The Story:
“Seventy 8” takes place in the small town of Arkham Heights where years ago Renny Meeks, a simple man was held responsible for the death of a little girl named April Rolands. The Rolands family owned the local plant and the town of Arkham Heights. The incident with April was captured on film and haunted the town for years to come. After the death of April, the Rolands left town, and shut down the plant leaving the town in a state of limbo. Renny was placed into the Carpenter Institution under the care of Doctor Revok for the next fifteen years.

SEVENTY-8 marks the feature film directorial debut of Erik Clapp. Drawing upon the lingering intensity and surreal reality of Asian cinema, this dark and suspenseful mystery carries one distinct message, says Erik Clapp: “The more you torture someone or beat into them your ideas, the more likely they are to become what you are, which is not necessarily a great thing to be.”

It is present day in Arkham Heights, a seemingly desolate town that has decayed much since the eighties. Renny Meeks (MERK HARBOUR) is a lonely, mentally challenged man with an IQ of 78, who sacks groceries at a small store. He's a simple man, recently released from an institution for a crime he was accused of that rocked the town ten years ago. The crime was caught on camera and became such a debate that it sent the entire town of Arkham Heights into its now desperate state. Renny now tries to live a simple life away from the people he supposedly harmed akin to a Frankenstein-esque existence.

As Renny re-integrates himself into the Arkham Heights society, a series of murders on film strangely begin to occur again. Scared, with nowhere and no one to turn to, he finds shelter in Alice (SUSANA GIBB), the check out girl at the grocery store. Alice sees a lot of herself in Renny. She feels compassion for him and tries to help him as she begins to suspect her ex-boyfriend, the ruff and tumble Edward (DAMEON CLARKE), of be responsible for framing Renny with these new series of crimes. Alice defends Renny to local cop, Joe Stefano (RICHARD FOLMER), who seems intent on putting Renny back in the institution.

Stefano becomes unable to hold Renny on a lack of evidence and allows Alice to take him home. Unfortunately the outside world of Arkham Heights becomes a more dangerous place than they could ever imagine. In a tumultuous and surprise ending, Renny and Alice must face an entire town intent on seeing Renny die for the crimes they believe he committed.

About the Production:
Educated in both Advertising and Film/Video Production, Erik Clapp is a screenwriter turned filmmaker who has spent the past 8 years writing, producing, and directing industrial videos, short films, and television commercials.

For his feature film debut, he chose a screenplay he had written five years prior: “Seventy-8 is about a character named Renny Meeks who has an IQ of 78. He gets into a bit of a mess with the local bullies and kills a little girl who is the daughter of the man who owns the town. As a result, he’s thrown into an institution. When he gets out, the whole town has dried up and gone down hill because of the girl’s death, and now is plotting Renny’s demise.”

A fan of slower paced films that build their suspense and intrigue through character development, Clapp built an intriguing concept based upon a simple idea. Says the screenwriter turned director, “I always wanted to make a movie about someone who gets picked on and bullied in school. And, I wanted to do a movie where a medium of communication was used as a murder weapon, in this case film and in particular, snuff films. I really hadn’t seen a movie about snuff films that really showed what that world was about.”

His first step in realizing his dream was bringing aboard Co-Producer and Director of Photography, Jason Todd Hampton. Shares Clapp, “Jason and I met at the University of Texas at Arlington in film and video class. I was getting ready to produce a show for cable television. I had seen some of Jason’s material and ran into him at an art gallery. I introduced myself, told him I wanted him to direct an episode for a campus cable show I was producing – which he did – and we’ve been working together ever since.”

Hampton continues, “Erik and I have been making short films on and off ever since we graduated from the college and Seventy-8 has been one of those things that we both felt good enough about to stay with. The story originated five years ago – that was the first time I read it. When the opportunity arose to make a feature that was the first one we jumped on. Between the two of us, it’s the movie we thought we could build a foundation with.”

In building this foundation, Clapp and Hampton spent a year further developing the story, characters, and visual style for the film. Ultimately, the two collaborators decided to shoot the movie in High Definition 24p.

