Happy Monday and Happy December!
Let’s get right to it. Everyone always asks us the same question when they see 8-BALL:
How the hell did we film THAT opening shot?
A few years ago, Adrien and I co-wrote and shot 8 BALL. If you're subscribed here, you’ve probably heard of it - and if you’re a real day one, you’ve seen it!
Check out the opening scene and all of 8 BALL here!
The scene kicks off with our protagonist narrating a monologue while dangling his feet on the edge of a skyscraper. I guess that puts us in the same category as Enemy (2013), Videodrome (1983), American Psycho (2000), and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) for films embracing the Toronto skyline.
So here’s what really happened:
In the script (attached to this email! whaaaat?!), the moment is simple: Vini sits on a rooftop and delivers a monologue about the three certainties of life. Easy.
But if you know Adrien, easy isn’t good enough.
Adrien knew a friend (name intentionally withheld here) who was into rooftopping. What is rooftopping? It’s when you kindly walk into a building and with permission you make your way through the stairwell and various entrances to get to the roof :)
Adrien thought that for his first high-production film, a simple rooftop wouldn’t cut it. So the plan was made quickly: they’d go up to the top of a skyscraper in Toronto with our main actor, Deni Marr, and shoot it. Because that was a totally sane idea, of course!
When Deni got to the roof and saw there was no harness, I believe he said “f*** right off,” or maybe that’s what I said when Adrien also asked me to come with. Regardless, Deni was out - understandably so.
And yes, you read that right: no harness, no safety measures, no backup plan.
Adrien wore Deni’s clothes, including his pants - which kept slipping - so they had to get the shot quickly.
If you zoom into the booklet Adrien was writing in as the camera pans to his feet, you can see the neat handwriting at the start degrade into a mess - his hands freezing in the cold as the wind picked up.
After a few tense takes, they got the shot. No CGI, no AI, no movie magic. Just Adrien on the edge of a skyscraper, risking it all for cinema.
Do we condone similar behaviour? Absolutely not. It was dangerous, maybe stupid, but undeniably cool. Still, that’s the heart of filmmaking: daring, risking, pushing your craft to the edge (hehe, see what I did there?).
Because no matter the danger, it’s always for the love of our passion: cinema.
Thanks for reading this week's newsletter! Watch 8 BALL here, or check out the original script attached - see how the shot existed before it came to life.
Till next time,
Pat and the Marquet Films team.
