Thursday, November 16, 2006
Cracking 'The Norman Rockwell Code'
|
By KATE BETTON
Contributing Writer
|
Actor Fritz Weatherbee and director "Freddie" Catalfo discuss a scene in "The Norman Rockwell Code." (Courtesy photo)
|
|
Leonardo
da Vinci once said: "Being willing is not enough; we must do." As the
book and film bearing the Renaissance man's name have been "done" with
great success, so has their parody.
Alfred
Thomas Catalfo, the creative force behind the short film "The Norman
Rockwell Code — a spoof of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" — is not
only willing, but doing.
The Dover-based lawyer has received
national attention since the June 2 issue of "Entertainment Weekly"
featured "The Norman Rockwell Code" on its "The Must List."
"We
got some press while we were still shooting," Catalfo explains, "and it
snowballed. We got calls from Inside Edition while we were still
shooting."
"The Norman Rockwell Code" takes the Da Vinci Code
concepts of a shocking murder with a hidden message, a secret society,
and the adventure of a symbologist and gives them a distinctly
absurdist — and distinctly New England — twist. The short film even
includes New Hampshire icon and three-time Emmy winner Fritz Wetherbee.
Catalfo says of the film and its guest star, "I was thinking to
myself, if you're going to take this really European concept, and
infuse it with Americana, and it's now not Robert Langdon, it's
Langford Fife, it's Barney Fife's son ... who would you want to be the
curator of The Norman Rockwell Museum? Fritz Wetherbee, he's the guy."
Catalfo
himself plays the Detective in the film, but also took on many artistic
roles. Aside from acting, he served as the project's writer and
director as well as assuming the more business-oriented role of
co-producer.
Asked about Catalfo's wide-ranging work on the film, lead actor Mike Walsh sums it up nicely: "He was pretty much everything."
While
lawyer and artist may seem like an unlikely combination, Catalfo's
wealth of experience in both fields has blended well for him.
"I
practice (law) in New Hampshire and Maine, and I think you see people
interact, and (see) the human condition up front, on a very raw
emotional level," he says.
"I think that helps with writing, I
think that helps with acting. The other thing is that, talking to
investors about financing feature films, it gives them a little more
confidence, they feel like they are dealing with someone that can be
trusted to operate the finances in a certain way.
Alfred Thomas Catalfo (left), Danica Carlson and Mike Walsh in a scene from "The Norman Rockwell Code." (Courtesy photo)
|
"I think enthusiasm is the key that really pushes (the creative
process) forward," says Catalfo. "It overwhelms you, that you want to
tell this story, so you do ... My first short film was called 'Wages of
Sin,' which I did in 2001, I wrote and directed it. It made the
festival circuit ... short films, the past few years, have really come
into their own."
"The Norman Rockwell Code" was shot in Acworth, Dover, Rollinsford, and
Kittery and York, Maine. Catalfo was happy to shoot the film in his
home state. "One of the great things about shooting locally is that
nobody's jaded," he says. "Everybody's very excited, people are open to
helping ... the New Hampshire Film Commission has done a good job."
Hatchling
Studios of Portsmouth was instrumental in the film. While Hatchling
founder Marc Dole also co-produced, the studio provided effects such as
the transforming-anagram credits, the digital component of a certain
mythological creature, and animated maps showing the protagonists'
progress.
The progress of the film was instrumental to its
success. Catalfo explains that "Rockwell" "... was on a very fast track
because ... we looked at when The Da Vinci Code was coming out, and we
said we could probably make that release date if we really focus. So we
shot the last two weekends of February and the first two weekends of
March. It was eighteen hour days, and we shot in the winter ... it was
kind of crazy."
Lead actor Danica Carlson elaborated on the
weather conditions. "It was freezing. At the end of the movie I'm
standing on a cliff in a little suit and bare legs, and with the wind
chill it was forty below ... People were waiting with blankets to come
and pick me up and put me in a car that was running with heat."
The
cold didn't dampen Carlson's experience. "It was a lot of fun," she
recalls. "It was such a wonderful atmosphere because even if something
went wrong, it was okay, and we fixed it, and everyone was so
lighthearted and so supportive."
Catalfo also remarked on the
friendly set: "We didn't have a budget ... the resources were really
the local community and friends ... I give a tremendous amount of
credit to Brian Vawter from Atlantic Media, who edited the whole thing,
and in addition did this great Danny Elfman-ish score. And then my
friend Don Semco that I used to play in bands with, he did the music
for the trailer, and part of the music for the film itself. My
fifteen-year-old daughter, Gina, edited the trailer."
The short film enjoyed its world premier at the Norman Rockwell Museum.
Norman Rockwell Code writer, director, co-producer and actor Alfred Thomas Catalfo. (Courtesy photo)
|
Catalfo explains: "We got a call from The Norman Rockwell Museum. I was
concerned — we had faked the museum, we had used all the paintings ...
they were incredibly gracious, wonderful, really enthusiastic. And we
did our world premiere there, it was a sold-out show. The audience was
incredible."
Prior
to the premiere was a screening for the employees of the real Norman
Rockwell Museum. "We were sweating bullets," Catalfo admits, "cause
this is the real staff. This is The Norman Rockwell Museum. First of
all, it was completely surreal. We faked the museum, and the murder at
the museum, all this stuff ... and we're now sitting at the actual
museum! They started laughing within seconds of the film opening and
they never stopped, I mean, they were rolling in the aisles. It was an
incredible experience, we honestly didn't know what their reaction
would be."
Rockwell fans weren't the only consideration. "Don
Knotts passed away the night before we started shooting," Catalfo
recalls. "We really, really wanted to do a good job, and the film is
dedicated to him."
Actor Mike Walsh said of his Knotts-inspired
performance: "I remember saying a kind of a prayer to his spirit, I
hope he's flattered. I worked hard on (an homage to Knotts)."
An
accomplished theater actor, Carlson describes her first film experience
as "awesome," and says of Catalfo's work style: "he's very
lighthearted, but he knows exactly what he's looking for at the same
time. Which is quite efficient. And at the same time, you don't feel
pressured. And he's always open to new ideas, which is very cool."
Walsh
adds, "Fred, he's incredible, he's been doing this stuff for years ...
he just doesn't give up. He's got something to do every time I talk to
him."
Fritz Weatherbee in a scene from "The Norman Rockwell Code." (Courtesy photo)
|
Right now, Catalfo has plans to start shooting another short film in
June, "a kind of Hitchcockian thriller." He adds, "we're planning to
make the jump to features, we have several films in development. We're
talking about making 'The Norman Rockwell Code' into a feature. Low
budget, but a real budget. We love shooting locally. The constant
battle is to have funding to do something creative. I'm really happy
with what's happening here. I have a lot of friends in L.A., I had a
nice time when I was there, but I think there's something about doing
creative things in a community atmosphere that's incredibly satisfying
and enjoyable, and that's what this environment really provides."
More information on "The Norman Rockwell Code" can be found online at www.thenormanrockwellcode.com.
|
