John Ross
Absent Comrade
I was involved in a VERY low budget independent Western released in 2002 called DEFIANCE. Go to Bad Movie Buff - Defiance review page 1 for a hilarious in-depth review.
After you've read that, read the email below that I just sent to the guy that runs the bad movie site the review is on. If you have Netflix, you can stream the movie to your computer for free.
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Sir:
I have just finished reading you four-page review of DEFIANCE and the tears are running down my face. This should interest you as I had a small part in the movie and was (I think) responsible for it being a little better than it otherwise would have been.
DEFIANCE was (I think) originally a school project for the director Doveed Linder. I'm not sure what his original vision of the film was, because when I got involved, they had been filming off and on for well over a year. I think the project might have started as a short subject that the director decided to expand into a feature length (almost) film when it appeared to him that more financial backing might be there. One person who provided major cash backing was Tom Burnham, who played the part of the "Old Rancher" in the film, a nonspeaking role IIRC. He got partial producer credit and I think his financial contribution was $5000. Tom is a gun collector with a SERIOUS collection of original Old West guns of the mid-to-late 19th century. He served as the film's Gun Wrangler (or whatever it's called), providing well over half the guns used in the film, loading all the blanks, and making sure all guns were always safe on the set. He did an excellent job of this. It pained me a little that you thought his gunshots sounded like rocks thrown in a trash can.
Tom is a personal friend of mine and he is the one that recruited me for involvement in the film. When I was a teenager I was a (regional) champion speed shooter, including out of western-style rigs, and Tom thought I would be an asset to the project. He and Doveed recruited me in a bar. My hope was to coach the other actors in gun handling and fast draw to make them look competent onscreen, but unfortunately most of the shooting scenes had already been filmed by the time I was brought in. That's why you seldom see the actor draw and fire the gun--they filmed it, but had to edit it out because everyone was so clumsy. I showed them I could shoot dynamite out of the air with rifle or revolver, and they were originally excited about me doubling for Nathan Cross (Tony Twist) doing this, to show what a fearsome gunman he was. Unfortunately, at that time my weight had ballooned to over 300 pounds and I was too fat to stand in for Tony, no matter what camera angle was used. Hollywood directors would have a coronary at the idea of using live ammunition and real dynamite on a movie set, but we were on my land and I had the proper licenses, so it would have been fun if we could have pulled it off for the final cut.
The small acting part I had was the gun dealer with the beard and big black hat who is exasperated by the incompetence of the gang they are trying to organize. However, my main contribution to the film was something else. The story was originally set just after the Civil War, in 1867. I told them I refused to be involved in any western project set in a year that was before the guns they were using had been invented. That's a pet peeve of moviegoing gun guys. Many of the guns used in the movie had first been made in 1873, so I made Doveed change the caption at the beginning of the film from "Missouri 1867" to "Missouri 1874" or maybe it was 1876, I forget which. It is unlikely that in a small town so many of the men would have state-of-the-art weaponry that was only a year old, but it would not have been impossible.
The entire movie was made with almost everyone working for free and some who contributed money in return for a small acting part. Cash was only spent for equipment rentals, film costs, processing, editing, etc. None of the actors got paid to my knowledge, and all of the locations, horses, saddles, catering, and such were donated by friends who wanted to see the film succeed. The main sound guy, who also played the guitar music you didn’t care for, worked for free as well. The final scene (filmed before I became involved) was, as you suspected, a BIG part of the budget. They brought in Eric Stanze for that, and he was not cheap. I think the entire movie cost $130,000 to make in 2001 dollars; that figure meaning stuff they actually had to write checks for.
When I saw the finished product, it was much better than I had feared. Skilful editing had made clumsy onscreen gun handling look smooth and fast. My biggest beef was that all the clothes looked too new. That was because all the actors had to provide their own wardrobe items, and nobody thought to distress the fabric until after many of the scenes had been shot. A few of us had older, worn stuff.
All in all, I had terrific fun being involved with this project, and found out that Tony Twist is a great guy to be around. As to the finished product being as terrible as some people have claimed, I’ll say this: I would rather sit through ten consecutive screenings of DEFIANCE than one showing of either BLAR WITCH PROJECT or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.
Final fun fact: I had a party where Tom Burnham was in attendance. When people found out he was co-producing a western movie, a woman guest in her 40s asked if there were any parts available. Tom replied, “No, we’ve already cast all the old whores, but some of the young whore parts are still open. Have your daughter give me a call.”