“The decision was both artistic and financial,” says Clapp. “We couldn't afford 35mm, and I dislike the ‘look’ of 16mm. It reminds me too much of grainy student productions of the past. I wanted something cleaner and more pure. I come from more of a digital video background, so I wasn't that scared of the new technology. And from the few features I had seen shot with it, I really liked the look of it. It came as close to being 35mm that we could afford. It also saved us a lot of money in stock and processing fees. And for some strange reason I liked the fact that we were making a movie about a place devoid of technology using the cutting edge of technology ourselves. That made total sense to me!”

The lack of technology Clapp refers to is one of the fundamental artistic decisions that lends brilliantly to the film’s mysterious nature. Clapp and Hampton instructed the art department that the film should take place “anytime,” meaning that there should be no signs of modern technology to date the story. Says the director, “I wanted to convey to the audience that this town was left behind. Way behind. Exactly like the characters themselves. Everything should be very simple, like Renny. I'm a strong believer that your setting should be a strong central character in a film. I didn't want the distractions of cell phones, computers, televisions… I didn't want the characters to have access to such conveniences. It just made the town seem that much stranger. I also thought it would help add credibility to the fact that everyone is still using Super 8 cameras instead of camcorders.”

An essential element of the storyline, black clad figures wearing white masks follow Renny, filming his movements with 8mm cameras. Clapp and Hampton decided to incorporate this into the style of the movie using 8mm footage shoot simultaneously with the High Definition cameras. “We could have shot the Super 8 stuff in HD and degraded it later,” explains Clapp, “but unlike 16mm, I happen to be a fan of Super 8. It has such a dirty, sinister look to it. It just feels bad. We decided to use the camera and the look as the point-of-view of the killer to take advantage of that dirty look. I took a class in Super 8 about ten years ago, and never finished it, so this was almost the equivalent of my completion of that class.

”It stands out from the HD and adds such a voyeuristic feel to the movie. I'm real proud to have cut all of it by hand on a little movieola I bought at a flea market.”

Further to the visual aesthetic they were seeking for Seventy-8, Clapp and Hampton made a final, unique decision; they shot the movie’s present day footage in black and white and used color for the flashback sequences.

“We spent about half a year discussing how to mute the colors enough to make the town seem devoid of life,” says Clapp. “After a while Jason and I just kind of looked at each other and decided to go all the way and just suck all the life out of it and go black and white. The decision to make the flashbacks the opposite was actually real simple. Since the flashbacks all occur before the death of the little girl, why not make them overly vibrant and full of life. So we went the polar opposite to show how perfect the town used to be before things turned ugly. Its a subconscious thing that you either key into or don't.”

Adds Jason Hampton: “One of Erik’s biggest influences for Seventy-8 we're the earlier films of John Frankenheimer. I knew that Erik wanted this film to feel like an old movie – like the old black and white film noir from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Also, the story of Seventy-8 has a very slow-moving feel so I chose to capture that by shooting hand-held to give it a rocky feel. I knew if we shot traditionally with static shots and smooth movement it would be too slow and boring for the audience. With the shaking of the hand-held I was hoping it would give the audience an uneasy feeling while the story is being figured out in front of them.

”We also chose to use all sorts of long lens shots to give the feeling as though somebody was watching around corners or behind bushes. The idea, tied into the story, that the audience would become a cast member as well.”

Essential to the movie would be a diverse cast, particularly large for a smaller budgeted film. At the center of the story is Renny Meeks, a simple-minded man haunted by his past.

“When I was writing Renny I really had no idea what he looked like, other than a blank slate,” says Clapp. “So in casting we saw a lot of terrific actors who maybe went too far one way or the other. Merk Harbour came in and gave a very understated performance. He seemed very likable and bashful at the same time. He had a look, and a way with his body movements that just fit the character.”

Joining Merk Harbour would be Susana Gibb, a gifted actress who would play the very conflicted character of Alice. Says Clapp, “Susana I had seen in some other movies like ‘Falling Hard’ and ‘Learning Curve.’ I wrote the script with her in the back of my head. She is just a terrific actress with this innocent yet at the same time suspicious look about her. She can seem so pretty then turn on a dime and just look the complete opposite. There are scenes in the movie where that look was key.”

