A man is fast asleep in bed. He’s roused from his night slumber by the sound of incessant clicking noises.
He gets up, picks up a nearby baseball bat and looks to find the source of the disturbance, thinking perhaps it’s a burglar or intruder of some sort.
He walks through the kitchen and then peers through window blinds, leading him to leave his house and head for the garage. Through the garage door panels, we can see that the light is on and numerous things, presumably bugs that look from afar like locusts, are buzzing about.
He presses the button on his garage door opener. The door lifts up to reveal his car, which is surrounded by computer icon arrows, each one clicking away.
A voiceover relates, “With over 10 million unique visitors each month, AutoTrader.com is the best place to buy and sell a car.”
The AutoTrader.com logo appears and then we see a parting shot in which one of the misguided arrows flies into an electric bug zapper and gets fried.
This spec spot was directed by Andrew Putschoegl, an aspiring helmer who is building his reel. The DP was Kelly Richard, with Jeff Maier, who at the time was with Freddy’s Barn Service, Santa Monica, serving as executive producer.
The concept came from creatives Morgan Halme and Niraj Zaveri who were working independently of their day gigs at Colby & Partners at the time. They are currently at DDB Los Angeles.
Editor was Curtis Schmidt of Crush, Santa Monica. Also contributing from Crush were visual effects artist Terry Silberman and executive producers Steve Weber and Chris Kern.
Colorist was Bob Festa of Riot, Santa Monica.
Sound designer was Paul Hurtubise of music/sound design house Stompbox (a sister shop to Crush), also in Santa Monica.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More