I think the year was 1999. I was taking a class in Elizabethan Poetry. At some point during that semester I became enamored with a poem by Sir Philip Sydney entitled "Astrophil & Stella" (an elegant, if long, love letter composed of more than a hundred Petrarchan sonnets written in 1591). Being a writer myself, I could relate to the poet speaker's desire to find the right words--the exact words--to express himself. Needless to say, the poem stuck with me.
It might of been a year later, during the burgeoning revival of the techno/trance movement in the glitzy clubs and lounges of south Miami Beach, that, while driving in my car listening to the seventh track of a techno CD I had picked up at a local record store, the idea struck. In one of those moments of inspired creativity where two things with what seem like no relationship whatsoever, suddenly and serendipitously, blend together to give each other a resonance previously unrealized, I started reciting the words to the first sonnet of Sydney's poem, while I drove my car, listening to Frank T.R.A.X.'s "Nebuchan" on the car stereo. It fit. Perfectly. The swelling of strings and a crescendo of emotion tethered together by the rhythm of beat and language. Of course, later on, there would be adjustments and refinements and a multitude of entirely new ideas thrown into the mix, but, at that moment, "Take Four" was born.
It'd take several years to see the film finished, and longer still to realize how much resonance that unlikely marriage of trance music and old english language, indeed, held. For the film would become a metaphor for the filmmaking process itself. The poem ceased being about finding the right words, and instead became about the struggle to get something done. The poem was now the fifth character and the unifying theme that ties Timmy and Punky and Kevin and Honey together even when each character's situation differed so much.
The sonnet became a mantra for the entire production. A roadmap for all we'd gone through and would go through still in our efforts to tell our story.
"Take Four" is about perseverance and determination and drive. It's about wanting something badly and going after it until it's yours. Above all I hope, in its simplistic way, "Take Four" might bestow upon its audience the notion I discovered in the film upon making it; no matter how small or large the task at hand, don't stop till you get what you want.
Omar Chavez Jr.
Director of "Take Four"
The CAST:
Timmy
Only 12 years old, Nicholas Alexander, is an accomplished actor and an adamant lover of video games, especially Space Harrier II. He has already appeared in over 11 south Florida plays and musicals. His film works include The Halls of Jacob, Captain Incredible, Canvas, Dream Come True, About Matthew and My Struggle. You can also see Nicholas in a national commercial for Ovaltine. As for getting pushed around by bullies? Well, let's just say, Nicholas is a consummate actor; he's been a black belt in Tae Kwon Do since the age of five.
Punky
Singing and performing from the age of two, 20 year old Candace Marie is no stranger to the entertainment industry. She is an amazing singer/song-writer and dancer, and has appeared in television spots for Carnival Cruise Lines, Hot Pockets and The Truth Campaign. She frequently acts in student productions at Florida State University where she now attends. We hear her dorm room is always clean. For more information about Candace visit CandaceMarie.com.
Honey
Heather Carroll, 25, is an actress, dancer and swimsuit model and has never had a problem getting a man's attention. Acting and dancing since she was very young, Heather went on to receive a BA in theatre from Florida State Universtiy. She has appeared in student films, music videos, commercials and Denise Austin's workout video Burn Fat Fast, but Take Four is her first starring role in an independent film.
Kevin
Jeremy Mitchell was nervous about taking his role in Take Four. A case of a part hitting too close to home. He hopes his idiosyncrasies in the film are not taken too seriously, because they are unfortunately true. His independent film work includes Art's Point of View, Motel, and 86 Fatboy. His stage work includes the ultra intense portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald in Assassins and the ultra befuddled Axel Magee in the Woody Allen comedy Don't Drink the Water. Jeremy is currently producing his own feature, Nemesis.
About the film:
The crew of "Take Four" was more than 90% minority and all local to the south Florida area. Creators Omar Chavez Jr. and Adrian Orozco are both Cuban-American. Among the cast and crew could be found representatives of Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica, Bahamas, Austria, Germany, as well as a descendant of Native Americans.
With the exception of the exterior set appearing in the opening moments of the film, "Take Four" was shot entirely in one location. The house used in the filming belongs to Omar Chavez Sr., father of "Take Four" Director Omar Chavez Jr. and is located on the same Coral Gables street where scenes from the 1998 feature film release "There's Something About Mary" were filmed. The exterior set, with its white picket fence, is also on the same block.
Although principal photography was finished in late June of 2005, an additional shoot day consisting of reshoots, pick-ups, and additional scenes (including the aforementioned exterior scene), scheduled for August 24th, 2005, was canceled because of Hurricane Katrina. The storm blew through south Florida, uprooting trees, causing massive property damage, and leaving one million residents without power. Although most of the neighborhood was without power, it had fortunately been restored at the Chavez residence one day prior to the rescheduled shoot day, September 1st. However, the filmmakers spent a few hours down the street, in the black-out aided dark, the night before the shoot, raking leaves, and clearing the exterior set of tree debris. Piles of downed vegatation and power restoration crews where always just out of camera frame.
In keeping with the unusual marriage of old English and modern trance music, the film was purposely designed to blend together different time periods with visual throwbacks to every decade from the 70's to present (and even some older ones). The largest influences can be noted in Punky's room and dress (clearly referencing the 1980's), and Timmy (who although plays a Sega Genesis released in 1989, was given clothing and hairstyling more reminiscent of the 1970's).
To give the film's look a unique sense of reality and time, the filmmakers opted to accentuate volumetric lighting. Smoke machines were employed to supply haze in small amounts, and often right before rolling, productions assistants could be seen slapping pillows together to generate particles of lint and dust for the purpose of reflecting light for the camera.
A week prior to filmming, original Cinematographer Cristoph Vitt left the production because of scheduling conflicts. Although his replacement Jose Ocejo had never worked with Omar Chavez Jr. before, the two quickly meshed, thanks in large part to their ability to communicate well with each other--often times the two spoke to each other in Spanish to avoid distracting other cast and crew working on set.
Hurricanes, black-outs and scheduling conflicts aside, Murphy's law would continue to prevail on set. The production began it's first day without it's Assistant Camera Operator who had been struck with food poisoning the night before principal photography was set to begin. The adversity later subsided, but not before prompting Director Omar Chavez Jr. to say, "It's not about whether or not Murphy shows up, but what you do when he does."