The first couple of years after graduating from college can often be viewed as one giant question mark. And though recent graduates often have the tools to succeed, it is rare for many of them to come out of the gates swinging, especially in economic times like these. And yet for some reason, Josh Clayton ’08 never got the “lower your expectations and bide your time” memo. In less than 2 years, Josh has transitioned effortlessly from student to filmmaker. He ran with the success of his first short film “The Bull” (which screened at the Maryland film festival in Baltimore), and is now happy to say that he has completed his very first feature film entitled THE VIRGINS.
The film was shot around Josh’s home state of North Carolina and focuses on “a young woman [who] weaves a moral fabric of innocence that encompasses both her army boyfriend and her best friend.” Full Synosis Here
THE FILM TRIBE (TFT): Why did you choose to do a film about this subject matter?
JOSH CLAYTON (JC): I work on multiple film ideas at a time, around twenty or so. When I was waiting for this possible producer for “The Bull” to get back to me about money I decided to write my next film (because you are only as good as what you have next) and THE VIRGINS was the idea that was most fleshed out at the time. So no special reason why I chose this instead of some of my other ideas to be my first feature. It wasn’t like I had this ONE burning idea that just had to be made – I have many burning ideas and you just have to start somewhere.
(TFT): How well do you feel the subject in question translates through the medium of film?
(JC): I think it transferred well to film – there are certain meta-filmic qualities that are there intentionally and I certainly wrote it to be a film and not initially as a short story or novel or anything. I have been told that it is sort of literary, in an analytical sense, and thus it demands a certain type of reading.
(TFT): How long did it take you to write it? Were there many drafts?
(JC): I don’t recall how long it took to write, but I did do multiple drafts to try and flesh it out even more. Probably from the time I started it to the time it was shot was almost a year maybe but I was working on other projects during that time too.
(TFT): How much did making “The Bull” help prepare you to make THE VIRGINS?
(JC): A lot of the crew from “The Bull” I worked again with for THE VIRGINS, so it definitely helped that there was already some relationships in place. That experience also helped a lot with the production management side – knowing what can be shot [and] in how much time, how to schedule days, what to budget. You realize what you can cut and what you need to increase. Every production is a learning process – making THE VIRGINS has taught me further what to do and what not to do.
The crew setting up a shot with actor Brad Mills (R).
(TFT): In order to raise some money, you pushed a DVD presale of THE VIRGINS. How did that help the project?
(JC): The pre-sale was inspired by all the talk you hear in indie circles about going straight to the audience, of crowdfunding and the like. I tried to push the product, the special edition DVD, as opposed to focusing on “help me fulfill my dream” or “help support independent art,” thinking that people would respond more to a tangible product they would receive. Of course with that tangible project months away, most people were still probably buying it for other reasons, be it my friends or family or the talents’ friends or family. It’s easier to sell a DVD when you have one to ship to them immediately, or you have at least a trailer to show what the finished film looks like thus it’s hard to do a pre-sale unless you have already a huge ecstatic fan base that loves your previous work or you have a niche topic with lots of interested people. All in all the pre-sales garnered between 40 and 50 percent of my production budget.
(TFT): Was it difficult adjusting to the workload of a feature? How many days for shooting? Did everything go according to plan?
(JC): There were two groups of shooting dates: A 10-day stretch with one day off (4th of July) that we had to get in because Carrie Anne Hunt (who plays Emma) had a comedy in Charlotte she was shooting basically the day after she finished up with THE VIRGINS. After that 10 day stretch we wrapped her and Brad Mills (who plays Wes).
The Virgins DP, Aravind, shoots a scene in a restaurant with actress Carrie Anne Hunt.
After a couple of weeks we had 3 more days of shooting. Breaking it down into two groups of dates was helpful, besides being necessary, because it allowed me to focus on procuring the locations for the first group and then working later on the second group. Everything basically went to plan – there was only one part of a scene we didn’t shoot (though one or two things we had to get in quickly before the sun went down, but they got shot).
The weather cooperated for the most part – rained in the morning one day which required to switch up the schedule a little but it all came together. In terms of workload you just have to push through it – you work a 12 or 13 hour day and go home and sleep and wake up early to do it again and again.
(TFT): What was the most difficult location to shoot at?
