Bertino no stranger to Rogue

Studio stalks thriller pact from 'Stranger' writer

By MICHAEL FLEMING (Variety)

"The Strangers" writer-director Bryan Bertino has scared up a deal to write and direct two more thrillers for Rogue Pictures, the genre arm of Focus Features.

The modestly budgeted "Strangers" has grossed $52 million at the B.O.; Bertino's deal does not include a sequel.

Bertino, who will earn seven figures for writing and directing each title, will start the pact with "Black," a character-driven thriller with supernatural elements. The film will be produced by Michael Connolly under his Mad Hatter Entertainment banner. Connolly is Bertino's manager.

Bertino will follow with "Alone," a thriller Rogue had already been developing. Bertino will rewrite it with an eye to direct.

Separately, Bertino is writing the thriller "Green Eyes" for Paramount and producer Scott Rudin, who made a pitch deal with Bertino right after "The Strangers" sold to Focus and the town buzzed about the script. Rogue co-prexy Andrew Rona then gave Bertino the opportunity to direct, which has created his current momentum.

Moving Shots

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From Rags to Writer on the Back of Fear

by Jay A. Fernandez, Special to The Times
September 20, 2006


Two years ago, 28-year-old Bryan Bertino was just a gaffer on commercials and low-budget independent films, hoping to accumulate enough hours to get into the electrician's union.

Smash cut to today, and the Texas-born handyman has been reborn as a newly minted writer-director, with a go picture, "The Strangers," at Universal, which begins shooting in three weeks in a desolate stretch of South Carolina on a $10-million budget. Liv Tyler scored the female lead after actresses as diverse as Thandie Newton and Oscar winner Charlize Theron circled the project looking for a dark suspense picture to give their careers a shot of adrenaline.

Bertino's offering ingeniously mixes highbrow and low, realistic romantic turmoil and in extremis primal terror. On their way back from a wedding (in February!), a couple in their mid-20s decides to forgo the hotel for a night in the house in which the man's family grew up. In the midst of all the relationship turmoil that milestone events such as this stir up, three extremely antagonistic strangers intrude (one of whom will look like 19-year-old Aussie supermodel Gemma Ward, in her unfashionably hostile acting debut). Who gets to keep the "Zoolander" DVD quickly becomes the least of the couple's worries.

The screenplay is deft, economical and dread-filled; it couples a detective's ominous voiceover catalog of items found at the scene with the disturbing imagery of the horrible events' aftermath. The script then quickly shifts back in time to the couple's middle of the night entrance in mid-fight, which provides a realistic, original twist on the standard introduction of the victims. With plot and thematic elements that evoke the claustrophobic thrillers "Open Water," "Straw Dogs" and "Panic Room," the intense experience that follows begs each moviegoer to wonder, "How would I behave if it were me?"

"What I wanted to do was focus in on their relationship and then take this outside force that is more of a traditional horror idea of bad people and play off of it," Bertino says. "I just tried to think about what I was most frightened of, and the moments that I'm most frightened are my girlfriend waking me up in the middle of the night and saying, 'I think there's someone in the living room.' So the whole idea came about as, 'What if you went into the living room and there was somebody there?' "

Bertino had submitted the script for a Nicholl Fellowship, a $30,000 prize awarded to unproduced writers by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "The Strangers" got knocked out in the quarterfinals, but Bertino landed a manager and a meeting with Vertigo Entertainment, whose film "The Grudge" had just opened to $39 million. The sit-down was encouraging enough for him to take the risk and quit his job, and within a few days he sold the script to Universal for low six figures against mid-six figures if the film was made. "It was enough that I didn't have to work as a grip anymore," Bertino says.

His good fortune grew when music video auteur Mark Romanek, writer-director of the dark drama "One Hour Photo," refused to make the film for less than $40 million. (He insisted on building the neighborhood on a soundstage that he could control so he wouldn't have to resort to computer-generated cold-weather breath.) So the studio offered the novice screenwriter the gig instead. Bertino will have to fit his directorial debut into a packed schedule that includes writing the sharp, genre-blending horror scripts he owes Hollywood mega-producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Scott Rudin.

To celebrate, Bertino purchased his first suit and a TV.

Camera Angles

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Cheapest 35 mm DOF Adapter

"This is propably the cheapest dof-adapter you can make. See it as a 'lensbaby' for your videocamera, with a poetic touch.. go out and have fun..."
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Lighting

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Understanding How to Light for Film
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Set Terminology

86 IT – Something needs to be removed from the scene (i.e. a prop, a piece of set dressing)

10-4 – An affirmative response. It usually follows a question such as 'Did you copy that?'

