The Prologue:

Hello everyone, and welcome to the crowdfunding page for my film, First Position. My name is Michael Thomas and I am a thesis-year cinematographer in the MFA Cinematography Program at UCLA. I first realized my passion for visual storytelling when I started filming my sister's dance performances in my undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama. From there on, I crafted my visual aesthetics based on movement and how bodies can perform with each other, not just during dance, but during life in general.

This spawned the idea of researching how body movement, specifically in the art of dance, can manipulate camera movement; thus evoking certain emotions in the audience. In December 2017, I did some camera tests that challenged this theory. I film the same dance with (3) different camera styles based on films like The King and I, Black Swan, and shows like So You Think You Can Dance? These different cuts were sent out and people were polled on their reactions. CHECK IT OUT HERE:

The Film:

During my time at UCLA, I wanted to make sure that I was taking advantage of every creative outlet I was allowed. Being in California, in such a creative and open space, I found a new freedom in the stories I could create. I have always been fascinated with LGBT History and the events that led to the present day. There is so much that we don’t think about, and the people that made sacrifices that allow me to be my genuine self shouldn’t be forgotten.

In First Position, we follow our protagonist, Zachary Campbell, a young aspiring dancer who has just moved to San Francisco to fulfill his dream of joining a dance company. In his quest to become a dancer, fate throws him into the arms of choreographer, Jamie Callahan, a San Francisco native who has the dream of owning his own studio. These two form a connection while continuing on their parallel paths, until Zachary notices warning signs on his skin.

Told through a series of memories and dance pieces, First Position is a film that shows how the absence of choice perpetuates tragedy when it comes to what you love, whether it be another person, or the art of the craft itself. 

The Process:

One of the main things we wanted to experiment with during the making of this film was how we could tell a story through more than just dialogue. Throughout First Position, you will notice that certain moments in the story trigger dance pieces set in a different realm. This realm was what we referred to in the script and shooting stages as “The Void”.

The Void was inspired by Black Swan and other performances I have photographed. This realm in the film played in darkness with movement of human bodies being our sole translator, as well as the only connection to the film’s actual reality.

Throughout the history of cinema, dance has been used to explain emotion, but also environment. When I was watching films such as Black Swan and All that Jazz, I started to see how the space that these bodies were in, were of just as much importance as what the bodies were doing. This became a huge subject because the spaces where Zachary was dancing, but also growing with the disease, were vital into how he would be operate.

The Choreography:

We sat down with choreographer, James Tabeek and had extensive talks before the original dance tests about what movement means to us both as a choreographer and a cinematographer. Using these discussions he crafted dance pieces that reflected and told the story of the narrative’s biggest moments.

During rehearsals, James worked extensively with our main actors, Anthony Sorrells and Mark Wax to help them understand what each count was choreographed for, and why these movements were being made. Then behind the camera, the production crew and I would work to make sure that these movements were captured in an authentic and purposeful way. In order to form an authentic and honest experience for the viewer, James, the dancers, and myself collaborated on how these dances would be done, but also why they would be done and covered on film.

The Disease:

We always knew we wanted the existence of HIV/AIDS to play a role in the film, but we didn’t want it to be the main focus. Instead, it needed to be a character in and of itself, whose purpose was to be a pushing force against Zachary’s growth as a dancer, but also as human being.

Anthony and I had many different conversations about what AIDS meant in that time as a sickness, but also as a social identity. Questions arose of how would you be treated, who you could trust, and if acceptance was a way of admitting defeat. Both of us being younger members of the LGBT community couldn’t fathom what it must have felt like, but we looked into stories of those that inspired us from the works of famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev, to written works like The Normal Heart and Angels in America, and documentaries like We Were Here. 

On set, makeup artist Stephanie Kim was able to recreate effects like lesions onto Anthony’s skin in scenes early on, as well as later moments after contraction.

Why shoot on Super 16mm Film?

One of the biggest conversations we had was should we shoot this project on physical film, or stick with digital formats? As the director & cinematographer, it was something to explicitly think about, not just as a visual medium, but also what effect it would have during production, as well as how the audience would receive it.

After viewing many of our reference photos, we saw that the time period we were trying to recreate was told through a series of celluloid containers like old archival photos from gay San Francisco, scenes from the 2008 film, Milk (35mm), Black Swan shot on 16mm, and photographs of the AIDS Crisis shot on 35mm rolls.

We chose to shoot 16mm film using the Arriflex 416 because the aesthetic matched what we believed to be how the film should present itself. We had a mixture of newer stocks, with some rolls being older from about nine years ago. The texture of these different emulsions allowed in aiding with the film having an aged, archival look.

What Now!?

First Position has been such a long project in the making, and it’s not done yet! Now we are on our final stages of Post-Production, but we need your help!

From shooting on film, we have to process and scan the film into a higher resolution digital format for release. We are using our friends Cinelab over in Massachusetts to scan all of our dailies into a high quality 2K HDR (DPX) file format. These uncompressed files will give us all of the color and image information we need once we move to the color stages of the edit.

As you are reading this, our editor Ellen Schwartz is putting together cuts of the film for test screenings. Ellen is based in Los Angeles, having just had worked on Contemporary Color by the Ross Brothers which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, and Ellen has also collaborated with Court 13 (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

For First Position, our plan has always been to have original music over the film, and more importantly, the dance numbers. We have composer, Karam Salem, attached to the project to create all of the original music compositions that will be in the film. His credits include many films, and as of most recent, a few Dreamworks/Netflix animated series (Home & Trolls). 

We are aiming to have a final version of the film being sent out to festivals this Fall 2018. We are looking to send it to festivals that celebrate not just LGBT cinema, but also those that celebrate the artists within all of us who know the feeling of having everything stacked against you, just like our characters in this film.

Thank you all from the bottom of heart for allowing my team and I to create something like this. I already feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity and I hope that with your help, we can take this even further to its final version. Contribute what you can, and know that every cent of your donation is being used for the betterment of telling queer stories.

Sincerely,

Michael Elias Thomas <3