Ghosts of Ghostbusters: Chuck Gaspar

Dear Chuck Gaspar, Special Effects Supervisor,

It’s the eggs. 

The eggs make me most appreciate your work on Ghostbusters. As special effects supervisor, you were responsible for all of the practical, on-set effects work. The really big set-pieces— proton packs, Slimer, Terror Dogs, Gozer, Stay Puft Marshmallow man, and so on—those were the domain of Richard Edlund, and his visual effects team. Your team had the task of making all of those post-production elements feel real, and appear to interact with the real on-set elements. Chandeliers exploding after a missed shot, a dining cart smashed into a wall by a frantic ghost; that was all you.

But I keep coming back to those eggs on the counter of Dana Barrett’s Upper West Side Apartment. It’s certainly not the most spectacular effect you rigged in Ghostbusters, but when revisiting the film after all these years, I was struck by how well that simple trick works. The eggs come alive, vibrating in their carton, jumping out, smashing on the counter and frying sunny-side-up. Apart from the logistics necessary to execute even this simple scene (was there a whole griddle rigged to that counter top?), I started contemplating how this would be created today.

Of course the entire sequence would be CGI. A graphic artist would spend hours creating wire frame models, adding texture maps, creating photorealistic eggs that could be manipulated in any manner. Sure, those eggs would really be able to really fly out of that carton, and the lighting on them would be perfect for any angle you could conceive of: the camera could be anywhere!

But none of it would have half the whimsy of the simple effect you created in 1984.

Rest in peace,

Casey

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: David E. Blewitt

Dear David E. Blewitt, Editor,

What a weird movie this must have been to edit. Ghostbusters had so many disparate elements to balance. There’s the shambling, semi-improvised comedy in the style of Caddyshack, Stripes, and Meatballs that requires a light touch to get the pacing just right. Then there’s the high-budget special effects extravaganza that forces itself into the comedy, requiring beats more akin to an action movie. And speaking of beats, there’s also the seemingly random soundtrack that mixes all manner of song genres, with each song requiring a moment in the spotlight with its own mini-montage.

Thankfully, David, you were the perfect man for the job. With your career experience, mainly in documentary filmmaking, you were certainly qualified to filter through and stitch together what—based on the players involved—must have been a mountain of footage. Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis certainly didn’t need your help to be funny. No doubt they were thankful to have your expertise in choosing which improvised bits were not only funniest, but best served the story. And maybe because Ghostbusters was a new kind of cinematic beast at the time, you chose the most straight-ahead stylistic approach. Comedy, effects and action are all treated with a similar documentary-like feel.

Ghostbusters director of photography Laszlo Kovacs also had extensive documentary experience, and together you gave the film exactly what it needed. The almost detached point of view that lets the growing insanity feel that much more, well, insane against the backdrop of  very real 1980s New York City. That’s what made the ghosts both funny and scary; we were never told exactly what to feel, and could therefore feel anything we wanted.

Rest in peace,

Casey

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: Jim Bullock

They came, they saw, they kicked it’s ass… And then they died. To celebrate the re-release and 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, Dear Cast and Crew presents a 10-part series dedicated to the memory of people who helped make the film a classic. 

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Dear Jim Bullock, Sound Editor,

I could be in another room, on another floor, in another building while Ghostbusters is on, and even if I only hear ten seconds, I know exactly what’s happening. Maybe that’s because I’ve seen the film at least a hundred times. Or maybe it’s because you transformed what must have been a thousand hours of audio tracks into the soundscape that helped make Ghostbusters one of the most beloved films of the last thirty years.

From the very first scene your work sets the literal and figurative tone for the entire film; the librarian softly pads between rows of books over a seemingly benign score. The wood cabinet drawers slide open and catalogue files shuffle into the air. Then horns, a xylophone, and a Theremin amplify the tension as the librarian realizes she is not alone. Her footsteps quicken to a run, the score builds to a crescendo and we hear a deep, other-worldly roar pierced through by her blood-curdling scream that fades into Ray Parker Jr.’s titular song.

You were responsible for assembling layers of sound that have now become iconic; from the eggs rattling in their carton, then popping and frying on Dana’s kitchen counter; the green blob cackling and gulping and breaking plates; the whoosh as ghosts are incarcerated in the vapour trap. The assorted beeps, pulses, and hums of equipment, the deep growls of ghost hounds, and the splitting crack as the heavens open up and threaten to rain hellfire down on New York city.

All this noise, and yet you made sure the cacophony never drowned out some of the most quotable dialogue in comedy history. 

