The Lakeland will be featured on the big screen for the local premier of Moments in Spacetime.
The film, which was written by local producer Chris Cowden, shares the story of Macie, a 12-year-old who was adopted by a Canadian family.
Based off of the life of Patty Srisuwan, who portrays Macie in the film, Moments in Spacetime dives into the life of a young immigrant growing up in Canada. Shortly after Macie is adopted by a Canadian family, her parents have a biological child. As she learns about her new home and family, Macie takes care of her dementia-ridden grandfather, played by John Rhys-Davies.
Rhys-Davies, who is more commonly known for his roles in Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones, told the Nouvelle during the filming of the movie in the spring that he fell in love with his character and the story.
Filmed in the Lakeland, Cowden hopes locals will take advantage of the local screenings at the Grand Square Cinema in Cold Lake starting Oct. 25.
“I’m so excited, especially this time considering there were so many people in the community involved that helped out with everything. I can’t wait for everyone to see it,” he stated. “If they haven’t seen it yet, I think the viewers will be in for a real treat because they will get to see the Lakeland and areas of the Lakeland they may not have seen yet."
The local premier isn't the first time residents have had a peak at Cowden's masterpiece.
A few months after they wrapped up filming, they held a test screening of the first cut, which was over two hours long.
Cowden said they leave in "all of the little things and scenes, anything that might be interesting."
“We try to get a limited audience that maybe wasn’t involved in the making of it so they don’t know anything coming in. The idea is we want to see what they like, what they don’t like," Cowden continued. “It’s really a chance for us, while we’re still in the editing process, to figure out what the best stuff is that we want to keep in and make sure that the story makes sense to everyone.”
From the test screening, Cowden noted they received amazing reviews.
"Some even said it was their favourite movie of the year,” he laughed.
Although many felt the film was perfect as it was, regardless of the length, they took it back to the drawing board and whittled the movie down to an hour and 50 minutes in length.
“I think if people loved the early version of it that much, than they’re really going to enjoy the final presentation,” expressed Cowden.
The editing process is lengthy, with over 200 hours worth of footage to sort through, crews examine each scene with a fine-toothed comb, determining which angles, lighting, and take they prefer.
“For example, we might like the way one line was said in take one, and we might like another way line was said in take four, or maybe it was a better camera angle. It’s really a combination of putting every possible opportunity in there for the audience to get something out of it,” Cowden explained. “I don’t think they realize how much thought and time went into the few minutes they will see on screen."
Not only do they have to pick the perfect moment, they also have to determine how fast or slow to move a scene along.
“We’re constantly going through editing, watching it, and then looking at how we can make things better, more interesting, or if there’s a way we can cut some time out,” Cowden detailed. “When we go through, I would say we have almost 10 drafts or edits of the film by the time we arrive at the final one."
Out of every take, every actor, and every scene, Cowden's favourite part of the whole process is watching the audience see the film for the first time.
Even after so many years of making movies, Cowden said the biggest learning opportunity comes when all is said and done.
"I will spend six months to a year making a movie, and I will learn a lot in that process, but in the end, I learn more in that two hours of watching the audience for the first time than I did in the whole six months to a year of making the movie,” he expressed. “You see what works, you feel the vibe, you feel the tension, the pace, the laughs, and everything the audience is going through. I think that’s when you find out what works. I think it brings the most joy seeing everyone’s hard work on the screen in a version everyone can understand and appreciate."
Just like any movie, Cowden hopes to captivate his audience, while sending an important message to others in the film industry.
“One of my goals in making this film and one of the reasons we chose the Lakeland was we want to bring new industry to the area. We want to encourage, not just our film, but other film productions around the world to shoot in Alberta and in the Lakeland,” Cowden said. “The Town of Bonnyville and City of Cold Lake made it really easy for us to produce. What I hope is that we can boost the industry and the economy in the long run by bringing this industry in."
