The Roku delivers another gem. This time around it was Beer Drinkers in Space. Created in 1983 by a group of friends who worked for Disney this movie showcases what early home movie-making was all about: VHS on SLP (super long play, you youngins') manually "cut" using a playback VCR and a record VCR. Lighting is horrible, acting is little better (these aren't professionals, just a few guys who wanted to make a movie) and, oh lord, the puppets.
What is the movie about? It's about Captain Slosh and his merry men who need to delivery beer to "Nebulae 7-11". Along the way they meet aliens and run into all kinds of disasters. "Keep drinking men!" "Code RED!"
It would be easy to dismiss this movie but I won't. In fact, I loved it. Why? This movie shows what a small group of regular people can do when properly motivated. These guys wrote their own script, built their own sets, filmed, edited and released their own movie. And this was all well before anything like digital cameras and Final Cut Pro were on the scene. In fact, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say exactly ZERO computers were used during the filming of this movie (as safe bet for a movie filmed in 1983).
I take my hat off to Frank Delle. Frank, you had a vision and rather then do nothing you assembled a cast and crew of friends and brought your vision to fruition. I hope your movie lives on as inspiration to future filmmakers now and forever in the future. Oh, and Frank, I just added your follow-up documentary, "Keep Drinking Men! The Making of Beer Drinkers in Space", to my Roku list and I intend to watch that film this weekend.
Do you want to make a movie? You have nearly limitless tools at your finger trips these fine men could only have dreamed of back in 1983. Dust off that camera and start filming!
1 comment:
You are wrong about using zero computers during the making of Beer Drinkers in Space. We had a Sinclair and a TI hooked up to the Navigator and Pilot's TV monitors. I worked for hours writing DOS commands to have those screens cycle through different colors. Unfortunately, you can't see them in the finished product. Glad you enjoyed the movie! Frank
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