Friday, September 13, 2024
SPRINGTOWN — By 10:30 a.m. July 16, the temperature outside the Swanzys’ yellow house with a white wrap-around porch in the heart of Springtown had already grown hot, but that didn’t stop a crew of young creatives from proceeding with their mission.
The main huddle included director Emma Sumlin, photography director Jonathan Collins and lead actors Grace Adams and Jordan Pope. A gaffer, a makeup artist and a behind-the-scenes videographer made up some of the other crew members. On that sunny morning, everyone on set played their part to make a short, silent film called “Timeless.”
The team effort is something Joshua Sweet noticed while capturing behind-the-scenes footage and conducting interviews with the cast and crew.
“I feel like showcasing each and every person is important as well because every person plays a big part,” he said. “You see the film, but with the (behind-the-scenes) you see the effort and the work that it took to get the film done.”
The story of “Timeless” started with Sumlin, a Dallas Baptist University student in her early 20s and the granddaughter of Springtown residents Eddy and Margaret Swanzy. In April 2023, Sumlin felt inspired to write the 1940s tale with her friend, Adams. They came up with the story of Marjorie and Pearce, who meet, fall in love and get married. Then, their lives change when Pearce is summoned to war.
Like Marjorie and Pearce’s romance, the pieces required to make this film fell into place like clockwork. Collins joined the project to not only serve as the cinematographer but also as co-director and editor. The roles for the two leads were cast, and the team raised enough money to fund the project. All this led up to July 16 when the cast and crew gathered at the Swanzys’ home to shoot scenes of Marjorie and Pearce’s loving married life. The camera captured the couple reading together outside on their porch in quiet harmony, and they exchanged romantic glances, realizing how lucky they were to have found each other. The scenes were calm, and the atmosphere behind the camera was pretty relaxed as well.
“It's gone flawlessly,” Sumlin said July 16. “Usually on films, you're freaking out, like ‘Oh, we're out of time. I got to cut it. We got to cut this scene because we're not going to get it done.’ We've had so much time to do everything. Every single scene we’ve ever shot is exactly how I pictured it, and we've had time to have creative freedom.”
To prepare for filming, Sumlin created her storyboard in a dark notebook and drew out each image she wanted to capture on film. This helped her remember what shots she wanted to get, but she also enjoyed getting creative with her team and deviating from the storyboard.
“A lot of our best scenes have been impromptu,” Sumlin said, describing how the group came up with new ideas. “It brings it to life and lifts it up even more.”
Furthermore, Sumlin praised her team, saying they were all good at their jobs, got things done without having to be asked and aimed to serve. But beyond work, the director also wanted to bring the creatives together to bond and become friends.
“We've had some people come extra days even when they don't have to be here because they said it feels like a family, and it's so much fun,” she said.
The crew behind the camera strived to get the best shots, working with the natural lighting outside, making sure the shots were free from the crew’s modern-day cars in the driveway and placing the camera in the appropriate places to catch the action. This process included lots of discussion between the group, especially Collins and gaffer Kyle Boessler. A gaffer handles lighting throughout production, but Boessler said this responsibility was shared between him and Collins.
“He makes the final decision,” Boessler said. “He’s really open, and he likes to let me play around a lot … so, I can give him my advice, and then he tells me yes or no, depending on what he sees through the camera.”
On set that day, Collins appeared like a mastermind as he led the crew to work. He operated the camera and was at the forefront of decision-making.
“If that is what everyone thinks when they look at me when I'm working, I must be doing something right,” Collins said. “This is my first time being a director of photography for this type of production.”
Previously, Collins has worked as a production assistant and in post-production. On “Timeless,” he serves as the co-director and editor in addition to photography director.
“My mindset is I don't know everything,” he said. “And obviously there's a lot of people here who have been on sets, who have had a lot more set time than I have, and so I ask them, ‘What do you think of this?’ And I think that's one of the reasons why maybe I work so well with some of these people is, it's like, yes, I want the scene to look like this, but what can you do? How can you make this better?”
