CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Fahrenheit 451 for the copyrights. Bradbury finally relented, and even sent Rea appreciative letters after the film was finished this year. Directed by Rea and shot on film by Jacobson, Patterns of Thread is the simple story of three old ladies who sit knitting on a porch reminiscing as they wait for a mysterious "experiment" to take place. The film concludes with an impressive nuclear explosion, computer animated by Jones.
'The Empty Acre'
On a cool October morning in Baldwin City, Rea is shooting his Titanic scene. The mysterious force is about to swallow the
town's police station, and the chief of police is going down with the ship. Ari Bavel, a veteran of short films shot in the Lawrence area who appeared in A Few Miles Back, is dressed up in a smart police uniform, playing the chief. Rea recounts how he and Jones were walking down Mass Street one afternoon. Rea said to Jones, "We need a police uniform." A man passing them on the sidewalk turned and said, "I'm an ex-cop."
Between takes Rea swivels in an armchair, keeping his actors in good spirits as the crew sets up lights. When John Waters, filmdom's "Pope of Trash," visited Lawrence in April 2002, Rea and some of the faculty at Oldfather went out to dinner
Rea discusses a scene with one of his stars. Independent filmmakers often find potential actors at acting agencies, which keep thick portfolios filled with head shots.
with him. Instead of discussing Waters'infamous early films like Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble, all Rea wanted to talk about was the director's guest appearance on The Simpsons.
Tom Davis, who's playing Deputy McCurry, says of Rea's directing style: "Very anal-retentive, but properly so." Rea is famous for shooting many takes. Davis was found in the same place most amateur actors are found: At an acting agency in a thick portfolio with page after page of wannabe stars.
For all of the excitement on display in those behind-the-scenes documentaries that help sell DVDs these days, filmmaking is mostly about sitting around and waiting. On the set, an arcane conversation is taking place between Jones and crewmember Bobby McGee about how to film a shot where sunlight is flooding in through a window. Without the proper filter on the camera or jell on the window, instead of natural colors the footage will show up with a blue tint. This is just one of the many small headaches that make up the filmmaking process. Like most independent filmmakers who can't afford to pay their crews to show up, Rea's biggest obstacle is getting people to the set. "Once we start shooting, it's so relaxing," he says.
Career advice
As his crew readies for the last of the day's shooting, Rea smokes cigarettes on the sidewalk in downtown Baldwin. He has only one bit of advice to give to prospective filmmakers. "Just do it," he says. "People always talk about it and never go out and do it. We don't talk about it."
The Scary Short Films of Patrick Rea
Movie: Cell-ular
**Plot:** The film explores the cutt of communication created by cell phones.
Where you can see it: Look for updates at seno-reality.com
Movie: Disturbances
**Plot:** Angela Carver is haunted by two young boys who turn shockingly violent.
Movie: A Few Miles Back
boys who can jam it
Where you can see it: Fangoria Blood Drive DVD
**Plot:** A drunk driver meets the ghost of the girl he ran over the previous night.
Where you can see it: Look for updates at seno-
reality.com
**Movie:** A man and his wife
**Plot:** A young man cuts off his own finger while
chopping up lettuce. In a clever homage to the se-
vered-hand sequences in Sam Raimi's The Evil
Dead, the finger begins to chase the guy around
his apartment.
Movie: A Man and His Finger
his apartment.
Where can you see it: Fangoria Blood Drive DVD
Movie: The Walls
Plot: A tenant discovers the walls of his new apartment have feelings.
apartment have seen it
Where you can see it: Hollywood Scarefest DVD