The Rental Experience #16 - Formal Interviews

a blog-series recounting the making of "Seven Year Rental"

While in some ways our film was just getting started in the spring of 2007, we were also trying desperately to bring one element - our formal interview filming - to a close. 

We'd always planned for an ensemble of former employees to help narrate the day-to-day life we were capturing in the store.  I had a long list of former coworkers I thought would be great for this, and while not everyone wound up sitting for us, we got more than enough great footage from those who were willing to give it a shot.  Matt and Wolf, Jane and Jesse, Kyle, Mike and Theresa - they all came in with an open mind for what we were doing, even when It might not have been clear what we would be able to do with all their talk about Video Plus.  But their responses definitely served a purpose, and I was grateful they were willing to make the time to humor us and play along. 

I had been working my list of potential subjects since last fall and after nine months of pursuing some folks over and over, it was time to give it up.  We had what we needed.

By the end of June we wrapped our formal interviews at the same place we'd started our informal interviews, with Kayla - now a former employee.  It gave us another great sense of time to have interviewed her as a current employee seven months earlier in November, and now a few months removed from working there.  It was a way of keeping her in the film long after her in-store footage had passed and helped to blend the current employee footage into the former employee footage. 

With the formal interviews complete, a weight was lifted from our project's shoulders and we were one step closer to the end of filming.

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State of the Movie 2: Another 7YR Manifesto

 When I look back on all of the time spent with “Seven Year Rental” - more than eleven years - I can see two very clear phases in the life of the project. 

 In the beginning, our momentum was strong as we moved steadily through filming, editing and our post-production efforts.  But the year we spent submitting to film festivals was largely a year of waiting.  We worked on trailers, our website, the poster art – there were still plenty of things to do – but we felt “done” with the film itself.  We enjoyed a few public screens at festivals and our feedback was encouraging, but those providing critical assessments were telling us, “it doesn’t feel quite finished.”  

 It was a difficult thing to hear even though part of me knew it was true.  On the surface it was all there, but in my gut it still felt like something was missing… something needed to be worked out.  But I couldn’t see past what was already there.  I tinkered with it here and there, but nothing felt like forward progress,

 And between 2011 and 2012 our momentum completely stalled, and the film was almost stranded in an incomplete state.

 Not knowing what to do with this thing we’d invested years in, I looked away from it and turned my attention elsewhere.  And when “Seven Year Rental” wasn’t my primary focus, it started to become clearer.

 I was thinking about it intently again.  Things that had seemed immovable were removed, and some things that had long ago been cut found their way back in.  A lot of focus was on how we could make our opening stronger.  The film in its original concept always started from a stopped position - slowly gaining momentum - but I was starting to see ways we could give it a little jolt of life at the beginning.  A few years back the film's edit felt largely locked, but now I wasn’t afraid to mess it up, try things, and see how these changes made me feel about our film.  And I started to feel differently – parts that had felt incomplete started to feel whole and some of the uneasy feelings in my gut would disappear.  We were moving forward again and we even received an unsolicited invitation to screen in Philadelphia.  For the second time, things felt alive and we gained momentum in this new phase but progress came at a much slower pace.  It still wasn’t quite there, but we were further ahead than we had been.

 In 2012, when our momentum was restarted, I thought we were close to completion but it was still further than I realized.  At the risk of crying wolf, I think we’re close once again.  Maybe not as close time-wise as I’d like, but where the finish line was once out of sight, I think I can now see all of the steps that need to be taken to get there.

 The other major change that’s occurred in this second “7YR” renaissance since 2012 is the accessibility by filmmakers to self-distribute digitally and be accessible to the public beyond just the tech savvy.  We have more opportunities to bring the film to you now than we might have just a few years ago.  That will play a big part in how we bring “7YR” to the world, but our film – a video store film – has to have a physical media release.  We have a few more edits on the to-do list, we need to upgrade our editing software, and we need to get our special features assembled on a disc.  But its all within reach.

