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“For the First Time, I Could See the Film in Front of Me” | Joel Alfonso Vargas, Mad Bills to Pay

A man is leaning on a fence as large birds fly overhead.Still from Mad Bills to Pay.

Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why?

It would be hard to narrow it down to only one moment or day, as Mad Bills was a journey unlike any other. That we got through it was anything short of impressive considering the ambition of our story and our limited time and resources, however much a testament to the skill of the people involved. There were moments when we felt so far away and others when we felt closer to our goal, and that pendulum swung constantly throughout most of production and post. However, the two moments that seem to weigh equally in my mind have both to do with the film in my head translating to the film in reality. Both moments struck me like a lightning bolt, calling on me to abandon my preconceived ideas and accept the film in front of me as it is.

The first moment came when casting the film. The casting process was a rigorous one in which the objective was to leave no stone unturned. So, we auditioned many, many candidates in our search that were sourced from all over the city’s parks and beaches, as well as from formal channels. Although I had a good feeling about my choice of cast in the end, there was no way for me to know for sure if everyone would gel as an ensemble. Going into the final chemistry test with the whole cast was a bit nerve-wracking. In addition, I felt I made some compromises around the cast for Rico and Destiny. My original concept for these characters was slightly different, traditional even. However, after meeting Destiny Checo and Juan Collado individually, they lingered in my mind. I had a strong feeling that pairing them would work for Mad Bills.

But again, up until that moment it was only a theory that needed testing. Initially there was some awkwardness during the test, as none of these actors had ever worked together before (and in the case of Destiny, had never acted!) and everyone was arriving from work and seemed a bit flustered and slightly cranky after their hour commute. After a few ice-breakers things got quite normal though. We did a few improvisations around scripted scenes, and the riffing was electrifying; how they took ownership over their roles and played on each other was really impressive. They brought the text to life so dynamically, so idiosyncratically. It was honestly better than anything I could have ever imagined. For the first time, I could see the film in front of me. Both Paolo (producer) and I were very excited immediately after.

The second “aha!” moment came in the edit. Although our shooting ratio was low, we shot a lot of footage, as our takes usually ran long. In the end, it was something like twenty-seven hours of footage. It was a lot to sift through, and I think it took both Irfan (editor) and me weeks to sift through all the dailies (because I like to watch everything, to know the footage inside and out). And by the end of that process Irfan and I were unsure if we had a film in the can. Irfan initially led the way with the rough cuts; however, none of them seemed to work, and after our fourth or fifth attempt we were both stumped as to why things weren’t clicking.

Around Easter, Irfan handed the edit over to me as he got busy with other paid work. I decided to scrap the work we’d done up until that point and begin again from scratch. It took me about eight days to do a full pass on the film, going scene by scene, really feeling my way through the footage and transitions. I remember the feeling of placing the final shot in the film, of the couple at the gender reveal, beautifully lit against the golden sunset, lost in their thoughts amidst the celebration of their families. It dawned on me then the weight of what we had undertaken and what we were now so close to accomplishing. I was so moved that I cried a bit right after. No matter what happens with Mad Bills to Pay, we accomplished what we set out to do: to make a feature film. And we did it. With no real backing and against all odds. What was in front of me was beautiful and I felt very proud of the work and of everyone who helped get it made.

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