By the time you came to Ghostbusters, you were already an expert, having spent the 50s and 60s as sound editor on dozens of shows: I Love Lucy, Peter Gunn, and even one with a ghost protagonist, My Mother the Car. You tried your hand at acting in the 80s, appearing in Knight Rider, The Wonder Years, and my favourite bad movie, Rocky IV. Those gigs alone are enough to make my inner child geek-out. Add Ghostbusters, and I think you just might be my new hero.

Rest in Peace,

Di

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: Bernie Brillstein

They came, they saw, they kicked it’s ass… And then they died. To celebrate the re-release and 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, Dear Cast and Crew presents a 10-part series dedicated to the memory of people who helped make the film a classic. 

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Dear Bernie Brillstein, Executive Producer,

I knew who you were even before Ghostbusters. Which, considering I was eleven years-old at the time, either says a lot about your reputation, or says a lot about what an odd kid I was.

I’d seen your name on the credits of Hee-Haw, The Muppet Show, and Saturday Night Live. I read that you became John Belushi’s manager by accident when he refused to sign his SNL contract minutes before the first show went to air. He would commit only if you, Lorne Michaels’ manager, represented him. You agreed, and Belushi became your first star client.

You broke a lot of ground in the late-70s and early-80s. You convinced Atlantic Records to pony up a hundred-and-twenty-five grand to produce an album by the as-yet-unknown Blues Brothers. You were one of the first to profit from packaging TV shows, hiring your own writers to create projects, then filling them with your own stars, and executive producing the programs yourself. After selling them to networks, this scheme guaranteed you a producing credit and points on the back end. Until you gamed the system, an exec producer was largely a figurehead. But, by packaging talent, you held all the cards. It’s a tactic that has since become the industry standard, and one you carried on into the 1990s with shows like The Sopranos, Politically Incorrect, and The Larry Sanders Show. 

Some might consider that approach a little too close to bribery. But no one seemed to mind it coming from you. By all accounts you were a real mensch. While you were busy reinventing the wheel and trying to keep Belushi from killing himself, Dan Aykroyd had been developing a script for him and Belushi to star in. It was set in a future, where teams of ghost disposal units were as common as firefighters and paramedics. He called it Ghost Smashers. After Belushi’s passing, Aykroyd and Harold Ramis reworked the script, and Aykroyd pitched it to you. As a testament to just how trusted you were, Aykroyd sold it to you for a dollar.

After it was passed over by several studios and directors who just didn’t get it, the film, retitled Ghostbusters, went on to make over $291 million worldwide.

Your dollar investment paid off. But more than that, it made you the original gatekeeper of Zuul.

Well Played, Sir,

Di

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: László Kovács

They came, they saw, they kicked it’s ass… And then they died. To celebrate the re-release and 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, Dear Cast and Crew presents a 10-part series dedicated to the memory of people who helped make the film a classic. 

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Dear László Kovács, Director of Photography,

You were certainly an unfunny choice for this movie. But with a motley cast, a motley crew, and a motley group of characters out to save the world, why not hire the cinematographer from Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces?

Both you and director Ivan Reitman have talked about how comedies typically have a look—and how this movie should not have that look. Instead of a simplistic comedy approach with high-key shots and bright colors, Ghostbusters is shot like a serious film. You added a distinct color cast, but otherwise let the scene define the tone (rather than imposing yourself on it). There are sequences that look like drama, documentary newcasts, and epic adventure (that 2.35:1 anamorphic aspect ratio!). This allows you to set real stakes in a plot that is patently ridiculous. It also allows for a very broad range of humor: from pun-tastic setpieces and light improv to dark sarcasm and tragic irony—all within the same film. 

Through a consistently (and I imagine painstakingly) unobtrusive filmmaking approach, you allowed the movie to conjure it’s own reality. By making a comedy that didn’t look like a comedy, you made people believe this unbelievable story. I think that’s a key reason it’s stood up so well – and even improved – over all these years.

Sincerely, 

Cory 

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: Theoni V. Aldredge

They came, they saw, they kicked it’s ass… And then they died. To celebrate the re-release and 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, Dear Cast and Crew presents a 10-part series dedicated to the memory of people who helped make the film a classic. 

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Dear Theoni V. Aldredge, Costume Designer,

For a designer who won praise and awards for musicals and costume dramas, I find it weird and wonderful that you worked on Ghostbusters.

