MICKEY HARDAWAY (Interview with Marcellus Cox)
MICKEY HARDAWAY
Director : Marcellus Cox
Producer : Marcellus Cox
Starring Rashad Hunter, Stephen Cofield Jr,
David Chattam, Charlz Williams
Runtime : 20 minutes
16:9 - Black & White
Language : English
Country : USA
2020
© Marcellus Cox
Storyline :
A young sketch artist visits a well renowned psychiatrist as his life begins sprawling out of control after years of physical and verbal Abuse has taken a toll on him.
© Marcellus Cox
Interview conducted remotely, by email exchange with the director.
How did you imagine this story? Is this a situation that you experienced personally?
This story is personal to me from the perspective of the dreamer who fights to keep their dream and vision alive going through the everyday struggles of living. But it’s even more personal because there are so many people that are going through the same but even worst and I got to hear it and even experience it first hand doing research on a lot of these folks I interview putting this story together. So it’s my story and experiences but so many others as well and something I felt was simply my responsibility to put together, to create awareness of it.
How was the casting? How did you choose your actors?
A lot of the casting was actors that I had the opportunity to work with in the past. Amazing Actors like Stephen Cofield Jr, David Chattam, Charlz Williams. New comer DeAngelo Davis I saw his reel and loved him and his energy and just thought he was great and I want to work with him in a much bigger role in the future. The role of Mickey was a problem. I had another actor I had worked with in the past cast in the role but when COVID-19 came he backed out. So I put out a casting notice with my casting director Donny Williams and we had a lot of talented actors submit but one stood out in Rashad Hunter. He had the absolute perfect look and built for the character I wanted and I cast him immediately. And it was two weeks before filming began so I spent the two weeks on FaceTime with him going over the lines and never actually got to work with him till the day of shooting. But he came to the set and he killed it. To deal with those circumstances and give a award winning performance says a lot not only about him but this entire cast.
The film seems to be divided into 3 parts (with 3 different male characters), why this choice?
I wanted to give you 3 different view points of Mickey and his situation, the calm before the storm just living his life hoping to become something more than his surroundings would normally allow and his true potential... then the storm where you really get a sense of what kind of a hell he’s dealing with on a daily and the struggle just to maintain some sort of sanity just to even get by day to day like so many others.... and then the stage where he’s smart enough and strong enough to seek help which is something unfortunately not taken seriously in the black community. There’s someone out here to wants to help you, listen to you, care for you if your willing to seek it. But even when we do look for some sort of salvation life just has a funny way of keeping its foot pressing down on your neck, suffocating you.
© Marcellus Cox
We notice the absence of a female character, is this intentional?
Well we have female characters in the upcoming feature version just to get that out there and those ladies are absolutely amazing in it with their performances. Originally in the short Mickey’s mother is in the scene but because of COVID-19 are actress back out at the last minute so that’s why we didn’t have any female presence. If anyone is upset with that decision I can understand but just know it wasn’t done intentionally or purposely.
The film is in black and white. Why ?
Black & White brings out a certain truthfulness and rawness that color just doesn’t present to the screen. For a story as personal as this I felt it was the perfect viewpoint, give the audience a massive real look into folks in these predicaments and how sometimes the world just seems dark around them because things are so bleak to them.
Visually, we feel a mastery of the image and the plans. The movements are neat. How did you work on your storyboard?
Honestly this was probably the easiest part of the film for me. I study my craft on a daily, my love for pacing and allowing the characters to dictate the story as opposed to fast pace quick cutting and air scenery shots that leads to absolutely nothing related with the story, Sometimes you need to slow a story down in order to allow the audience to process the situation at hand, I feel like because there’s so much content and so many filmmakers today aren’t focus on the pure cinematic experience but goes into the editing room thinking: don’t lose the audience. I’ll never allow any audience to force me to not be myself behind the camera or cutting a technically well tune film.
The staging is quite sober and refined, is this something you worked on beforehand?
