The Sound of Indie Film, Please God Someone Normal

By Lisa Horan

Normal. Just what is it and can any of us really claim to be it? According to Filmmaker Jonathan Reed – not a chance, and he demonstrates this humorously in his short film, Please God Something Normal. The film, a first for the Arlington, Virginia-funny man, was co-written with Shawnette Daly in a fashion that Reed refers to as Gonzo.

And that’s no joke. Written in the late summer, Reed and his crew went straight into production in August, and the film was in post by September. It’s no surprise that the biggest challenge Reed faced was the self-imposed time constraints. “A lot of people said I was naïve and could never complete a film in a couple of months, which just motivated me even more to do it,” says Reed, who says the cast and crew put in 15 to 18 hour days for four days straight to make it happen. One of the reasons Reed worked at such a breakneck pace was his goal of entering the film into Sundance, knowing it was what he called “a long shot.” Though the film did not make it into the Festival, he was given permission to post the film on imdb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1557836/), so he says the process was all worth it. “By the end of shooting, we were all ragged,” he admits, “but there wasn’t one person involved who didn’t have an enormous amount of fun. We all worked well together, which really made the project what it was.”

Reed also says the audio post, which was done by Kevin Hill, Owner/Engineer of Studio Unknown, is also a large part of the film’s success. “I was in limbo in terms of who to use, but Craig Herron, who did the animation for the film, and Michelle Farrell, the cinematographer on the film both recommended Kevin and Studio Unknown. I went with the referral, and I’m a glad I did.” In just five days, Hill served as music supervisor, helping Reed to select two songs that were used in separate scenes of the film, and completed the ADR, Foley, and sound design. “Kevin really cared about the project,” said Reed. “He had vision and came up with some great ideas for adding sound elements in key spots.” While Reed says the film’s location audio engineer Travis Peters did a fantastic job, he had the limitation of working with only one boom mic, due to budget constraints. This left spots that needed to be cleaned up. “When Kevin got the film, it was like dancing to country if you have a hip hop style; it was missing the rhythm. Kevin took it, polished it, put a nice shine on it, helped everything come together and gave it the finish it needed.”

The film features an original song written by Studio Unknown Creative Director Lisa Horan ("You Got it Now"), as well as two original songs produced by Studio Unknown affiliated producer, Stephen Joseph Antonelli.  Featuring Comedians Steven Lolli and Noel Elgrably, the film premiered at the Arlington Cinema and Draft House to a sold-out crowd.

In addition to continuing to promote Please God Someone Normal, Reed is preparing to go into production on his second film this June, with plans for a college comedy tour in the Fall.

For more information, contact Lisa Horan at lisah@lisahoran.com.

Visit www.lisahoran.com or www.lisahoranwriting.com.