The result, which contrasts your usual golden gowns and flawless tuxes, lacks none of the detail. It’s pure understated geek cred, which serves the movie perfectly. Those earth-tone button-downs, pullovers, blazers, and khakis each member of the professional paranormal investigations and eliminations outfit perfectly. The clothes emphasize that our heroes are nobodies—a gang of misfits and losers who luck into a profitable business, and, eventually, a chance to save the world.

For a movie made in 1984, this one has aged so very well. The only people who dress in embarrassing 80s style are those who are supposed to be completely embarrassing. The best example is Lewis Tully, aka. Vice Clortho, aka. The Keymaster of Gozer (aka. Rick Moranis). He’s all about velour tracksuits and turtlenecks beneath shiny collared shirts. So he probably deserves everything that happens to him. The real costume showcase, however, is Dana Barrett; as the central party of interest – and exponentially classier than everyone else – you made her look the part of the self-reliant damsel in distress. 

Your work in Ghostbusters could have all been done yesterday, ten years ago, or ten years from now. Like the movie itself., this shit will never get old. Thank you for helping make it so.

Everlastingly yours.

Cory

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: John de Cuir

They came, they saw, they kicked it’s ass… And then they died. To celebrate the re-release and 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, Dear Cast and Crew presents a 10-part series dedicated to the memory of people who helped make the film a classic. 

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Dear John De Cuir, Production Designer,

It seems strange and wonderful that you ended your illustrious Oscar-winning career with Ghostbusters. At 66 years-old, you were a Hollywood stalwart known for designing everything from Technicolor costume dramas like The King and I and South Pacific, to iconic black-and-white film noirs like The Naked City. But in your final two films, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and Ghostbusters, you turned your talents to parody. Yet you still took your work dead serious. And by doing so, elevated what could have been mere supernatural silliness to something superb.

Your standout effort has to be the iconic ghost-busting HQ in the barely-renovated Hook & Ladder 8 fire station in Tribeca. You went all-out, layering cobwebs and dust before converting it all into a sparsely furnished frat-boy fantasy of pole-sliding fun. The doors still squeaked and the beds were foldout cots, but the money went where it mattered: into an ectoplasmic storage containment facility that’s the science-geek equivalent of a killer sound system. Of course, when the neighbour down the street (aka. the Environmental Assessment Agency) orders them to turn it off, all hell breaks loose. And so do your designs.

A mix of matte paintings and early computer graphics turn the corner suite of a skyscraping apartment into a still-impressive paranormal beacon for the dead. The influence of Raiders of the Lost Ark is perhaps obvious, but that doesn’t detract from the fun. You must have known that the jokes would work best as relief from the tension, and so created some genuinely impressive modern gothic statues and architecture that made the menace of Zuul feel real.

I’m not ashamed to say it: I was afraid of those ghosts.

Sincerely,

Christopher

Ghosts of Ghostbusters: Ruth Oliver

They came, they saw, they kicked it’s ass… And then they died. To celebrate the re-release and 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters, Dear Cast and Crew presents a 10-part series dedicated to the memory of people who helped make the film a classic.

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 Ruth Oliver, Library Ghost,

Talk about leaving an impression. Ghostbusters marked only your second (and final) film credit, but that brief acting career sure ended on high note—a screaming, squealing, terrifying, hilarious high note. The pitch-perfect delivery of your gentle shush followed a minute later by a face-melting shriek represents everything right with this comedy-horror-sci-fi classic. It’s a formula filmmakers have been unsuccessfully trying to emulate for the past 30 years.

So what, exactly, makes Ghostbusters so great? The answers seem both obvious and immeasurable. The best way to break it down is just to look at that opening. We’re introduced to all-new characters and an original concept (imagine!), plus a story that’s motivated by the “who”, not the “how” or “why”. When we follow a group of neurotic screwballs to the New York Public Library, it doesn’t feel like an obligatory plot point. We’re already laughing at Bill Murray, already intrigued by Dan Aykroyd’s passion—we’d happily follow them into a phone book (sorry, I’m trying to think of something even more boring than a library).

That’s when the camera movements get smooth, the music gets serious, the gadgets start blinking, and everyone becomes laser focused. Well, almost everyone. Murray’s casual approach to your floating, semi-transparent, full-torso figure sets the tone for the entire film: a high-wire balance act between making people laugh at the ridiculous premise while still getting them to buy in. And it works That you were able to upstage one of comedy’s all-time greats in one of his all-time greatest performances says it all.

I hope you’re finally floating in peace somewhere;: a library, a theater, or whatever else suits you. And don’t worry—you didn’t miss anything in Ghostbusters 2.

