Film & Video Division
MacBeth
A Cooperative Artistic Venture
of IBOI, PX Arts and Shane-Arts

"The Curse of MacBeth"
A brief Production Diary by Tim Shane
Producer & MacBeth

September 2002: While many Shane-Arts ensemble members were performing in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, the sound and lights were run by Jason M. Fitzmauric of IBOI. Following one of the performances, he approached me about doing a black and white film noir stylized feature of the Shakespearean classic, MacBeth. Having worked with Jason twice before, and my personal affection for Shakespeare's greatest characters, I enthusiastically declared my interest.

March 2003: After a few meetings, the first drafts of the screenplay were in circulation and with my experience in both producing Shakespearean films (Midsummer) as well as low-budget projects that look better than most sizable projects (Hall Of Mirrors), I came on board as a producer as well as bringing Shane-Arts into the mix. Vikas Adam (aka PX Arts)had also produced a previous project with IBOI (Blood and Stone) as well as a shelved project with Shane-Arts (Coffee Room) also joined the production team. Tony A.T. Medina completed the production team with his experience in producing and his new production equipment. Shortly into scheduling rehearsals and principle photography, Jason found out he was having a baby, and we all agreed to delay the production until the Fall.

September 2003: The cast gathered for a reading at Shane-Arts and as we were ready to roll into production, I found myself cast as Horatio (another great and underrated Shakespeare character) in Scott Eckert's long awaited "Shakespeare for the Modern Man Lesson 2: Hamlet". (His first lesson was ironically MacBeth). Meanwhile, Valerie Hauss-Smith (Lady MacBeth) and Brad McEntire (Porter) were cast in Classical Acting Companies "Much Ado About Nothing" making scheduling the shoots rather interesting between all of our other shows, as well as the other divisions of Shane-Arts that were quite busy at this time. In order to get principle photography "in the can" by the end of 2003, we raced into production without a complete cast and no rehearsal process. Due to the busy schedule of the actors, some shoots started late after long Shakespearean rehearsal and performance of other shows. Perhaps we have the "curse" at bay, and are just working through some exhausting logistics.

October 2003: By this time, the cast was full and rehearsals were taking place on set with a consistent skeleton crew. We went back to pick up some scenes that we raced through. For the most part, things were running smoothly for a production of this magnitude and the given circumstances provided. There is also the infamous "curse" that comes into account. Malcolm got a severe case of poison oak.

November 2003: Due to last minute schedule changes, weather, and what I personally attribute to "the curse", we are still in production and entering the final stretch which is usually the most challenging and difficult. In addition to performer's busy schedules, we are also having a hard time scheduling our locations. Finally, on my last scene, which appears as my first scene in the movie, the camera mysteriously falls into White Rock Lake. Vikas Adam (Banquo) and myself are unaware of this circumstance as we are also two of the producers in a jon boat on the other side of the lake. Jason (the director) jumps in the chilly water after the camera fully clothed and after about 15 minutes is forced to come out by Tony (producer). Jeff Swearingen jumps in and finally recovers the camera. The camera was destroyed, but the footage was recovered after several rinses of distilled water over a period of a week. Perhaps this will make a great sequal to the Blair Witch Project.

December 2003: With only one shot left, the project moves into post-production in hopes of getting us back on schedule for a 2004 release. However, this one shot is a very long shot. In fact it's a very long scene. As Shane-Arts holds it's annual company party by celebrating Boxing Day, we watch some of the footage. The first scene has an audio track from a completely different IBOI production. This has since been remedied, but I have a feeling that our commentary track on the DVD edition will be legendary.

January 2004: MacBeth continues into post-production and the last scene has been shot, however there are still some pick up shots and voice overs that are required to finish post production. We hope to have a release in mid-2004.