Collins described himself as a visual person. Because of his work in broadcasting, he knows how to set up a shot and make a person look good on camera. In fact, he was doing broadcast projects at Dallas Baptist University when he met Sumlin, who saw that he was talented and wanted to make a movie with him. They worked together on another short film, so when Sumlin had the idea for “Timeless,” she recruited Collins’ help. He wanted to work with Sumlin again and was intrigued by her ideas, so he signed on.
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Alongside Collins, Sweet was also filming but for a different purpose. Sweet, who is based in Mesquite, was capturing what was going on behind the scenes, including conducting interviews with the cast and crew.
“This is my passion,” he said about the filming process.
Behind the scenes isn’t the only film work Sweet does. He has worked as a cinematographer, videographer, camera assistant and film director.
“I've done everything that it takes to make a film,” he said.
Being involved with film projects isn’t about the money for Sweet. He’s not opposed to earning an income; in fact, he is trying to break into commercial work, like working with companies making ads, and using corporate money to fund film projects. But he has also been fulfilled by working on projects without a budget.
“You don't have to have a big budget to make Hollywood-style movies,” he said. “Get a good camera and shoot. Get some good audio and shoot. Get some friends who are serious about this and interested.”
Pope, one of the lead actors for “Timeless,” also spoke to being fueled by passion. He traveled to Texas all the way from Tennessee to be in the film.
“Not a lot of people have the opportunity to do it, so a lot of people chase acting or whatever,” Pope said. “It’s their dream to do it. So, any chance I get to do it, I want to do it, doesn't matter how far it is.”
It also didn’t hurt that Pope got along with the rest of the crew making “Timeless,” particularly his co-star Adams, who he instantly connected with.
“We're all friends now,” he said. “That's what a movie set does to you. You don't leave not friends.”
As soon as Pope saw the casting call for his character Pearce, he sent Sumlin a message with his headshot, reel and resume. He said she was instantly convinced that he was the right person to play Pearce.
“She kind of just put faith in me like that,” he said, snapping his fingers for emphasis.
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When the cast and crew took a lunch break, Adams was still in her costume, a blue and white gingham dress, as she ate. It may seem brave of her to have risked eating food in such a pretty dress, but Adams revealed that was nothing compared to what she did the day before.
“Yesterday, we filmed the wedding scene, and I was in my wedding dress, and right after, we went to Whataburger,” she said. “So, I was in Whataburger in my nice white wedding dress, but I didn’t spill on it. … I was a little worried for a second, but I put the napkin on the lap and everything, had napkins on the ready (and) made it through.”
Adams met Sumlin at Dallas Baptist University in fall 2022, her first semester at the campus. Adams recalled that she and Sumlin were in the same 8 a.m. government class.
“Afterwards, we would have breakfast together, and so that’s how we got to know each other more,” Adams said. “And then our last class of the day, we had world literature, so we got to see each other at the beginning (of the day) and the late afternoon.”
Adams said she and Sumlin became friends fast and found they had a lot in common. This led to Adams working with Sumlin to create the story of “Timeless,” inspired by their shared interest in vintage time periods.
While shooting scenes of Marjorie’s married life, Adams had her hair up in a swirly bun with a shape that resembled a cinnamon roll, and her make-up was supposed to match the time period of the 1940s, natural while still adding color to the face. This part of her style was meant to represent the character’s elegant and carefree personality, said Maribel Rivera, a hair and make-up artist on set.
Rivera, who came to the Springtown set from the Keller area, has been doing make-up, including on sets, for a few years now. Rivera has a make-up retail day job, but she would love to work on sets full time.
“I started off studying psychology and then quarantine hit. I dropped out of college and ended up going to makeup school, like a whole 180 (degrees),” she said. “But I've always wanted to do something in the arts, so I feel like it was perfect for me.”
Rivera worked on Adams’ hair and make-up in between scenes and stayed nearby to make adjustments when needed, like securing fly-away hairs coming through Adams’ bun.
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Though she wasn’t born until the early 1940s, Margaret Swanzy knew the style of the time by seeing photos of her family members, and she had notes on costumes.