Sincerely,

Christopher

Holy F#ck, Boys! We interview the Trailer Park Boys

Dear Trailer Park Boys Fans,

Christopher Redmond spoke with Canadian icons the Trailer Park Boys about their non-Trailer Park Boys movie, Swearnet.

Featuring:

Mike Smith (Bubbles)
Rob Wells (Ricky)
John Paul Tremblay (Julian)

 

C. Redmond: How drunk were you when you came up with the original idea for Swearnet?

Mike: Not too drunk. Probably pretty high though.

 

If I were to describe the movie to someone, it would be Curb Your Enthusiasm meets Jackass. Does that definition fit or is it totally fucked?

Mike: Probably pretty fucked. No, I mean there’s probably elements of those in there. Parts of the movie are true. The fact that we were in our post-Trailer Park Boys lives and we were frustrated with being censored and stuff, we wanted to start our own uncensored all-swearing network. All that stuff actually happened.

 

Would you say that the film and broadcasting industry in Canada is fucked?

Mike: At one time it was pretty lenient and pretty great. But the rules got stricter and stricter. Is stricter a word? They got more strict. It was time to just cut that tether and go into the world of uncensored, full swearing.

Rob: Well as the soon as the Janet Jackson whole boob thing happened with Justin Timberlake, that just kind of destroyed it for a lot of people. Censorship-wise.

 

So is your goal as producers to turn Swearnet into the Marvel Studios of the Trailer Park Boys universe?  And if so, when are we getting movies for Conky and the Green Bastard?

John Paul: (laughs)

Mike: That would be a fucked up movie.

Rob: That would be interesting, yeah.

Mike: I mean the end goal, the end game for Swearnet is to get it sort of chugging along like a real network. Have a variety of programming. We just bought a couple of buildings in Halifax that we’re putting studios in, so were pretty focused on making Swearnet a real, functioning network.

 

In the film, when you guys are launching Swearnet, you need to do everything yourselves – you’re stunt drivers, cinematographers, art directors, costume designers, pussy-eye fluffers… But what real-life film role on set would each of you fucking hate to do?

Mike and Rob (together): Hate to do?

Mike: I’d hate to be a grip. Lugging all that shit around.

JP: Yeah, I agree.

Mike: They’re always lugging the heaviest shit. I wouldn’t want to do that. I mean it would be fun for a day, but I wouldn’t want it to be my job.

JP: And especially with the pace that we shoot. It’s very fast. Those guys are constantly running around, setting shit up. Sweatin’ their asses off.

Rob: The fluffer job would be tough too.

Mike: I did it for a year.

Rob: Yeah. It’s not easy.

 

On the flip side, can you guys each think of someone who worked on Swearnet who deserves a special shout-out? Maybe a DECENT boom operator or super hot wardrobe assistant?

Rob: Pretty much everybody who worked on the film deserves and extra shout-out. Everybody went above and beyond.

Mike: Yeah. Really good crew, willing to do whatever we had to do to get it done. And we did it.

 

You’re used to working with Mike Clatternberg as a director and creator of the Trailer Park Boys. But for this film, you’re working with Warren P. Sonoda. How was it to take direction from someone else, especially on something that you guys wrote and created?

Mike: Oh it was fine. Warren was just sort of there to steer the ship, you know? What’s great about Warren is that he knows we wrote it and he know we have a particular vision, and he doesn’t get in there and try to force his stamp on anything. He’s there steering the ship and he really lets you do, sort of, what you want to do. I mean he has great ideas and he’s great as a director, but he sort of knew to just let us do our thing.

 

What was it about his filmmography that attracted you to him?

Mike: It was more about his physical size and body.

Rob: I didn’t realize that, Mike.

Mike: Yeah, I was more attracted to Warren’s looks than anything.

Rob: Well besides his fantastic looks, one of our producers, Gary Howsam, introduced us to him. We met with him and he definitely got our vision. I thought he did a great job.

 

There’s a line in the film where Mike says “sponsorship means censorship”. Is that true, and if so, how the fuck did you get The Toronto Sun and some other grey hair brands on board?

Mike: It is true. Sponsorship a lot of times does mean censorship. But the Toronto Sun, they just got it. They were into it and they wanted to be a part of it. So in that case, it wasn’t censorship. It does mean that a lot of the times, but you get the odd company that gets it and wants to be a part of it. So kudos to the Toronto Sun for getting on board.

 

This is a tangent, but how drunk would you guys have to get Ellen Page to convince her to come back and work with you again?