Rounding out the cast would be veteran stage and screen actors Richard Folmer and Gail Cronauer, along with up-and-coming actors Dameon Clarke and Dell Johnson.

Seventy-8 was set and ready to go in November 2002, until the production hit a snag. Two weeks prior to filming, the Producers were contacted by the Teamster’s Union and told that the production would hire Teamster drivers or shutdown. Says Clapp, “We could not afford to pay what they demanded on our meager budget. So we had to shutdown for a while and rethink how to deal with the situation.”

“It took the wind out of our sails,” says Director of Photography Jason Hampton, “but at the same time, it gave us the opportunity to pre-produce the movie a lot more… to be more thorough so we could really communicate with the rest of the crew what we were wanting.”

Adds Clapp, “It gave Jason and I a little time to step back and approach the movie from a filmmaking standpoint instead of a producing standpoint. Here Jason is dealing with casting when he’s supposed to be taking care of the cinematography. Since most of our producing work was done, it gave us a little time to just look at the movie as a filmmaking team.”

The producers decided to delay production until the spring of 2003. Quietly and under the radar, they began weekend filming in February followed by a two-week shooting schedule in March.

“For a low-budget film we had a boat load of locations,” says the director. “Many of the locations were bigger set pieces than the others. So for the more intimate scenes - in the apartment for example - we didn't need a full crew. We broke our schedule down to take advantage of days in which we needed a large crew or a small crew. We took our smallest days first to get familiar with the crew and cast on the three weekend shoots. Then once everyone was comfortable with each other and we had a good flow going we went to a full two-week schedule with the more elaborate scenes and locations. It was at this point we added more crew.”

With production fully underway, Erik Clapp got his first taste of feature filming directing: “Having never directed a feature before I was very nervous to say the least. However I was around several people that I trusted, and I just went into it with a very gung-ho attitude that this was going to get done. I tried to be as prepared as possible with storyboards and open to any suggestions that anyone on the crew wanted to make. Filmmaking is a group effort. No one suggestion from the crew or cast should go unheard. I wanted to encourage everyone that this is what we have to get done, if there is a way that can enhance it creatively I'm all for it.

“As far as the way I directed it, I would say I wanted to keep the actors on their heels. I like to give actors the opportunity to interpret things their way first within the confines of the script. If something is off to me or seems odd, then I'll say something or make adjustments. For Seventy-8 it was kind of a ‘keep it dark’ kind of feel and attitude.”

Two particular sequences, the darkest of the movie, also proved to be the most challenging for the director. “I've never had a problem with shooting out of sequence but shooting a big action sequence or set piece in reverse order messes with my head,” explains Clapp. “So the Storage sequence and the Theater scenes did a real number on me. We had very finite amount of time to pull off some really complex scenes with a lot of coverage. And I learned very early that gun fights and squibs can kill your day and your momentum.

“The theater scene was a real killer because of all the extras, choreography, and the use of the steadicam for the first time, since being handheld for most of the shoot. It was a real challenge to stay on top of things. That scene was just so different in every way from everything else we had done up to that point. It was like making one movie one day and another movie the next. Although that was intended and planned it was a real killer to shift creative gears like that.”

On April 23, 2003, Seventy-8 wrapped production and began their year long task of post-production. Looking back on the making of the film, Erik Clapp shares, “My favorite memory from production was very simple. I loved shooting at Roy Pope Grocery. Everything just seemed to click there. I used to work there during and after High School, so it was kind of like a homecoming for me. I had a great time shooting those scenes - the mood was very light and fun. Everyone seemed to be enjoying what they were doing on the days we were there. It was just a tremendous atmosphere to work in.

“Another favorite memory for me was shooting the Super 8mm footage side by side with the HD camera. There was this weird kind of passing of the torch feeling. And I felt really good about utilizing the newest and oldest of technologies at the same time.

“I really enjoyed shooting the scene where Robin McGee gets shot on the fence in Super 8 at the beginning of the film. We did that on the fly, no permits, and in a not-so-great neighborhood at night. We did it twice and once we got it we had to race back to our cars before the police came by. That made me feel like we were having fun and still doing things guerrilla style even though we had a budget at our disposal.”