No honestly. It wasn’t worked on till the day of shooting because of Covid-19. So everything was done on the set the day of shooting. We just spent a good amount of time before hand making sure the performances was were we all wanted it to be. When you have a cast who’s attention to detail is as strong and as important to them as yours it just make things even more refined in the performances.
How did you proceed to shoot the scenes of violence?
I needed my cast to give there 1,000% approval on it. Because without them it would have been a completely different story. It’s already a touchy subject already dealing with Mental Fatigue and Illness so adding violence into the mix could have made this a really tense set. But the cast knew and felt in many ways even more than myself that it was all necessary because it’s real, a true sensible fabric of life. So just having there approval was how I proceeded with the violence seen in the film.
© Marcellus Cox
How did you direct your actors? What directions did you give them?
For me it’s all about collaborating. I’m always of the viewpoint that I have my vision but I want to know what theirs are because this is a partnership. We all want what’s best for these characters and most importantly for the film. So for me I give notes and my honest feedback and opinion but I want theirs as well and will craft it together from there. And when there on set I give them there freedom to work, to create, to find themselves within the role and not Hender their process while at the same time making sure I maintain the integrity of the story and film.
Did the actors improvise?
Oh of course. I’ve yet to be on a set where a actor or actress didn’t improvise any of my scenes. But I don’t mind it if they truly bring something better to it while still getting their same level of importance’s to the character at all times.
What were the hardest sequences to shoot?
Anything that involves laughter especially in today’s world because folks unfortunately have become so brittle to comedic material. That’s one of the reading why I’ll probably never do a comedy because it’s just so brutally subjective.
© Marcellus Cox
Did the post-production work change things about the course of the story compared to what you had in mind when writing?
On the short version of Mickey Hardaway, No. Not at all, outside of the mother not being there on the living room scene everything went absolutely according to plan. It’s probably the easiest project of mine that was cut. Now on the feature version (currently in post-production), there were some moments that had to be changed and even taken out of because of either being short on time or budgetary reasons but for the most part the feature version has and still is coming along brilliantly.
Did you do sound recordings in post-synchronization, especially for the dialogues?
For the Television Airings we did... Killed my pockets having to get that done. That’s the price you pay when getting blessed with the opportunity to see your work on the small screen but I’m just honored, humbled and grateful to have even be in that situation to begin with.
The music only appears twice in the film. What did you want the viewer to feel by minimizing the use of musical effects?
Real Emotions! Music can sometimes force that on a audience, I feel personally when your in a real life situation such as this you don’t hear music, it’s just the people and their problems. I love music in movies but if not use properly it can hurt a film more than it helps it. And you get a huge sense of that today.
© Marcellus CoxWhat were your influences while filming? Can we mention Moonlight (2016)?
I get Moonlight and Fences a lot and I can see and understand how an audience can come to the conclusion. For me and the look of the film, I was really influenced more by the LA Rebellion, in particular movies like Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett and Bless Their Little Hearts by Billy Woodberry. Those stories really shaped my look and feel and being a kid from South Central LA it was the perfect template of how I wanted to craft my vision from my own experiences.
The film ends with an open ending. What message did you want to leave?
That life runs in a unwanted cycle, especially for those that want to escape certain sections of it but are in a endless loop of repeat. Even when life puts you in heart-ship do you have the will to keep going and seek help or do you fa
What do these different drawings in the end credits mean?
The drawings in the credits and throughout the film are people that Mickey look up too, admire and inspire to become.
Your film has participated in many festivals and has been the subject of many critics, tell us more about the next version ?
Your film has participated in many festivals and has been the subject of many critics, tell us more about the next version ?
Were in the last stages of post-production on the feature version of Mickey Hardaway now. We plan to be completely finished with the film by October in time to begin playing on the Festival Circuit in January 2023 and then released theatrical around November 2023. So this is a very exciting time.
You can follow Marcellus Cox on :
Instagram.com/Cellusworld24
Facebook.com/marcelluscox24
By Hallucinea Film Festival
