Wamego: Making Movies Anywhere

By Mita Tate

Published: Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Wamego, Kan.: home of 4000 inhabitants, The Red Raiders high school football team and the world famous Oz Museum, housing one of the largest private collections of Oz memorabilia in the world. This may not sound like the type of place to make a movie, but for young, passionate director Steve Balderson, it's not only his home, but the only place he chooses to make his films. In Wamego: Making Movies Anywhere a side of film-making rarely seen by the mainstream as well as independent public, is in full view.

Literally thousands of miles away from the world of red carpets, cocaine nose-jobs and botoxed to the bone, anorexic 40-year-old women pretending to be 21, Wamego is a world full of cinematic dreams and devoid of pretension.

Similar to Lost In La Mancha, a documentary on Terry Gilliam's failed attempt to complete The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the basics of film-making as well as the many issues surrounding it are present. While Gilliam had to deal with rich and impatient executive producers, Balderson has to come up with inexpensive, effective alternatives to high-priced, major studio equipment. However, unlike his predecessor, Balderson is actually successful in completing the final picture.

Coming off the critical success of Pep Squad, a darkly, comedic satire about school violence, Balderson decided to create what he dubbed a modern day tragedy. Firecracker, the true story of a brutal murder which occured in Wamego decades ago, takes place in the heartland of Kansas as well as a sleazy, carnival sideshow and stars Oscar nominee-Karen Black and famed avant-garde vocalist Mike Patton. Because both Black and Patton each play challenging, dual roles, the already complex murder mystery is also a disturbing take on the Oedipus complex. Firecracker also stars various local actors, including Jak Kendall, a young actor in the lead role of Jimmy, as well as several real "freaks" from sideshows across the country including the Jim Rose Circus.

Wamego follows not only Balderson himself but also his father, sister and many other locals as well as several Hollywood imports through the many phases of guerilla film-making. From the long and tiring casting process which included everyone from Dennis Hopper to Debbie Harry, to the actual filming process, where it becomes clear just how serious everyone involved really is. There are no actors yelling over chai-lattes or rider contracts, only people sharing a common dream coming together to make a reality.

Nowadays, with indie films costing nearly as much as major-released films and being hyped up 10 times more as an "alternative," Wamego is a far cry from all of this. Stringshoe budget reaches new heights in Wamego. However, while most low budget films tend to focus more on the big picture and sadly forget the minor details that make up that picture, Balderson and crew do not compromise the high quality and expect and demand only the highest. They may sometimes find ways to get around the high budget prices of filming, such as building their own camera rigs and sets from junkyard materials and storyboarding each individual shot in incredible detail as opposed to just a few general shots for the scene itself. Balderson is so detailed in nature that they spend ridiculous amounts of time using every color combination known to man in Black's screen test. This high standard is also present when the Baldersons and crew spend months building functional sideshow trailers, beautifully adorned and each customized to the character it houses. While these take up most of the time, it is mentioned that they will only appear on screen for barely half of the film, if not considerably less.

With the imminent premiere of Firecracker at the Raindance film festival in London, there is a part that wants to see Balderson take Hollywood by storm and become another Spielberg, or in his case, Polanski or Kubrick-but another part wants the ambitious director to not be corrupted by fickle Hollywood politics and Joan Rivers' catty red carpet reports. Either way only time will tell. Until then, for more information on Wamego as well as Firecracker, visit www.dikenga.com/films/.

Final Grade: A

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