Loco
Loco is a short film about dating in Vancouver and how
hard it can be to meet someone in a city where the last
train home is 1am. Perennially single Max goes to the bar
with his buddy Liam who is so coupled-up he can’t even
remember what dating is anymore to try his luck but
closing time is drawing near and glamorous Dani won’t be
won over if he doesn’t work up the nerve to approach her.
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Johnny PapanDirectorSnakebite & Black,
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Anna ForsythWriterMorning Walk, Till Our Masters Come, Valet
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Samantha LoneyProducer
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Lauren HorneProducer
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Danny VanProducer
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Matthew LawsonProducer
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Chris CopeKey CastThe Entrance, Sorry We're Closed, Second Chance
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Rachel SchaeferKey CastThe Actress Diaries, Shooting The Musical, The Assignment
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Daniel O'KaneKey Cast
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Stephen AtkinsonDOPTips
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Ariana SaadatEditorThe Huntsman: Winter's War, Star Trek Beyond, The New Romantics
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Bruno Trivelli1st ADI Am, Trangression, Yesterday Was The Day We Died, Gangsta Quest
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Lauren HorneProduction Designer
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Emilia SainzSound DesignIt Starts With Nothing, Inward Edward, The Birth of Venus
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Edward YinAssistant CameraGangsta Quest, The Either Inside
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Matthew BarrieKey GripStagnant, Life Is An Adventure
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Chris RunneSet DecorationMotherboard, Tips
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Lily BostanamanHair & MakeupStagnant, The Left Foot Club, Iridescence
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Elsy DagdugSound MixingInward Edward, The Birth of Venus, Candlelight
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Samantha LoneyScript Supervisor
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Danny VanLocations Manager
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Anna ForsythCasting Director
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Samantha LoneyCasting Director
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Karen DiazCasting Assistant
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Dened Rey MorenoCasting Assistant
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Matthew LawsonTransportation Captain
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Project Type:Short, Student
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Genres:Romance, Comedy
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Runtime:8 minutes 57 seconds
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Completion Date:October 14, 2016
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Production Budget:750 USD
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Country of Origin:Canada
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Country of Filming:Canada
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes
Johnny Papan is a Canadian screenwriter, director and musician born in Surrey, BC. With an educational background in screenwriting, filmmaking, literary arts and music, Johnny’s main focus is to produce quality storytelling in a dynamic range of styles, specialising in horror, thrillers and comedy. Johnny has directed five short films, including Unholy, The Disc and most recently thriller Snakebite & Black.
What attracted me to the “Loco” script was it’s simple story told in an oversaturated fashion. The character interactions felt very cartoony, which sort of fueled my overall vision, wanting to make things as awkward, crazy, and over the top as humanly possible within our time/budget/gear constraints. I also just really liked the story in general, I have a sweet spot for romantically themed comedies, and love awkward humour, and this film had both. I also wanted to attach myself to the project as it was completely different from anything I’ve directed before (mostly horror films). Thought it would be a great experience to take a crack at it. And it was!
I knew immediately that I wanted to give the actors as much breathing room to bring their own creativity to the characters as possible. I made sure to always let them know to feel free to go off script if they felt in the moment, as well as bring suggestions to the table. They did and honestly it brought a lot of great moments to the final product. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect cast because not only did they all look great on camera together, they contrasted each other wonderfully within their characters. Thought the actors did an amazing job on this one for sure.
In terms of the look of the film, I tried not to get too overstylized, as I wanted the focus more specifically on the dialogue/acting/comedy. Kept shots simple. I guess my biggest challenge was to keep it simple without making it look boring/the same throughout the entire film. I did this by using more two shots for Max and Liam and more OTS coverage for Max and Dani. Also snuck in a few inserts and stuff to kinda mix things up. Our editor also deserves some kudos, even her rough cut was really well done and I think the final film is pretty dang smooth!
In terms of influences, this story gave me a bit of a “How I Met Your Mother” vibe, so I mostly rolled with that. I sent our colourist pics of “HIMYM” bar scenes to reference.
Overall there’s not a whole lot more to say. Kinda jumped into this one not really sure what to expect and ended up with one of my proudest films to date. Ended up with a great team who all around did awesome jobs, and got to push my creative boundaries. Super valuable experience for sure and can’t wait to screen it!