Tom Hits His Head
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"Tom Hits His Head" is a comedic short film about a not-so-funny time in the director's own life. We follow Tom Putnam after he hits his head and spends the next six months afraid to leave his house. He gets dizzy for no apparent reason. He starts having panic attacks. He buys guns and a HAZMAT suit. He sees the devil in his bathtub and a ghost in his living room. He thinks he's the Antichrist. In short, Tom needs help.
This visceral look at one man's struggle to keep his sanity, avoid a Prozac solution, and survive the trials and tribulations of a post 9-11 world should ring true with anyone who has ever uttered those painful words: "What's wrong with me?"
| Director:
Tom Putnam (their other films)
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| Producer: Tom Putnam, Michael Harbour, Jeff Malmberg |
Genre: Comedy / Satire |
| Country: USA |
Copyright Year: 2003 |
| Original Format: 16mm color reversal film |
Color Type: Color |
| Sound Type: Dolby SR |
Length: 00:10:30 |
| Original Language: English |
Subtitle Language: None |
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Label:
Blackchair Collection
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Other Info:
PRODUCTION NOTES
Yes, Tom hit his head. And yes, he made a movie about it. What the hell did you think this was about?
In July of 2001 director Tom Putnam went to the doctor's office for an exam, got his blood taken, fainted (excuse me, passed out), and hit his head on the floor.
He hit it so hard, in fact, that he would spend the next six months calling in sick to work, having dizzy spells, growing increasingly paranoid, briefly thinking he was the Antichrist… And coming up with an idea for a short film called, appropriately enough, "Tom Hits His Head."
Putnam: "People kept asking me how I was doing since I hit my head, and I was frankly getting a little tired of explaining it to them, so I decided to make a movie I could just give them instead. Plus, I'd directed a couple of features since film school, but those took two to three years each to complete, and I wanted to make something much simpler, and much lower-pressure, where I could try a lot of things I didn't necessarily know would work."
Together with producers Michael Harbour and Jeff Malmberg, and director of photography (and Independent Spirit Award nominee) Alex Vendler, Putnam made a list of all the things he wanted to try: shooting the entire film hand-held, using notoriously hard-to-expose Kodak Color Reversal film stock, processing his own film, and even creating in-camera mattes for the movie's climax.
But there was just one problem: he was still having dizzy spells and panic attacks.
So he shot the entire film in his own house, car, and office. "That way I didn't have to go anywhere. Everyone could come to me instead."
The majority of filming for the 11 minute short took place over two weekends in February 2002. With the exception of a single light, all the equipment was borrowed from other filmmakers, enabling Putnam to shoot his entire project on 16mm film for less than $2,000.
The lead role of Tom was played by The Incredible Morgan Rusler, who has had supporting roles in "Solaris," "Catch Me If You Can," and "Galaxy Quest." He also starred in Putnam's previous feature, the blaxploitation parody "Shafted!" Tom's wife was played by Beth Kennedy, a veteran of numerous TV series and Los Angeles stage productions.
Putnam: "The biggest cost, and the most difficult part of the film, turned out to be the special effects shots." In order to create their in-camera mattes, the filmmakers needed to use high-contrast title stock. But they would have to expose and process dozens of tries before they found one that worked, which was well beyond their budget. So Putnam and Vendler talked a chemist at Kodak into sending them the processing formula for the special high-contrast film. Then they went to a local chemical warehouse, "signed a ton of forms for the ingredients, some of which were really toxic and flammable," and mixed their own processing bath.
Two months and $500 later, they had their 16mm effects matte. Then they turned an old Russian movie camera into a poor-man's optical printer that could expose three pieces of film at a time. "We had a shot of the devil sitting in front of some lava. So we put in the matte, a shot of the lava, and with the unexposed film we shot our devil. And it worked!"
While editor Greg Guzzetta cut the film, Putnam worked with Jeff Saltzman and The Standard to create the film's moody, off-kilter score. But how was Putnam able to get The Standard -- one of the Pacific Northwest's most popular bands, whose second album "August" is in the Billboard Top 100 -- to score the film? Putnam: "My brother's in the band."
The film was completed in late December 2002, just in time for its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Tom would also like you to know he's much better now. He's not afraid to leave the house, he's stopped seeing the devil in his bathtub, and he hardly ever gets a headache any more.
So was it all worth it?
"Uh… No."
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Music:
The Standard and Jeff Saltzman |
Principal Cast:
The Incredible Morgan Rusler as Tom
Beth Kennedy as Tom's Wife
Bob Fourriel as The Ghost |
| Film Website: http://www.sevenguns.com/ |
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