  It was hard work.  Christian Clark, who shot the film, is now a dear friend.  He did a beautiful job.

The festival thing was terrific.  Capalbio was an unforgettable experience where we met such great friends.  Being there with my son, 'the actor,' who was so into the movies at the festival and loved the people we met, was just unbelievable.

Last thing -- I recorded the sound as we shot and feel it colors the piece well.  Maybe listen with headphones ....

There's more descriptor about the film on the Vimeo website but mostly just enjoy the film.  Share it all you'd like and let me know what you think.



David Rocchio lives, works and writes in Stowe, Vermont. (c) 2012 David Rocchio