Mike: I don’t know. We’d obviously love to have Ellen come back and reprise her role on Trailer Park Boys. I mean, of course she’s pretty busy these days because she’s a massive star now. But of course, yeah, we would love to have her back if she’d ever do that.

 

And now that the new season is coming out, is there a conflict between Swearnet and having the new Trailer Park Boys season on Netflix?

Mike: No, the whole Netflix thing was great. It was obviously the best move for us at the time, because we get to show the show around the world on the hottest medium there is these days. Netflix. For Swearnet, no, everything’s running smooth with those two entities.

 

You decided to do a film that was not in character of the Trailer Park Boys, but are you conscious of how similar some of your mannerisms still are? Mike, you’re always saying “boys!” at the end of things and putting in the little maniacal laugh sometimes, or even some of JP’s expressions too. Do you see that or is that completely unintentional?

Rob: For the most part I think it’s unintentional.

Mike: Yeah, I didn’t really notice it but I don’t really pay attention to these two dicks either. 

The F Word

Dear Sam Morris, Daniel Radcliffe’s Bodyguard,

I can’t imagine a girl has many opportunities for a ‘meet cute’ scenario with your boss. As the lead in the multi-billion dollar box-office Harry Potter franchise, Daniel Radcliffe’s popularity is stratospheric and his fans are legion. But you’re always right there, ready to ward off any untoward advances from over-eager groupies. If a lucky lady gets the go-ahead for face-time with D-Rad, no doubt she would have to contend with your constant hovering. In this instance, your job description is ‘professional third wheel.’ It’s a designation most people wouldn’t seek out, but it’s one you’ve probably gotten used to. Perhaps, then, your boss looked to you for advice on how to play his lovelorn character, Wallace, in The F-Word.

But it’s more likely he’s seen enough romantic comedies to know exactly how The F-Word would unfold.

Med-school dropout, Wallace, is still stinging from being cheated on when he meets his best friend’s cousin, Chantry. The two hit it off while arranging fridge magnet poetry at a house party. The hitch is that Chantry is living with Ben, who has been plucked from the Perfect Movie Boyfriend sampler: he’s handsome, committed, and has an impossibly successful job with the UN. Charmingly mopey Wallace is resigned to the dreaded “friend” status(ie, the F-word) with Chantry. 

I’m sure by now, you’ve seen and heard every imaginable ploy from people trying to get close to Daniel. But maybe once and awhile, despite your world-weariness, someone manages to do something that stands out. That’s how I felt watching Wallace and Chantry fumble towards the inevitable. Though the obvious nod to rom-com classic When Harry Met Sally is unavoidable, The F-Word manages to update the “can men and women ever just be friends?” trope for a more pop-culturally and sexually astute generation. Wallace and Chantry’s conversations – like their musings on the weight of fecal matter found in dead celebrities – are darkly funny and genuine. The F-Word unapologetically embraces physical comedy, but uses it to enhance the tart dialogue instead of relying on it to induce cheap laughs. The supporting cast provides many of the film’s funniest moments; Wallace’s odd-ball BFF, played by Adam Driver, and his kooky girlfriend Nicole are adorably kinky, Wallace’s sister Ellie is a flaky single mom with a habit of literally biting off more than she can chew, and Chantry’s sister Dalia’s sexual attraction to Wallace is awkwardly shameless. The ‘com’ is fresh, even if the ‘rom’ feels a little stale. 

Working so intimately with Daniel must mean the two of you have become close friends, but at the end of the day you’re still his employee. Power imbalance is a tricky thing to navigate, and many male-centric rom-coms – call them dick flicks – like Garden State and 500 Days of Summer, reduce the female object of affection to a caricature. Although Wallace is the protagonist, Chantry’s narrative is given equal weight, which isn’t surprising since that role is played by Zoe Kazan, an actor and screenwriter who singlehandedly put the manic pixie dream girl out of her misery. Even Ben isn’t given the one-dimensional undeserving boyfriend treatment that lesser rom-coms would rely on for plot advancement. Director Michael Dowse continues his tradition of bringing raunchy yet relatable characters to the big screen without reducing them to cartoons. I just wish he hadn’t steered them into Twee-ville for so many pit stops.

Daniel has a very hectic schedule, hopping between stage and screen, from London to L.A. which must make your life exciting by extension. When Daniel hangs around after a show to sign autographs and take photos with fans, I’m sure it can get monotonous, But just because it’s a situation you’ve seen played out countless times doesn’t mean you can’t get caught up in the excitement and enjoy yourself.

No one ever said predictable couldn’t be fun.

Cheers,

Di

Status: Air Mail (3.5/5)