‘Act Naturally’ Plays Chicago United Fest, Plus More Behind the Scenes

In Act Naturally / Camera Talk / Production Notes / Screenings / Tech Talk

The unsung hero of our never-ending-editorial-revisions is our post audio guru, Maya Kuper. Generally audio is the final piece of the puzzle, but we had so many issues with our production sound that we had to get her involved sooner than normal. From blaring crickets to raucous donkeys, nature wasn’t kind when it came to recording clean audio. On the human side, we dealt with planes, trains, and automobiles (seriously, this isn’t a cheap John Hughes reference). Maya first mixed and sweetened the audio around June of ’09 and tweaked audio as recently as a few months ago! Around that time, we were very excited about the cut of the movie and we wanted to show it to people with the hopes that we would secure finishing funds and interest from distributors (even though it was only our first draft). That version barely resembles the one that we have now. In hindsight, we should’ve showed less people such an unpolished draft, however many of the notes we got were instrumental in getting the film to where it is now between pick-ups, re-shoots, and editorial considerations.

Many of the great cut aways and transitions found in the film were a result of the numerous voyages we made to Olive Dell Ranch over the years that we spent completing the film. Some of those trips were completely independent of “Act Naturally.” The resort’s owner, Bobby Kilborn, wanted us to return and shoot a reality pilot idea of his with our new friends at the Ranch. Through creative scheduling and having two cameras with us, we were able to get some fantastic sunrises that weren’t previously possible with our heavy production schedule. One of our camera operators on the pilot, Jacob Conger, also managed to get one of the most disgusting/disturbing shots in the film. To his credit, it also gets some of the biggest laughs! I’m not going to spoil it, but after you watch the movie, I’m pretty sure you’ll know which one it is. All I’ll say is that it is sandwiched between bee keeping and frying bacon shots.

Speaking of Bobby and Becki, I must give a huge thanks to our wonderful hosts. They were not only instrumental in getting the film made through their generosity, but they are the kindest people that you will meet. If you like evidence, then consider the fact that they allowed us to take over their home so we had access to a kitchen (which I used every night to make some vegetarian friendly meals) and could lodge more people on site at the ranch. They even rounded up some golf carts for us to haul people and equipment at no extra charge! Bobby can also be seen in the film, where he makes an indelible impression. One morning as we were blocking a small scene, he was going about his day as he normally would: mowing the lawn…completely naked! I grabbed the camera and rushed over there to get some different angles on it before he finished. All we had to do was film him acting naturally.

Observing the day-to-day life at the ranch was particularly interesting for us textiles. As you would imagine, everybody was naked full-time unless the temperatures were too frigid for comfort. Even those moments lead to great comedy because many residents would only wear a sweatshirt so their private’s could declare their disdain for clothes. Some of the ladies would wear zip-up sweat-shirts, but leave the zipper so low that their breasts would still be exposed. Aside from creative ways to beat the cold, you sometimes forgot that clothes must be worn when venturing off of our island of nudism. It always seemed strange to see the normally-nude-Becki head off fully clothed to make runs to Costco for restaurant supplies. After spending so much time in the nude world (I never left the resort for the first two-weeks that we were there), the lens flipped and the clothed realm suddenly seemed unnatural. When we left the ranch from our 17 day primary leg of shooting, I found myself regularly naked around my apartment because it just felt natural.

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Dustin Pearlman Dustin Pearlman is a plant-based Cinematographer. Aside from film, he's passionate about the environment, music, and cycling. He's a member of IATSE Local 600 and lives in Los Angeles with his mini-schnauzer Iris.