Graduate student films crime drama in Mount Pleasant
One of the biggest challenges Grant Pichla faced during graduate school was finding a public place to bring a gun.
A former graduate student in the Broadcast and Cinematic Arts program at Central Michigan University, Pichla directed “Niner" before he graduated in May 2014. The crime drama, which was written by Eric Dickson, will be shown 1 p.m. Feb. 15 in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium as part of the Central Michigan International Film Festival. Pichla had to notify the police when filming a scene with fake guns for his feature-length movie.
"You can't just go out into a parking lot and start waving a gun around," Pichla said.
Pichla didn’t want just a horror movie or a romantic comedy — he thought they would be too shallow. Instead, he wanted a drama with suspense because those are the kinds of movies he likes to watch.
His film is about an offbeat detective who must choose between pursuing a murder investigation or saving his reputation in a court case where he is being framed. Pichla said the themes of the film are "making a few wrongs in order to make a right, the effects of guilt and revenge and choosing between what is legal and what is just."
Creating the film was an interesting experience, he said, because many of the people who helped with the film were CMU students. Kevin Neil Smith, a fellow graduate student at the time, worked with Pichla and produced the film.
Smith said Pichla told him "I'm going to make a movie," so Smith agreed to help.
“The nice thing about being at a university is that the people who are volunteering to help you have a passion for it and are eager to learn,” Pichla said.
Many people think the biggest challenges of making an independent film are money and resources. For Pichla it was managing time.
The people working on the film had jobs and classes during production, so it was difficult to find the time to work on the film. Pichla had to be conscious of the cast's other commitments.
Smith said it was difficult to figure out when people would be available for scenes which could require four to 20 people, then plan the specific locations ahead of time.
"In the end, you learn to trust that it will all work out, but you also learn to have backup plans just in case," he said.
Deciding where to film was based on convenience and what the script required. Pichla said he always looked in Mount Pleasant first.
“One of the biggest things I learned is that we have a very nice community,” he said. “Kevin and I constantly talked about how welcoming people were.”
The owner of The Bird Bar and Grill let them film inside the business without any questions. They also filmed in other Michigan locations and received support from people who let them use their houses and other locations.
This doesn’t mean filming was simple.
The production crew needed to film a courtroom scene, but they couldn’t use a courtroom in Mount Pleasant or in Ubly, Pichla’s hometown. Eventually they found a location through one of their crew members.
Pichla’s favorite aspect was working with the crew. He spent much time working on the film with these people and now, he has a completed feature-length film.
“You actually have something that comes out of (the work you do) and you can watch it forever, and it reminds you of everything you did,” Pichla said.
From making this film, Pichla learned that the process is huge and there is a distinct difference between making a film for YouTube and making one for a movie theatre. While he said one person could do most of the work for a YouTube video, a film for a professional screen requires a team.
“It’s not wise to try to do everything yourself,” he said. "You really have to break it apart and share the workload with other people."
Smith also said the film was a valuable learning experience.
"Every creative project that I've worked on has taught me something," Smith said. "'Niner' has taught me everything."