 As I said in 2012, If you have any suggestions or contacts that could help bring this project to you - either on DVD, VHS, or through an independent screening, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at SevenYearRental@gmail.com, or through our Facebook page.  Hearing from you is always a motivating force and incredibly encouraging. 

 The second phase in this project's life is yielding a stronger film, worth the extra time and effort, and I'm so thankful to have the opportunity to stay with it until it's truly complete.  

 My most sincere thanks for your continued interest and patience.

David Neureuther

7YR producer and director

facebook.com/SevenYearRental

www.SevenYearRental.squarespace.com

October '17

The Rental Experience #15 - The Puzzle

a blog-series recounting the making of "Seven Year Rental"

We cut our teeth on the opening sequence and the Jackson store closing, two stand-out pieces for the movie.  We knew what they were supposed to look like and we would labor over those two sequences throughout the entire editing process. 

The first things we noticed when we began combing through the footage were the imperfections in our earliest days with the camera.  There was definitely a learning curve with filming but unfortunately we’d planted a flag for our timeline’s start and could not afford to disregard any of the footage.  The in-store footage was a little muted, we had trouble finding the whites in a store overrun with both warm and cool tinted florescent lights.  And those early interviews –  including John’s – were much darker than we’d anticipated and they required a lot of post-production work to bring them on par with the quality we were producing by the end of our filming run.  As frustrating as it was, it felt good to actually see our skills improve. 

I was present for nearly all of the filming and had in mind a lot of bits to come back to and use.  I would spend the week logging footage and pulling clips into a very rough sequence, and then Jason and I would meet to go through the material and really give it form.  Most of the time we worked off each other in sync, piecing together the puzzle.  Sometimes we'd have these great debates about the inclusion of a single clip or an entire sequence.  We flipped it on its head more than once and looked at it every way we could possibly imagine.  Sorting through It required tremendous patience. 

In our earliest days we were stringing clips together one after the other without any style or shaping, and applauding ourselves for these editing achievements that were not much more than a lineup of clips.  But by the end of our principle editing the following year, we knew the film backwards, and would spend entire nights going through just a few minutes second by second until we were satisfied, quite literally, with every frame that was being shown. We worked through it over and over, start to finish until every wrinkle was ironed out and it ran smoothly.

One year later we declared it complete.  We had a final cut. 

Half a decade would pass before I realized the cut we were so sure was our final was actually just a work-in-progress.

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The Rental Experience #14 - Launching Forward

a blog-series recounting the making of "Seven Year Rental"

The initial formal and informal interviews were gone through meticulously as I mined them for every ounce of substance to justify our efforts.  But the bulk of the in-store footage was just being collected and filed away.  By the spring of 2007 it reached a tipping point, and launching into the next phase could no longer be put off.  We needed to begin editing and finally find out if we actually had a film.

Our editing bay was tucked behind the blue wall in the corner of my basement, and consisted of a new iMac, Final Cut Pro, and an old CRT monitor I had left from college.  The VHS security tapes were lined along the back of the wall, and the back of the wall itself was littered with notes and photos for the project.  This was our creative space, and it actually felt more like a studio than you might imagine. 

I read the Final Cut manual cover to cover to familiarize myself with all the program's tools available to us.  I was by far the most familiar with the footage, and what we needed to do with it, so editing naturally fell heavy on my shoulders.  But as was my problem early on, being that close and familiar with the material was as hindering as it was helpful. 

During our early outline days Jason's perceptions were always the closest to mine, and we knew from the start i would need his help during editing.  We shared a sensibility about the project but he was able to bring an outsider's perspective that understood where I was coming from and where i wanted to go.

The film was there and we just needed to piece it together.

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SAVE THE DATE! "SEVEN YEAR RENTAL" PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014, 8:00PM, VIVA VIDEO!

“SEVEN YEAR RENTAL” will make its Philadelphia premiere at at Video Pirates presentation of "Analog Artifacts", which is being presented as a part of the 2014 Cinedelphia Film Festival on Friday, April 4, 2014, 8:00PM at Philly's last remaining video store Viva Video!, located at 16 W. Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA 19003.

