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MLive.com: Everything Michigan
All is quiet on this movie set.
Director Mark Wood sets up a scene in a dark basement by guiding his actors with hand gestures. The actors hover around a mysterious box, curious about its contents, speaking with their hands and expressing emotion with their faces.
On one side are props - hat boxes, straw hats, a ventriloquist's dummy and dusty, old suitcases. On the other is a digital movie camera.
Casual observers may think this is a silent movie. Look closer and you'll see that the actors and director are speaking in American Sign Language. They'll be filming "Wrong Game" through July in the nearly 120-year-old Superintendent's Cottage on the campus of the Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind.
Wood, 36, a mainly self-taught filmmaker from Fishers, Ind., describes his feature film as a psychological thriller - a cross between "Saw," "Clue" and "The Game." It will premiere Sept. 21-22 in Michigan.
His story revolves around a group of strangers who are kidnapped and find themselves in the basement of a mansion. They're forced to play a game in which the winner will receive $1 million. What they don't know is that the mastermind of this game is among them as a participant.
"Lives will be lost," said Wood, speaking through a sign language interpreter.
Wood is among a growing number of deaf filmmakers around the world. Movies with deaf characters have been made since the silent film era. But the world of deaf people probably didn't become part of popular culture until the 1960s with television and stage presentations by the National Theatre of the Deaf.
The success of "Children of a Lesser God," first on Broadway and then as a feature film for which Marlee Matlin won an Oscar, brought the lives of the deaf and American Sign Language further into the public's awareness.
A film and theater buff, Wood said he "would like to have deaf culture included in movies." A California native, he attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Captiol Baptist Deaf College in Maryland in 2002.
For this film, he auditioned and recruited deaf performers from around the country - including noted Hollywood actor Bernard Bragg and former Detroit-area resident Camille Lorello of Freehold, N.J., who graduated from Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind.
"Wrong Game" is being produced with a small budget, around $120,000. The donors include Sprint Relay, Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind and the school's alumni association, the Communications Access Center and Superintendent's Cottage board members. The school is providing accomodations and food for the actors.
"Many deaf people love to watch movies in sign language," said David Sanderson, state administrative manager for the school. "We're going to be able to show this film to the deaf community. I think it's wonderful."
Wood said he'd been looking for a house in which to shoot the film and couldn't find anything that met his specifications.
He visited the Superintendent's Cottage when his first film, "Forget Me Not," was shown there in December. The suspenseful story explores the conflicts facing a family who wins the lottery and escapes to a cabin, where they meet a mysterious stranger.
"When I saw the (Superintendent's Cottage), I knew it was the right place," Wood said.
"Forget Me Not" was screened around the country from August 2006 through May 2007 and played in several Michigan locations, including Mott Community College. Its success spurred Wood, founder of ASL Films, to make a second one, he said.
Wood said he plans to add audio to both films.
Lorello, who grew up in Hamtramck and now lives in New Jersey, is one of the actresses in the film. With platinum blond hair and an artsy sense of style, Lorello is animated and passionate about her part in the film and in the subculture of deaf actors.
"I play Kate, a woman in her 30s who talks way too much just like me," she said. "She's fearful and cries at the drop of a hat, but she's fun."
Lorello graduated from Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind in 1978, studied at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, N.Y., and worked with the National Theatre of the Deaf. She acted in a national touring company for the stage production of "Children of a Lesser God."
She said she was impressed with Wood's dedication to the film.
"It hasn't been easy working all day and waiting for the next scene," she said. "We've learned patience and maintained a very positive attitude."
Meanwhile, Wood's goal is to enter the film in festivals. His big dream?
"The Sundance Film Festival (a famous showcase for indie filmmakers), absolutely," he said.
All is quiet on this movie set.
Director Mark Wood sets up a scene in a dark basement by guiding his actors with hand gestures. The actors hover around a mysterious box, curious about its contents, speaking with their hands and expressing emotion with their faces.
On one side are props - hat boxes, straw hats, a ventriloquist's dummy and dusty, old suitcases. On the other is a digital movie camera.
Casual observers may think this is a silent movie. Look closer and you'll see that the actors and director are speaking in American Sign Language. They'll be filming "Wrong Game" through July in the nearly 120-year-old Superintendent's Cottage on the campus of the Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind.
Wood, 36, a mainly self-taught filmmaker from Fishers, Ind., describes his feature film as a psychological thriller - a cross between "Saw," "Clue" and "The Game." It will premiere Sept. 21-22 in Michigan.
His story revolves around a group of strangers who are kidnapped and find themselves in the basement of a mansion. They're forced to play a game in which the winner will receive $1 million. What they don't know is that the mastermind of this game is among them as a participant.
"Lives will be lost," said Wood, speaking through a sign language interpreter.
Wood is among a growing number of deaf filmmakers around the world. Movies with deaf characters have been made since the silent film era. But the world of deaf people probably didn't become part of popular culture until the 1960s with television and stage presentations by the National Theatre of the Deaf.
The success of "Children of a Lesser God," first on Broadway and then as a feature film for which Marlee Matlin won an Oscar, brought the lives of the deaf and American Sign Language further into the public's awareness.
A film and theater buff, Wood said he "would like to have deaf culture included in movies." A California native, he attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Captiol Baptist Deaf College in Maryland in 2002.
For this film, he auditioned and recruited deaf performers from around the country - including noted Hollywood actor Bernard Bragg and former Detroit-area resident Camille Lorello of Freehold, N.J., who graduated from Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind.
"Wrong Game" is being produced with a small budget, around $120,000. The donors include Sprint Relay, Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind and the school's alumni association, the Communications Access Center and Superintendent's Cottage board members. The school is providing accomodations and food for the actors.
"Many deaf people love to watch movies in sign language," said David Sanderson, state administrative manager for the school. "We're going to be able to show this film to the deaf community. I think it's wonderful."
Wood said he'd been looking for a house in which to shoot the film and couldn't find anything that met his specifications.
He visited the Superintendent's Cottage when his first film, "Forget Me Not," was shown there in December. The suspenseful story explores the conflicts facing a family who wins the lottery and escapes to a cabin, where they meet a mysterious stranger.
"When I saw the (Superintendent's Cottage), I knew it was the right place," Wood said.
"Forget Me Not" was screened around the country from August 2006 through May 2007 and played in several Michigan locations, including Mott Community College. Its success spurred Wood, founder of ASL Films, to make a second one, he said.
Wood said he plans to add audio to both films.
Lorello, who grew up in Hamtramck and now lives in New Jersey, is one of the actresses in the film. With platinum blond hair and an artsy sense of style, Lorello is animated and passionate about her part in the film and in the subculture of deaf actors.
"I play Kate, a woman in her 30s who talks way too much just like me," she said. "She's fearful and cries at the drop of a hat, but she's fun."
Lorello graduated from Michigan School for the Deaf and Blind in 1978, studied at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, N.Y., and worked with the National Theatre of the Deaf. She acted in a national touring company for the stage production of "Children of a Lesser God."
She said she was impressed with Wood's dedication to the film.
"It hasn't been easy working all day and waiting for the next scene," she said. "We've learned patience and maintained a very positive attitude."
Meanwhile, Wood's goal is to enter the film in festivals. His big dream?
"The Sundance Film Festival (a famous showcase for indie filmmakers), absolutely," he said.