Filming for the three week shoot began on September 10, 2005. Because
of the isolated nature of the characters in THE CONTROLLER, playing
an online videogame hundreds of miles apart, the shoot approach was
separated into character specific locations. “When the audience
watches the film, they won’t realize the actors were each filmed
independently, each in a separate location. The dialogue sounds amazing;
as though they were having this long, ongoing conversation while they
were playing the game, but the actors in character never actually conversed
or interacted with each other during filming,” explains Producer
Nansi Michels, “This showcases the exceptional directing by Frank
Michels.”
The first shoot schedule was five days, in which all of WILLIAM FENCE’s
(Bob Rue) scenes were shot. “Beginning at the Corporate Headquarters
of US Airways (then, America West Airlines) on the first day, we shot
the opening scene of the film and the very last scene of the film, which
portrayed the “Ciromsoft Boardroom”, “Lobby”,
and “William’s Office”. With almost a dozen extras,
and a crew of twenty, we filmed at three locations spread across the
ninth floor of their headquarters, and their lobby. It was a pretty
great way to start the shoot”, says Frank Michels.
From there, two days of filming took place at the "Game Room"
set, where WILLIAM is forced to play the fictional online videogame,
Liberation Force Earth. Then it was off to the next location for William's
"Mansion". With a one-day window and 16 script pages to
cover, it was one of the most challenging days of filming. Sixteen
hours later it was over. With limited rest, Day 5 of filming began.
Donovan's Steak & Chop House in Phoenix, Arizona, provided the
set location of the "Elegant Restaurant" for the morning
shoot. "The fact that the script called for William renting out
the entire Restaurant for just him and his wife, MELISSA FENCE (Carin
Sprague), made my job of finding extras for that day much easier,"
quips Producer Nansi Michels. Day 5 ended at the Glendale Airport
for the shot of “William's Helicopter” flight back to
his Mansion. How else would a billionaire get home after work?
It was a great feat for the Husband and Wife filmmaking team, Director
and Producer respectively, to have accomplish so much, so quickly.
And, they were just getting started.
After William's wrap, it was time for MASTER CHIEF (John Dobradenka)
to take center stage for the next two days. Having a veteran Improv
actor on set made for an entertaining shoot. Especially considering
the "Loft" location was in Tempe, Arizona, across from the
Arizona State University Sun Devils Stadium - where one of the highest
scoring ASU football games ever played, took place. Not realizing
the tradition of every score for ASU meant another round of Live Fireworks,
"There seemed to be a lot of "holding for fireworks"
from the sound director that evening, but John kept us in stitches
with jokes and one-liners", Nansi Michels recalls with a smile.
ATHENA (Lolita Sahwany) was up for the next day of filming, followed
by another day with KNARF37 (Jeff Niemoeller). The location was a
very large basement staged for two sets. “We turned half of
the basement into a "Duke University" dorm room, while the
other half was used to create "Knarf37's Cave," says Nansi
Michels.
The next amusing, and challenging, film day was the "Small Apartment"
location with PAPPAPOOH (Vince Reign) and his twin 2-year-old toddlers,
BEN and MATT (Dominic and Rocco DeMilio). Filming young children on
a limited schedule made for an adventurous shoot day. "We had
to bribe them to get, and keep, their attention. Which means we let
them throw food at Vince, a lot of messy food," says Frank Michels,
"The boys were taught not to throw food, so when the shot required
them to throw the food, they knew they shouldn't. So, when they were
given the ‘O.K.’ by Mom, they went crazy ~ it was a mess!"
FRAGMASTER’s (Tank Jones) "Brick House" location,
encompassed the final two days of the shoot. And, with the exception
of the flight pattern to Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport being shifted
during an exterior shot, it was smooth and by the numbers. A fitting
ending to an incredible production.
It should be noted that during Pre-Production several key Corporate
Placements were obtained and displayed throughout the shoot including
XBOX, MOUNTAIN DEW, FRITO-LAY, DUKE UNIVERSITY, ULTIMATE GAME CHAIR
AND RX2 MEDIA CHAIR. These placements provided THE CONTROLLER with
the real life feel ~ game characters gaming with "supplies"
and products that would actually be used in today's gaming society.
And, as an Independent Feature Film, it was great to have these Corporations
involved. "Duke University’s Legal Department came back
to us and said they would grant us their approval provided we did
not alter the script which they received. As the Writer, I thought
that was pretty awesome", says Frank Michels.
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