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The initial source of inspiration for “My Backyard Was A Mountain” (originally titled “Palmarejo”) came close to writer-director Adam Schlachter’s heart: At the tender age of seven, Adam had to leave behind his hometown of Palmarejo, Puerto Rico, for the uncertain life he would lead in the United States. Although the story of Adan is a fictional one, several elements of Adam’s own experience came to play in the screenplay. The making of the film became not only a passionate challenge for the young filmmaker, but it emerged as a truly personal journey for the entire thesis team, including producer Austin Wakefield, cinematographer Matyas Erdely, editor Stephanie Hernstadt, and composer Carlos Jose Alvarez, who all connected to the story’s universal themes.  From the very beginning, Adam and Matyas wanted the visuals to evoke memories of the past in a subtle, poetic way that would not bring too much attention to its form or style. Adam shared aged photographs from his childhood as a place to start. Although faded, the photos had the ideal look that the team wanted to replicate. In order to achieve the warm, faded colors of these photographs, Adam and Matyas decided to shoot the film on Kodak Super-16mm film for a high-definition finish and a grainy 35mm blow-up print.  The first formidable challenge for the production was to find locations throughout an arid Southern California of the new millennium that would reflect the tropical Puerto Rico of the 1950’s. Scheduling was limited to just after the Los Angeles rainy season to ensure its lush, green mountain region could authentically pass for the rural Caribbean island. Although California suffered the wettest winter in fifty years, this actually somewhat aided the March 2005 shoot. Dealing with too much of a good thing, the production had to shift shooting days due to torrential downpours, floods, and even a rare Hollywood hailstorm. But in the end, the weather provided the verdant landscape the film required.  A second major challenge was the limited resources that were available to spend on location fees. The public and private property to be used had to cost almost nothing: Breathtaking mountaintops in the Los Angeles National Forest, weathered dirt roads in Malibu Creek State Park, ocean views on park lands in Topanga Canyon, and an epic valley on the edge of Placerita Canyon, Santa Clarita. The cooperation of various film offices in these municipalities with Austin and production manager Chris Cory was ideal. The ambitious grandeur of the film could not have been achieved without their support.  Whether from the repertoire of actors he has established from previous films (Leily Sanchez and Ada Luz Pla), to a love of taking risks with non-actors (Andrew Aguilar in the lead), to the open casting call (Johnny Ray Rodriguez), Adam chose actors whom he instinctually felt were right for each role. It was a real treat when Adam found out one of his favorite Latin-American actors, Daniel Lugo, was also interested in playing a pivotal role in the film. And although Adam was well aware of the two cardinal sins of filmmaking (the use of kids and animals), he was eager to face the challenge of shooting this story with sixteen children, three chickens, two horses, and one goat and its stand-in.  Having lived and breathed Puerto Rico during an impressionable time of his life, Adam’s obsessive pursuit for authenticity in all of the film’s departments was aided with the discovery of two sixty-year old Puerto Rican films thought lost forever to film decay, “Juan Sin Seso” and “El Gallo Pelon”. These were the center of his focus in the rehearsal process because they served as guidelines for the speech and behavior of rural civilians, not to mention production design and cinematography. Adam spent one month training the actors in not only understanding the difference between Puerto Rican and their native Spanish dialect, but understanding the difference between the urban Puerto Rican of today, the rural Puerto Rican of old, and the Neuyorican from the Bronx, New York City.  The art department was led by a fortunate last-minute addition to the production design team, Javier Mora. An experienced filmmaker and talented painter from Madrid, he and two assistants, Cassie Ray Allebaugh and Scott Enge, worked diligently over a one-week period to construct two free-standing structures in remote locations and three interiors in a sound stage. One cabin in particular was an arduous challenge to erect because the location was so remote (one of the highest peaks in Los Angeles) that the crew had to physically haul the raw materials up-and-down the mountain. They also found creative ways to work on a very tight budget, creating an aged, paint wash for the sets out of mud. As for make-up challenges, special effects make-up artists Karen Stein and Luis Garcia were consulted with to age some actors in the film by as many as twenty to forty years.  Stephanie and Adam spent a few weeks editing the various cuts of the film on an AVID Symphony. Choices made, such as reordering some scenes, made sure the story unfolded elegantly, beautifully, and seamlessly, despite uncontrollable continuity challenges presented by different weather and light conditions. (Heavy rain during an exterior shoot required creative rewriting on set and creative editing in post.) Sound designers Mike Gitman and Jeremy Grody worked closely with Adam to achieve a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack that was consistent with the overall aesthetic of a quiet film with naturalistic sounds.  Composing music was quite a soul-searching adventure for Carlos. When he and Adam spoke about the musical needs of the film back in December 2004, they both agreed that original songs beyond a traditional score would play an essential role in the telling of the story and in transporting the audience to 1950’s Puerto Rico. Because Carlos had played Cuban music since he was a child and because he had Puerto Rican musician colleagues, he had already been introduced to the rich and wonderful music styles the film would need. However, after seeing images of the film, Carlos embarked on a spiritual journey to the mountains of Puerto Rico and discovered what was to be his inspiration for the songs and the score. He created original music that sounds as if it had been made in that specific place and time. But, believe it or not, it was all recorded in Boston in 2005.  Before and after principal photography wrapped, an overwhelming grassroots effort, including an extensive letter-writing campaign, the creation of a promotional DVD and brochure, and a comedy fundraiser, “Save Chivo”, paved the way to raising the necessary budget funds to make the film possible. With the help of all thesis supporters, including executive producers Nikki Dalmau and Tayna Rivera, and some handsome production grants from the likes of the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation, the Caucus for Television Producers, Writers, and Directors Foundation, and the Mulicultural Motion Picture Association, the project was finished on 35mm film. In partnership with FotoKem, Adam, Matyas, and color timer Rich Semer have created beautiful prints from a Super-16mm blow-up. The last stages of post-production skillfully fine-tuned the look of the film ever closer to the initial inspiration: The faded photos from Adam’s childhood.  “My Backyard Was A Mountain” was a challenging film to create, but strength of the story kept everyone focused. Bringing the tale to life was a true labor of love for its ambitious and passionate creators. |