(JC): The hardest location was probably shooting in the old warehouse district in Raleigh at night. Nothing to plug into so we rented a generator, which was obviously very noisy and required extra steps in regards to audio. The character is walking rather briskly down sidewalk and we are shooting along side of her with the steadi-cam. But you can only plug so many lights into that generator so there was really only a certain length of sidewalk we could work with before having to move the lights and genny to the next section of sidewalk. And it was just nerve-racking for me because it’s a Sunday night and we’re making a ton of noise what with the genny and my actress yelling into the night (as it says in the script) and while we did have permission from the police I still was nervous someone was going to come along and raise an issue with the production (though the only visitors we had were a couple of inquisitive pedestrians and a fire truck that drove by twice out of curiosity).
The streets of Raleigh.
(TFT): How would you describe the feeling on set?
(JC): The feeling on set wavered between stressed and fun. I do remember Kristi Ray (who plays Danielle) saying she never had so much fun on set with all the banter between cast and crew. At the same time, we were trying to shoot a lot of pages a day and the sun starts going down and you have to get those exteriors, or you’re inside pushing late into the night. Everyone was pleasant to work with but by the end of the first group of shooting dates everyone was just tired and tired of each other surely. But that happens. The second group of days we had less to shoot and it was almost idyllic in comparison, haha.
Actress Kristi Ray checks her makeup before a scene.
(TFT): Do you do your own editing?
(JC): I did the rough cut and then had another editor look at it and mix the audio and make a second cut. I then adjusted his cut to create the final cut, which I then graded.
(TFT): As a director, what would you like people to take away from your film?
(JC): There’s not really an explicit message for people to take away – it may seem at times I make overt statements but what it really comes down to, and what I want the audience to see, is that the film and any of its statements come from Emma’s subjective vision and how she’s trying to piece things together in this stressful space of her new motherhood and the conflict overseas.
Production still of actress Carrie Anne Hunt and actor Brad Mills.
What is important is how a character like her thinks – in essence the deceit she builds is unnecessary but you see how in her head she rationalizes it and pushes forward with it sincerely even in the inevitability of its failure – but its symptomatic and very important to the character and I think it is fascinating to see how the characters create importance – this act or this moment resonates with them and really shapes how they think.
(TFT): What are your immediate plans for the film?
(JC): I will premiere the film in Raleigh, NC in March and set up some other screenings elsewhere in the state. DVDs are on sale through my website currently http://joshclaytonfilm.wordpress.com/the-virgins/the-virgins-dvd-pre-sale/ and the title will be live on Amazon in a couple of weeks. Video-on-Demand services will be up in a month or two. I’ve also submitted it to some festivals, five so far I believe and we’ll see what comes of that – the earliest it will play at a fest is April.
(TFT): Will you screen it at W&M?
(JC): I plan on talking to people at WM to have it screened in some capacity, at the Sadler Center preferably but I would be cool with the theater in Tucker.
Writer/Director Josh Clayton keeping a watchful eye over the monitor.
(TFT): Say someone had the same aspirations as you of wanting to make a feature film, what advice would you give them? Would you recommend to them to go about it in a way similar to how you did it?
(JC): Do it the same way I did it? Well, that depends. Productions take many shapes and sizes and I am always interested in how somehow else did it and why. I wanted to make films as soon as possible, I have too many ideas I want to work with that I couldn’t wait around to do it “properly” – you know, raise a huge amount of money, hire a big crew, etc. Raising that kind of money can take years for some projects. But there is a lot of pressure to do things “properly” and certainly spending the money and having a big crew helps things to come out looking good.
At the same time though, there are feature length fiction films that are made with two person crews for less $5,000 that screen at good festivals and get picked up for distribution – and you realize that what’s on the screen is what matters, not that you had your production catered by so-and-so or whatever. But I am a dangerous person to talk to – I have no qualms about the very independent route, I have no intention of moving to LA, etc. but that is obviously a viable route too, and I know people who are out there “doing it”. It depends on your goals, resources, drive.
"Get a camera and do it." - Josh Clayton
I say get a camera and do it (assuming it won’t bankrupt you of course) because again, it doesn’t mean anything until it’s up on the screen. Of course you have to take the steps to make sure that it will succeed once on the screen in terms of quality of writing/acting/cinematography as well as distribution plans, but that is all doable in this day and age of independent filmmaking. But planning is integral.
(TFT).
To stay up to date with Josh Clayton and all his filmmaking, just go to: WWW.JOSHCLAYTONFILM.COM
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