Introduction and Vitals
Welcome to The Surprise portion of our website. We’ve attempted to provide you with as much information about the making of this film as possible. If you have any questions or comments about the site or The Surprise generally, please don’t hesitate to contact us at comments (at) eighty-watt.com.
And be sure to check out our most recent addition, the Storyboards page, which is complete with comparisons to actual frames of the finished film and includes Director commentary.
To begin, here’s some basic information about The Surprise:
- The Surprise was shot over 7 12-14 hour days in late February and early March of 2003 with a cast of 7 and a crew of 45. The film was officially completed in early 2004.
Pre-production officially lasted 8 weeks, but preparations began nearly four months before the start of principal photography. Post-production, including editing, sound editing, composing and recording the score, final sound mix, and titles design, took the better part of four months.- Auditions for The Surprise lasted three weeks and included two callbacks. There were two weeks of rehearsals, totaling 40 hours.
The Surprise was shot at 1.85:1 on Fuji F400 35mm film with a Moviecam camera, Cooke S4 primes, and an Angenieux Optimo zoom lens. The shooting ratio was approximately 12:1.- The film was shot on location in Manhattan, Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and Easton, Pennsylvania.
- The Surprise was developed at Technicolor East and transferred via a dual master to DVCAM and BetaSP at Moving Images on a DaVinci color correction machine. It was edited with Final Cut Pro 4.
The Surprise was filmed under the SAG experimental agreement- Extras casting was handled by Toni Cusumano Casting. Approximately 30 extras were used during filming.
- The Surprise, LLC was incorporated in Delaware in December of 2002 and has authority to do business in New York State. Legal services were provided by Baker Hostetler, LLP.
- The total running time of The Surprise is 19:53.
If you’re interested, a more in-depth account of the making of The Surprise can be found in the Production Notes section of our Press Kit. If you have any specific questions not addressed here or on the website generally, please direct your inquiry to comments (at) eighty-watt.com and we will do our best to give you a complete and detailed answer.