Fun times.
__________________
After you've read that, read the email below that I just sent to the guy that runs the bad movie site the review is on. If you have Netflix, you can stream the movie to your computer for free.
==================================================
Sir:
I have just finished reading you four-page review of DEFIANCE and the tears are running down my face. This should interest you as I had a small part in the movie and was (I think) responsible for it being a little better than it otherwise would have been.
DEFIANCE was (I think) originally a school project for the director Doveed Linder. I'm not sure what his original vision of the film was, because when I got involved, they had been filming off and on for well over a year. I think the project might have started as a short subject that the director decided to expand into a feature length (almost) film when it appeared to him that more financial backing might be there. One person who provided major cash backing was Tom Burnham, who played the part of the "Old Rancher" in the film, a nonspeaking role IIRC. He got partial producer credit and I think his financial contribution was $5000. Tom is a gun collector with a SERIOUS collection of original Old West guns of the mid-to-late 19th century. He served as the film's Gun Wrangler (or whatever it's called), providing well over half the guns used in the film, loading all the blanks, and making sure all guns were always safe on the set. He did an excellent job of this. It pained me a little that you thought his gunshots sounded like rocks thrown in a trash can.
Tom is a personal friend of mine and he is the one that recruited me for involvement in the film. When I was a teenager I was a (regional) champion speed shooter, including out of western-style rigs, and Tom thought I would be an asset to the project. He and Doveed recruited me in a bar. My hope was to coach the other actors in gun handling and fast draw to make them look competent onscreen, but unfortunately most of the shooting scenes had already been filmed by the time I was brought in. That's why you seldom see the actor draw and fire the gun--they filmed it, but had to edit it out because everyone was so clumsy. I showed them I could shoot dynamite out of the air with rifle or revolver, and they were originally excited about me doubling for Nathan Cross (Tony Twist) doing this, to show what a fearsome gunman he was. Unfortunately, at that time my weight had ballooned to over 300 pounds and I was too fat to stand in for Tony, no matter what camera angle was used. Hollywood directors would have a coronary at the idea of using live ammunition and real dynamite on a movie set, but we were on my land and I had the proper licenses, so it would have been fun if we could have pulled it off for the final cut.
The small acting part I had was the gun dealer with the beard and big black hat who is exasperated by the incompetence of the gang they are trying to organize. However, my main contribution to the film was something else. The story was originally set just after the Civil War, in 1867. I told them I refused to be involved in any western project set in a year that was before the guns they were using had been invented. That's a pet peeve of moviegoing gun guys. Many of the guns used in the movie had first been made in 1873, so I made Doveed change the caption at the beginning of the film from "Missouri 1867" to "Missouri 1874" or maybe it was 1876, I forget which. It is unlikely that in a small town so many of the men would have state-of-the-art weaponry that was only a year old, but it would not have been impossible.
The entire movie was made with almost everyone working for free and some who contributed money in return for a small acting part. Cash was only spent for equipment rentals, film costs, processing, editing, etc. None of the actors got paid to my knowledge, and all of the locations, horses, saddles, catering, and such were donated by friends who wanted to see the film succeed. The main sound guy, who also played the guitar music you didn’t care for, worked for free as well. The final scene (filmed before I became involved) was, as you suspected, a BIG part of the budget. They brought in Eric Stanze for that, and he was not cheap. I think the entire movie cost $130,000 to make in 2001 dollars; that figure meaning stuff they actually had to write checks for.
When I saw the finished product, it was much better than I had feared. Skilful editing had made clumsy onscreen gun handling look smooth and fast. My biggest beef was that all the clothes looked too new. That was because all the actors had to provide their own wardrobe items, and nobody thought to distress the fabric until after many of the scenes had been shot. A few of us had older, worn stuff.
All in all, I had terrific fun being involved with this project, and found out that Tony Twist is a great guy to be around. As to the finished product being as terrible as some people have claimed, I’ll say this: I would rather sit through ten consecutive screenings of DEFIANCE than one showing of either BLAR WITCH PROJECT or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.
Final fun fact: I had a party where Tom Burnham was in attendance. When people found out he was co-producing a western movie, a woman guest in her 40s asked if there were any parts available. Tom replied, “No, we’ve already cast all the old whores, but some of the young whore parts are still open. Have your daughter give me a call.”
Fun times.
__________________