Admission to the evening's entire lineup of VHS and video store themed films is FREE (though donations are welcome)!

Video Pirates is a found-footage program run by Eric Bresler, the Director/Curator of the Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art (PhilaMOCA).  Video Pirates is serving as the guest programmer for the 2014 Cinedelphia Film Festival - a month long celebration of rare and unique works that wouldn't otherwise likely be showcased in Philadelphia.  The Cinedelphia Film Festival is unique from other festivals in that there is no submission process, each work is carefully curated and scheduled so that programs do not overlap. 

To find out more about the "Analog Artifacts" program, click here.

To learn more about the Cinedelphia Film Festival, visit www.cinedelphiafilmfestival.com.

To stay connected, “like” www.Facebook.com/SevenYear​Rental.

Spread the word! Hope to see you there!

 

Forward Progress

Just finished watching 7YR straight through.

If you'd asked in 2009, I would have confidently told you that the movie was done, and that there wasn't a second that could be changed.  Of course since that time, I've found innumerable changes and tweaks to make, but they haven't just been shuffling around the same pieces.  I truly believe this film has grown into itself, and has even had a slight-yet-significant shift in its identity.  We tried so hard early on not to be something, that we pushed too far that way.  But I'm trying to bring it back a little bit more to the center, and I think that's where our truest voice is.

There's still one final piece needed to conclude this new identity, and that is today's challenge.

This is a stronger film, and I know you'll enjoy it.

State of the Movie: A 7YR Manifesto

In 2006, when the video store documentary "Seven Year Rental" was conceived, we gave it everything we had to tell our story well.  

At that time there seemed to be no other projects tackling the current state of the video store, despite being subject matter close to the hearts of many aspiring, independent filmmakers.  I watched and waited, completely expecting to find someone who had brought this concept to maturation already, but I couldn't find anything with a significant presence.  Maybe the lack of attention to the topic should have been a red flag, but for me it provided all the more reason to do it.  This was the only project I wanted to tackle.  

I was beyond invested in this, and throughout our beginning there were two things I feared the most:  that the project would never reach completion, and that someone would complete it sooner, and better.  

We followed the events at our store for a year, carefully constructing what we thought we could achieve with what we wanted it to be.  It was occurring in real time and there were no do-overs.  

Three years into it we not only had a movie that surpassed our initial expectations, but also one that showed a clear identity.  We were a small, personal film with a small, singular store at its focus.  The larger themes of the state of the industry were there, but they were told from our level and our perspective.

In the time that's passed since the film's initial completion, our goals have always been aimed at making it available for viewing.  We pursued the film festival circuit with a few encouraging successes.  But we struggled to find the appetite for this subject in the format we'd chosen.  And I began to wonder if maybe there wasn't a significant audience devoted to video store culture after all.  

But we've been found online on more than one occasion by passionate video store enthusiasts, craving a subject that seemed elusive to film.  So along the way I've asked for patience from everyone who's expressed interest in seeing our movie who hasn't had an opportunity yet.  But it's reached a tipping point, and we have no place left to go with this but to the finish line, only now we are doing so on the heels of others sharing a similar vision.

There are four films in particular that have recently arrived on the scene, with an energy and a presence our film has yet to achieve.  

These films are:

• Rewind This!  (http://www.rewindthismovie.com/)
• Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector (http://www.facebook.com/AdjustYourTracking)
• The Great American Video Store Documentary (http://www.indiegogo.com/videostores4ever?c=home)
• Videosyncracy (http://www.documentarychannel.com/movie.php?currID=10202&t=Videosyncracy)

We're all "video" documentaries, but each film really seems to be coming from a different perspective.  "Rewind This!" is the definitive look at home video.  "Adjust Your Tracking" is the collector's film; by the fanatics, for the fanatics.  "The Great American Video Store Documentary" is a macro view of the video store industry.  "Videosyncracy" profiles in short form three Los Angeles area video stores.  And alongside them, "Seven Year Rental" presents an intimate telling of one store's experience over the course of a year.  

