Company News
- Peter Tarter Makes Feature Debut With "Chasing Shakespeare"
Treehouse Editor Peter Tarter Makes Feature Debut with “Chasing Shakespeare”
DALLAS—April 4, 2013— Director Norry Niven’s Chasing Shakespeare, which debuts this month at the Dallas International Film Festival, is an enchanting love story about a young Native American woman’s search for her destiny and her widower husband’s attempts to reunite with her after her death. Based on a screenplay by James Bird, the film features stunning performances from Danny Glover, Oscar-nominated Graham Greene, Chelsea Ricketts, Mike Wade and Ashley Bell, and delivers an emotional, dreamlike experience that is not to be missed.
A Texas native, Niven shot Chasing Shakespeare in rural regions of his home state. Although produced on a modest budget, the director says that the production benefited from an exceptionally dedicated cast and crew, and serendipitous circumstances that he describes as “a magic that defies logic.” “If you were lucky enough to be on set during the filming, you saw it,” he recalls. “It rained when it needed to and was sunny when we needed bright skies. On the night of our rooftop Tempest scene when it was supposed to have an electrical storm in the script…we had one on set, a storm so powerful that it struck my family’s house, leaving us without power for days.”The charmed nature of the project carried through to post-production. In what proved to be a fortuitous choice, Niven selected Peter Tarter to edit the film. Tarter is a Dallas-based editor known for his work in commercials (He recently founded the commercial editing company Treehouse.), but he had not previously edited a feature. Still, Niven was impressed by his narrative skills and obvious enthusiasm for the project. “Peter dove in head first…with reckless abandon,” Niven says, “because this is what he loves—telling stories.”
Tarter’s initial cut of the film ran nearly three hours. That was obviously too long and so he and Niven began working their way back through the story, looking for ways to trim and hone. That process involved some tough decisions. “I started taking out side stories that didn’t move the story forward,” Tarter recalls. “It was very hard to do because I was literally cutting characters out of the movie. Norry said it was like killing his babies…and we really didn’t want to kill a character. It was sad.”Tarter’s editorial style runs deeper than simple storytelling. He employed a variety of techniques to enhance the emotional content of the film on subliminal and symbolic levels. “Peter understood clearly the need to get the subtle messages across on screen through Joseph Campbell’s ‘thresholds’ which were visual and within the subtext,” explains Niven. “So you see doorways, arches, fence lines, lines of tombstones, building ledges, even the edge of the roof of a farm house, all built into the editorial story. That tells you more than the words do about the characters and their individual journeys.”
Niven adds that Tarter heightened the ephemeral quality that time has in the film by “cutting on action” during shifts from flashbacks to current time. “Peter knew the story completely and could feel the characters throughout his process, which brought so much more to the screen than any ordinary film cutter could have,” Niven observes. “No other editor would have been able to walk that fine line.”
Tarter says that he developed a deep emotional attachment to the film. He notes that he was moved in particular by the film’s opening deathbed scene as it reminded him of the recent passing of his mother. “I identified with the sensitivities of saying goodbye to a dying parent,” he says. “Being there in the room, watching as they try to hang on, but also relieved that it is over.”
Tarter believes that many people will share his response to the film’s timeless narrative. “It’s a beautiful love story,” he observes. “People from eight to eighty can watch this film and enjoy it. There’s not a lot of cursing, not a lot of sex…it’s just pure love.”
In addition to its upcoming debut at the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival, Chasing Shakespeare has been accepted into the First Glance Film Fest (Hollywood), the Artisan Festival International (Cannes and the Hamptons), and the Big Island Film Festival (Hawaii). The film recently won the Title Design award at South by Southwest.
Treehouse is located at 3400 Carlisle St., Ste. 105, Dallas, Texas 75204. For more information, call (214) 754-8004 or visit www.treehouseedit.com.
Press contact
Linda Rosner
Artisans PR
310.837.6008
- Treehouse Scores for Russell Athletic
John McStravick edits broadcast and online campaign out of The Richards Group on the team values in football.
DALLAS—September 27, 2012— Treehouse editor John McStravick helped capture the spirit of team sport in editing a new campaign for sporting apparel innovator Russell Athletic®. Conceived by Dallas agency The Richards Group, the campaign includes broadcast and online ads and features high school football players discussing values that bind their teams and lead them to excel.
Each of the ads weaves scenes of football games and practices with close-ups of young players describing what motivates them. “While we are all created equal, teams are not,” declares one young athlete. “Teams venture into uncharted waters, challenge the laws of physics…” Players in the practice footage wear uniforms embroidered with words that echo the copy: declaration…teammate…brothers. Online ads end with a hashtag that consumers can use to join the conversation through social media sites.All of the athletes are either current or recent high school football players and that gives the spots a sense of realism lacking in other sports advertising. “They’re not million dollar athletes, they’re just kids,” says McStravick. “That helps viewers identify with them.”
McStravick poured through more than eight hours of source material to produce six ads. (A seventh ad was edited by Treehouse’s Peter Tarter.) “The stories were open to interpretation; there weren’t strict boards,” McStravick says. “We were able to go in whatever direction felt right. It came together very organically with the script.”
The campaign was McStravick’s first for Treehouse, which launched last month. “I am thrilled with how well the campaign has been received,” he says. “It was great working with the team from The Richards Group. They were very collaborative and open to ideas. The whole project flowed very well and that shows in the end product.”
Credits
Titles: Declaration, Rite of Passage, Promise, Sacrifice, Teammates, Brothers
Client: Russell Athletic
Agency: The Richards Group, Dallas. Rob Baker, group creative director; Jimmy Bonner, creative group head/art director; Bo McCord, creative group head/art director; Sheri Cartwright Agency producer
Edit: Treehouse, Dallas. John McStravick, editor/sound designer; Bryan Bayley, Finishing; JJ Wilmoth, executive producer.
Post: Filmworkers, Dallas. Matt McClain, colorist.
Production: Harvest Pictures. The Hoffman Brothers, directors.
Mix: 3008. Matt Cimino, mixer (Declaration only).
Music: Dandelion Music. Scott Mann, composer. (Declaration, Rite of Passage, Promise, Sacrifice, Teammates, Brothers.)Treehouse is located at 3400 Carlisle St., Ste. 105, Dallas, Texas 75204. For more information, call (214) 754-8004 or visit www.treehouseedit.com.
Press contact
Linda Rosner
Artisans PR
310.837.6008