Filmmaker Joel Jay Blacker who’s become a welcome regular on DN returns to our pages with his new comedy short Shoes Off, a hilarious and off-kilter portrayal of vulnerable masculinity. The film concerns two drunk best friends who after a rowdy night out return to their abode. There they decide to share their love for one another but when one of them passes out after asking his buddy to remove his footwear should that happen, the other feels the impulse to prove his recently declared affection in as many ways as he can. We’ve become such fans of Blacker’s heightened, colourful style here at DN and Shoes Off is an excellent continuation of the director’s approach to filmmaking as he further hones his personal style of comedy. DN is proud to present the online premiere of Shoes Off alongside a discussion with Blacker where he talks through his feelings surrounding male friendship that forged the idea, the challenge of shooting the short back-to-back with another film, and the creative decision to add a darker edge to the film.
Not only is Shoes Off a great comedy short but it has something to say about male relationships too. Where did the process of making it begin for you?
I make a conscious effort to tell and remind my friends that “I love them”. I think saying it is important, and it’s rare to see in films, especially between two men. I think that’s what has resonated most with audiences. It’s sweet to see just a kind and good natured friendship, even if it looks a little weird from the outside. This film sort of emerged from that desire to showcase a platonic male friendship in a comedic light, breaking away from the conventional norms.
The script had no business being shot and scored like a horror film.
I noticed that you worked with Writer Nick Logsdon on the screenplay, how did you collaborate with him and look to bring his script to screen?
When Nick Logsdon sent me the script, I was attached to the relational aspect immediately. It was just genuine and sweet. It felt familiar, but it also felt like a fun way to subvert audience expectations and explore genre. The script had no business being shot and scored like a horror film. But I thought, what funnier way is there to play with the stereotype of men being uncomfortable sharing their feelings with each other, than to make an audience squirm witnessing what an unconventional expression of caring could look like.
How long were you shooting for and how did you approach the darker comedic tone from a visual point of view?
We shot the whole film in a single night, back to back with another short film called Don’t Let Kyle Sit Down, which will be coming soon, that we shot the night prior. Jared Freeman, the Director of Photography, and I discussed living on a single zoom lens, the Fujinon 18-100mm, and holding on long takes letting the slow zoom do the work of creating the eeriness. It also allowed us to be most efficient throughout the night, never needing to swap lenses.
Could you talk about working with Clayton Farris and Rick Darge, how did you build their dynamic? And how much of a challenge was it for Rick to remain completely still for most of the short?
I’ve worked with Clayton Farris more than any other actor. I don’t often see him cast in roles with the edge that I know he has. He has an innate ability to perform with so much nuance and can shift tonally on a dime. So he was right to play on the line of ‘is this guy up to something or just really drunk?’ The smile he gives at the beginning with the sting kind of says it all for me.
Rick Darge is the real hero of the film. He had to remain completely still for a good portion of the shooting while we caked him, partially naked, in powder. It must have been two hours of lying there half-asleep getting doused with six to eight bottles of corn starch. To get the powder cloud rising shot, Nick is hunched under the camera squirting two bottles above him on top of the two bottles Clayton Farris is holding. If I’ve learnt anything from this film it’s to think twice before I use my own place as the shooting location. I’m still finding powder in the crevasses of my house today a year after we shot.
Did you do anything particular in post-production to nail that tonal balance of tension and comedy?
I was super nervous the film wouldn’t work. That the balance between tension and humor wouldn’t land. I think it’s a testament to the score and the influence of music created by Composer Miller Wrenn that the film works. Nothing malicious ever occurs but the music tells a different story which was always our intent. I knew it would be a heavily composed film from start to end before we shot and so Miller and I began playing with sounds before we got into production. I was able to edit the whole film to music Miller had created previously to figure out the pacing and act as a reference track before scoring.
I was super nervous the film wouldn’t work. That the balance between tension and humor wouldn’t land.
Now that Shoes Off is out there for audiences to watch online, how are you feeling about the challenge of making it?
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank my insane crew who supported shooting two short films in two nights. And my wife, Aubrey Blacker, who not only produced both films but didn’t kill me when I trashed the house.
When we spoke to you for your Dinner and a Movie video for Keenan the First you mentioned that you were developing a feature. I’m curious to know how you feel making shorts/music videos is helping you develop your craft for when you make that leap to feature filmmaking.
I’m still conducting experiments to see what works. Especially when it comes to comedy and joke telling. The laughs are infectious and keep me returning to making the shorts. I think these films in particular, Shoes Off and Don’t Let Kyle Sit Down, speak to a tone and style of comedy I want to explore in a larger feature format. Genre is something I’ve been wanting to play with too which these films allowed me to do. I hope people like Shoes Off because weirder is yet to come.
Nothing malicious ever occurs but the music tells a different story which was always our intent.
And what is coming next?
As you suggested, features. I’m writing a short/feature film that’s a satire on church abuse, it’s about a supernatural event that occurs at an enthusiastic Evangelical church killing one of its congregants, the pastor is then left with the pressure from his members and staff to either cover up the story or bring the congregant back from the dead. I’m also working on another horror short/feature about an unintentional cult that’s been formed among a group of well intending white women in wine country. I have a thirty minute sci-fi comedy pilot for a series titled Spy Sub Six about a cancelled show in the 80s that attempted to be a more provocative Star Trek but is marred by financial restrictions and bad politics. And for fun, I have a comedy short I’ve written about a man’s dying wish to watch his wife and best friend make love. So I’m throwing a lot at the wall and seeing what sticks.
