THE HIGDEN MAN (70 min., ©2004) shot in 1 1/ 2 days, on-location, Heber Springs, AR, for $39 budget: the 3rd/final 'Steve Gillard TRILOGY' feature (begun with CHETZEMOKA'S CURSE, & RELEASE THE HEAD).
See FULL MOVIE HERE: https://filmfreeway.com/THEHIGDENMAN
Steve Gillard (right), and John Barnum, actors/co-writers of THE HIGDEN MAN.
SYNOPSIS
The Higden Man is a story about two small-town grifters trying to convince Heber Springs, Arkansas landowners to sell their lakefront property, running the story that the local dam will soon raise the water level and flood surrounding property. Starring John Barnum (Release The Head) and Stephen W. Gillard (also lead actor in ‘Head,' as well as Chetzemoka's Curse-Dogme #10), with Music by Charlotte Taylor & Gypsy Rain and Paul Baker. The movie is instructive about how easily people can be duped by a loquacious lawyer. Life stories about old boyfriends, odd accidents, cancer-causing smoking, motel living, etc., paint a picture of rural Arkansas as it moves quietly into the 21st century.
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The Higden Man was conceived & shot with a one-chip Sony TRV10 camera, videotaped in just 1 1/4 days, while the two main actors/co-directors and Rick Schmidt attended the Ozarks Foothills Film Festival in Arkansas for the screening of our previous feature together, Release The Head. So, it’s a totally improv feature delivered for $39 dollars––three DV hour-long cassettes and $7 for the muumuu dress that “Sis” is wearing.
TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/higdenman
CREDITS, The Higden Man. Produced/directed/shot/edited by Rick Schmidt; Written by John Barnum, Stephen W. Gillard, and Rick Schmidt; ACTORS: John Barnum, Stephen W. Gillard; Music from Charlotte Taylor & Gypsy Rain and Paul Baker.
See page 95, Extreme DV (©2004, Penguin/Random House Books) which shows the small and compact TRV10 camera used for the production, and talks about how to get good CD-quality sound with a relatively cheap $60 EMC- HS1 Sony mike while doing improv.
Indie Film Review: THE HIGDEN MAN (2004) (Indie Film Review: THE HIGDEN MAN (2004). http://100favoritehorrorfilms.blogspot.com/2013/08/indie-film-review- higden-man-2004.html
(NOTE: This is a Non-Horror Film)
THE HIGDEN MAN
Producer & director Rick Schmidt has made a career out of producing unusual indie films with unusual characters in unusual situations. From his early films such as 1988: The Remake (1977) to Morgan’s Cake (1989) to his more recent Tears of Bankers (2012) and Sticky Wicket, which is currently in production, Schmidt is the poster child for the indie film-maker making feature films about whatever crosses his mind at the moment. His films mix non-fiction with fiction (sometimes with only an outline in hand) and actors with non-actors to create a film that defies easy classification. With The Higden Man (2004) Schmidt develops his strange aesthetic to deliver a film that may not hit all the right marks but does leave the viewer coming away with an unusual outlook on what is real and what is fiction.
Actor/co-writer John Barnum, in THE HIGDEN MAN.
The film centers on two conmen Marion Edwards & Charlie Parker (John Barnum and Stephen W. Gillard, respectfully) who are small time grifters trying to convince the residents of Heber Springs, Arkansas to sale their lakefront property before the government comes in to build a dam that will render the land into a small swamp. Neither one is particularly very smart but they believe that they will be successful, which is what every good conman believes. Between day to day conversations with land owners and personal lives which boarder on the pathetic audiences will find some sort of sympathy for the fools.
Like many of Schmidt’s films, real life confessions are sprinkled throughout from some of the actors and non-actors giving the film a very realistic look into the lives of the supporting (and sometimes walk on) characters. Some of these contribute to the overall film while others seem like simple filler for time but what these little vignettes into the real life of the actors does is to ground the whole film in a pseudo-real world in that all the characters inhabit. This style of film-making gives Schmidt’s films a feel and style not seen in other film-makers.
What will deter many viewers is the Dogma ‘99 style of film-making from the cinematography to the art design and everything else. The film was shot on digital video so the quality is not up to the standards of some bigger indie films as little care was taken into consideration in terms of scenes which only use available lighting and using both actors and non-actors always yields mixed results. What does carry the film is the music provided by Charlotte Taylor & Gypsy Rain and Paul Baker. The Higden Man may not be a polished film but for those looking small time Americana this may be right up your alley.
It's almost surreal to me, from this years-later point-of-view, that I've had the amazing privilege of being in these movies. I read the reviews, and your books about filmmaking, and I have to pinch myself: "Wow!! I got to do this! I got to experience that level of creativity and improvisation and just plain fun. Wow!!" Then you get busy in the editing room and awhile later John B. and I and the other players get to see ourselves in a feature film. I am so grateful.