To be clear, I by no means want to typecast any of the above mentioned films.  I only mean to point out that while all of our films are looking at the video subculture, and likely share some themes, at the heart of each seems to be a very unique vision.  

I love video stores.  And while I don't know any of these filmmakers personally, they are kindred spirits.  I have supported their fundraising campaigns when possible, and have enjoyed, or anxiously await, my chance to see their films.  I have no doubt that one - if not all of these - will find an audience that extends beyond the immediate circle of video enthusiasts.  

So at this point, the enthusiast side of me is excited by each and every one of these new takes on the subject.  But the overly invested filmmaker side still can't help but retain those two initial fears.  These look to be very strong and ambitious films that are exploring similar ground, but I'm confident "Seven Year Rental" has a place among them, with a very different presence.  

It has been over six years since we began "Seven Year Rental", but my commitment to completing this project and putting it out into the world persists.  If you've kept an eye on us over the years, I can't tell you how much your loyalty and patience makes a difference.  While a defined time-frame still does not exist, progress updates will be more forthcoming.  I hope you'll join us for our final approach.  

If you have any suggestions or contacts that could help bring this project to you - either on DVD, VHS, or through an independent screening, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at SevenYearRental@gmail.com, or through our Facebook page.  Hearing from you is always appreciated.  

And please spread the word.  Connect with us - all of us - on Facebook.  There is much to look forward to from all of these projects in the near future.  I hope you'll find "Seven Year Rental" to be worthy company among those celebrating "the original way of renting movies".  

David Neureuther

7YR producer & director

former video store clerk

www.Facebook.com/SevenYearRental

www.SevenYearRental.com

September '12

SAVE THE DATE! "SEVEN YEAR RENTAL" IOWA CITY PREMIERE FRIDAY, AUG. 26th, 7:30PM, HOTELVETRO BALLROOM

“SEVEN YEAR RENTAL” will make its Iowa premiere at the 2011 Landlocked Film Festival on Friday, August 26, 2011, 7:30PM at the hotelVetro Ballroom (2nd floor conference area), 201 South Linn Street, Iowa City, IA 52240.

A Q&A session with the filmmaker will follow the screening.

Admission to "SEVEN YEAR RENTAL" is FREE thanks to the generosity of the Landlocked Film Festival's sponsors and donors. Just be sure to show up a few minutes early and go right in!

To stay connected, “like” www.Facebook.com/SevenYear​Rental.

To find out more about the Landlocked Film Festival and see their complete schedule, visit www.LLFF.org.

Spread the word! Hope to see you there!

"7YR" TO SCREEN AT THE LANDLOCKED FILM FESTIVAL!

"Seven Year Rental" has been selected to screen at the 2011 Landlocked Film Festival!

Mark your calendars for August 25th - 28th, 2011 in Iowa City!

Screening information to come August 1st!  To find out more, visit www.LandlockedFilmFestival.org.

The Rental Experience #13 - Filmmakers

a blog-series recounting the making of "Seven Year Rental"

In the weeks immediately following the Jackson store closure we regained our momentum and hit our stride.

Not only did we resume with filming formal interviews, we came back with some very strong interviewees, including John.  At that time, John was balancing two jobs (running the stores, and another alltogether different job).  He was incredibly hard to come by, and finding time for us was no small feat.  So his willingness to give us the benefit of the doubt about this whole project and play along meant a lot.

We also had a surge in the amount of in-store digital footage we captured.  We hadn't had too many days with the four of us all available to do the in-store shoots; when we finally did, we were clearly overstaffed.  In the end, we found that the digital footage with customers worked best with a two-person crew; one person to film, and the other to explain the project and collect waivers.  But by this point, the security camera had proved to be the best means for capturing customer interactions, so the digital footage quickly became  primarily one-on-one, with me filming the employee on duty (and coworker) by myself.  Nobody's expectations for the film were ever very high, so the one-on-one footage never felt intrusive..  

Through all this, the fundamentals of our process took shape, and the footage we collected came to define our look and feel.  Once we felt confident we'd be albe to deliver in the end, we turned our attention towards editing.

But with editing, we were once again starting from scratch.

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