“I got pictures of my mother in the ’40s, and she didn’t dress like they did,” she said with a laugh, referring mainly to Adams’ costumes. “They were poor, too.”
The Swanzys are known for avidly attending Springtown sporting events and watching all the action from the sidelines. But this time, the sidelines were their own front porch. On the morning of July 16, Margaret Swanzy was sitting in one of the wicker chairs and kept an eye out for wasps. Eddy Swanzy handled transportation in a way; he opened the gate for anyone who needed to enter or exit his property and let people know that it was fine to drive on the grass in order to back up when leaving. He warned people not to step in fire beds and offered water to the crew.
“It's interesting to see how knowledgeable these kids are,” Margaret Swanzy said.
The Swanzys’ home — a dream house for Margaret that was inspired by “Gone with the Wind” — was built in 2004, and they have lived there ever since. Their house was not only used to film in but also served as home base and dormitories for some of the young creatives for about a week. Despite air conditioning repairs and other challenges, the Swanzys served as gracious hosts, though Margaret Swanzy admitted that she was praying for patience.
As the news about the film has gotten out, Margaret Swanzy said she has received several comments on Facebook about how proud she must be of her granddaughter.
“And I am,” she said. “But I’m even more proud watching her because she's very good.”
Sumlin’s grandfather Eddy Swanzy even scored a part in the film as a minister.
“Everybody is crying, and I’m supposed to pull out a handkerchief and give it to Grace,” Eddy Swanzy said about his role. He joked, “I told her, ‘You know those clowns that have those handkerchiefs that keep pulling out?’ I said, ‘That’s what I’m going to do.’ … Emma said, ‘We can do a scene where you do that; it's just for fun.’”
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Facebook, despite having a reputation for being used more by older generations than younger ones, played a role in aiding “Timeless” by connecting talent with the project. For example, Sophia Swim found “Timeless” all the way from Bradenton, Florida. Swim messaged Sumlin and offered to play the role of Laine Kellman, a friend of Adams’ Marjorie. After sending over her headshots, Swim won the role by being willing to come all the way to North Texas for filming.
“In this industry, it's difficult to get work because if you're not as financially well off, the casting groups or apps and stuff are so expensive,” Swim said. “So, you do what you can, you find what you can on Facebook acting groups.”
Swim is fresh out of high school and is currently getting her education in film. She has done theater before but is just starting to break into on-camera work. Being as green as she is, Swim said working on “Timeless” has been a learning experience for her because she’s been able to see how things work in front of and behind the camera.
“I know it’s going to open doors for future things, but it’s helping my resume as well,” she said.
The filmmaking industry may be on the rise in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The Dallas Film Commission serves as an aid to projects in the area, and the recently established Fort Worth Film Collaborative works through Tarrant County College to train future filmmakers. In an article from earlier this year, Fort Worth Report cited Texas Film Commission’s statistic that “Tarrant County is No. 4 among the top 20 counties ranked by the number of projects.”
“It’s getting better,” said Boessler, who is based in Mansfield, when asked if DFW is a good place to be a filmmaker. “If you would’ve asked me that question a couple of years ago, I probably would’ve said, ‘No, not really.’”
Boessler (and Fort Worth Report) attributed this change to Taylor Sheridan shooting projects like “1883” in Fort Worth. He also cited Red Productions as making an impact by having a location in Fort Worth.
“It’s not the best,” Boessler said. “It’s getting a lot better than it was.”
It may be a while until anyone sees “Timeless,” but when they do, Collins wants them to see a film that was worth watching and recognize the work of the people who made it.
“I don't want this to look like someone shot this on an iPhone,” he said. “I wanted it to look like we spent time and effort and money finding the location, finding the costumes, making this something that's kind of unique, not just, ‘Oh, some kid just shot this on his iPhone in a weekend. We're all done.’ No, we had gaffers come out for lighting. We had people come out and run the sets, decorate the sets. We had actors who were passionate about what they were doing. … There is a place to tell these interesting types of stories.”
