By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
On an undeveloped industrial park road, in the small Michigan town, population 1,200, the micro-pilot, ‘Awakening,’ was filmed on Aug. 21, 2010. Amazingly, the final version of this short film looks more like it was shot in New York City instead of on the edge of a soybean field.
Contributed photo
Scenes from the micro-pilot “Awakening,” written/directed by Aroostook County native John Bosley.
With a cast and crew of 40, one mile of road, and more than 30 cars, the large accident scene made more than a few heads turn during production. Now, the Aroostook County native, writer/director, John W. Bosley, hopes to turn even more heads on Feb. 28 when he reveals the finished film on YouTube.
Bosley a graduate of Presque Isle High School was a student in Brenda Jepson’s Viking Video Production Class during his senior year. It was during time in Jepson’s class that he was able to be on the set of Stephen King’s ‘Storm of the Century.’
“Being on the set of ‘Storm of the Century’ was an experience I would not forget,” Bosley stated. “What Jepson’s class offered to county high school students is extraordinary. Kids growing up in The County could imagine themselves in a variety of different professions, including film production. Anything is possible if they are determined enough to reach for their goals and not quit until they do,” he added.
Over the past two years, a string of micro-short films, including “Panic Attack” and “Nuit Blanche,” received Hollywood deals after going viral on various Internet websites. Both of those micro-short films cost $500 or less, prompting Bosley’s investigation of these micro-sized videos and he searched for the reason they were effective. A year after “Panic Attack’s” release, Bosley had coined the phrase “micro-pilot” and started producing his own.
“I describe the micro-pilot as being a TV pilot meets viral video,” Bosley explained, “even though it is five minutes or less, the micro-pilot is not a teaser. “It is a scene, or could have been a scene, from the script that encapsulates the story’s concept,” he added.
“Awakening” was shot on a budget of less than $150 and originally, the sequence was planned for only four actors, a couple of cars and ton of computer generated additions added in during post-production. Twenty-four hours after posting a call for cast and crew on mandy.com and craigslist.org, virtually every casting site in Michigan and the Midwest had re-posted it and approximately 150 people had already sent Bosley their resume.
The accident scene incorporated approximately 30 cars, two of them on loan from a local salvage yard and a one-mile stretch of road. The road had been built for a industrial park and since it was still undeveloped, it was a perfect location for the shoot. Other local businesses and people got in on the action providing tables, chairs, a tent, and even a porta-potty for the day.
“I wish every Aroostook County resident was able to see my feature film back in July 2008,” Bosley stated, “but it just didn’t work out that way. Now everyone in Aroostook County can see ‘Awakening’ for free and see what County-raised filmmakers can do.”
Bosley is planning to produce his next feature film, ‘The House,’ which is set in Maine, this spring/fall. Several of the scenes will be shot in Maine as well.
“I had held back on producing “The House” until now,” Bosley explained, “the recession and all of the changes in the film business had made film production much more difficult than it originally was. I needed to build a fan base for my films first, before producing “The House”. I believe that “Awakening” will build some of the demand that I need for my next projects.”
In addition to its release on YouTube, ‘Awakening’ will also be showcased on Feb. 28, on its
www.awakeningpilot.com.