10-100 – Indicates a cast or crew person has left set to go to the washroom

ABBY - The second-to-last shot of the day. Named after production manager Abby Singer who would frequently call "last shot of the day" only to have the director ask for more takes.

ACTION – the Director’s signal that actors should begin performing

BACK TO ONE - A cue for all actors and crew to return to their original positions for a shot

BACKGROUND - A cue for extras to begin their designated actions

BALLAST - A device that regulates the current from the generator to an HMI light. No one but an Electric should ever approach a ballast because they are extremely dangerous

BLOCKING – the activity where a scene is walked though by the actors under the Director’s supervision. All crew on set usually observe this practice since it often provides vital information for shooting. Actors may or may not be in costume

BOGEY - Refers to a person who has breached the set and is walking through the shot

BRICK - A battery (especially for walkies)

BUTT CANS – (Usually) metal buckets with sand for depositing cigarette butts on set

CALL SHEET - A listing of which actors will be required for which scenes, and when they will be required

CHECKING THE GATE – Called by the 1st AD to indicate the 1st Camera Assistant will be checking the camera casing for any debris that could spoil the shot. If the casing is clean, the 1st Camera Assistant responds with “THE GATE IS GOOD” and set-up begins on the next shot

CIRCUS - The area where the trucks, catering trucks, tents and trailers are set up on the filming location

CLAPPER - The device used to mark in and out points of a scene

COPY - Confirmation that someone has heard a message over the walkie. Also used in the phrase 'Copy that'

COVERAGE - Refers to a variety of different shots filmed for a scene. They are used in the editing process to create pace and variety

CRAFTY - Crafts service

CROSSING – A warning said by anyone who must cross in front of the camera during a set-up. It alerts the Camera Operator.

CUT - The Director will yell this when he wants the camera, sound and action to stop

DAILIES - Crewmembers who are brought in on a day-to-day basis as required. DAILIES can also refer to the footage shot on any given day to be regularly reviewed by the Director, 1st Ad, DOP and Producers

DEAL MEMO - A crew contract made with the Production Company that outlines salary, screen credit and kit rental fee

DOLLY – A platform with wheels that has a mount for the camera

EYELINE – The eyeline of an actor (i.e. the direction he or she is looking) while performing. All crew should avoid the actor's eyeline at all times

FLASHING – A warning issued by anyone taking a Polaroid photograph on set. All crew should stay out of the way and not move anything until after the Polaroid has been taken

FIRE WATCH – The duty of watching equipment and sets while the cast and crew are on lunch break

FIRST TEAM – The actors in the scene

GENNY - A generator/mechanical engine that produces energy from fuel (usually diesel)

HONEYWAGON - The film trailer that contains the washrooms, AD office and other portable rooms

HOT SET - Refers to a set in progress where nothing should be touched

KILL THAT - Make it stop. Usually refers to a loud noise that is disrupting the set
(i.e. “Kill that lawnmower”)

LOCK IT UP - Called out by the 1st AD to indicate all noise, traffic, activity or action should be halted as shooting is about to begin

MARTINI SHOT - Last shot of the day's shoot, because the next shot is in a martini glass.

M.O.S - The scene does not require any sound to be recorded. It comes from the German
expression “Mit out sound” which means "Without Sound"

POINTS - A warning (usually called out by grip) that something pointy and dangerous is passing through

ROLL CAMERA - Called by the 1st AD to start the camera rolling

SPEED – Called by the Sound Mixer when the sound recorder is rolling and ready to record

STANDBY - A request/order for a messenger to wait until the recipient of a message is able to speak (usually used over walkies)

STINGER - A heavy-duty electrical cord or cable

TURN OVER - Same as ROLL CAMERA

TURNING AROUND – the camera will be shooting from the opposite angle

WALKIE – A walkie-talkie used by most crew on set to communicate with one another

WALKIE CHECK – Indicates someone is checking to see their walkie-talkie is functioning

WATCH YOUR BACK – A warning said by anyone coming though or around the set with an
object that could potentially hit someone

WHAT'S YOUR 20? - What is your exact location? It usually means someone is looking for you

WINDOW SHOT - The last shot of the day

WINNIE – One of the large trailers or Winnebagos on set that can house a cast member, make-up and hair, wardrobe, the AD office or sometimes the production office

WRAP - When shooting is done for the day

- set terminology and language
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