UWindsor's nesting ground for indie film scene
By Paul Breschuk
Feature Writer
October 21, 2009
 While filming has wrapped over a month ago, director Tim Swaddling is no less busy with his current feature length endeavor, The Arrow & The String.
After an intensive production period, temporarily marring the cast and crew with obligatory sleep-deprivation, he is left to sift through the results of their conjoined effort.
And while everyone else involved can wait in blissful ignorance, Swaddling squints into his monitor as he had previously done on-set, hoping its images match the ones existing in his mind long before the first day of shooting. This is what it means to have a vision.
Pieces of this vision began to assemble and germinate during his recent years at UWindsor. There, a student of visual arts and communication studies, he completed films such as Frog Fortuna, Upstairs, and The Case of the Missing Artistic Integrity. These short films were important trial runs, preparing the young director for his first full length film.
One of the many lessons he learned from these projects was to never set anything in stone. This means that even the most beloved piece of an artistic composition should be sacrificed if it does not benefit the bigger picture.
The Arrow & The String requires of its director a similar amount of maturity, ruthlessness, and creative flexibility.
This careful balance, the ability for an artist to straddle the realms of idealism and practicality, was specifically needed due to the script’s elaborate technical demands. Calling for one actor to appear onscreen as two characters simultaneously, the film presented Swaddling with a fair amount of challenges.
Through these tests, compounded with issues regarding locations, scheduling, and equipment, the director was pressed to rethink and retool his original idea, quite often on-the-spot.
Aside from providing an interesting challenge, the optical illusion of an actor appearing twice in the same shot was something of a catalyst for the entire film.
While at the university, Swaddling observed the work of MFA student Myles Bartlett and was impressed by his experimentation with double-exposure in photography and video.
“I really liked the idea although there was no narrative to the videos,” said Swaddling. “I started to think about what I could do with that concept, realizing it would fit well with an idea I had about a man coming to terms with his past.”
Capturing the essence of a midlife crisis through split-screens and character doubles, The Arrow & The String is a story of a man attempting to recapture his youth by physically conjuring his past self.
While living with a younger version of oneself may make for good comedy, and a good film, complications are bound to ensue. These problems are exacerbated when the main character’s girlfriend follows suit, inviting into the film her past self and a recipe for some very memorable double-dates.
The remainder of the film documents the ridiculous and sometimes disturbing situations that arise from such a foursome.
Refreshingly difficult to place in any one specific genre, the film is funny in its absurdity while offering many quiet, poignant moments that speak volumes about the human condition.
“I wanted to write a truthful, personal film that people could relate to, so I had no intentions of making a horror or action film. Instead, I planned for a feature length film that I could afford to make myself but would have a more unique twist than other similar small scale productions,” says Swaddling.
The Arrow & The String is proof that much can be accomplished on a small budget. With the arrival of prosumer digital video equipment, filmmaking has also become less expensive, bridging the gap between Hollywood and the filmmaker next door. With this in mind, Swaddling insists that it is crucial to understand how such films fit into their respective markets.
“People who like those sorts of films are going to be watching yours because it’s a low budget independent film. They didn’t rent the Hollywood blockbuster for a reason. They want and expect something different,” said the filmmaker, warning others away from imitation.
While The Arrow & The String did not have the backing from a major studio, it did enjoy the valuable resources of UWindsor’s Studio 5. Headed by Professor Min Bae, Studio 5 is dubbed a digital and film guild, offering communications students an ideal learning environment and workspace.
When Swaddling approached a group of his former professors with the idea for his film, they agreed to loan him a portion of Studio 5’s equipment and student crew members.
These volunteers were particularly invaluable to the production, as he recalls them being hardworking and extremely devoted to the project. Costs on equipment were also drastically cut, allowing the funds to flow to other important sectors of the budget.
Obviously, Swaddling’s track record as a film student as well as his methodical insistence on going through the proper channels made him a trusted candidate for such assistance.
“I was very impressed with his films and his commitment and passion as a filmmaker so I was happy we could support his project,” explained Professor Kim Nelson. “He is very talented and obviously loves his craft.”
Other figures who have shown a belief in Swaddling’s vision were his eventual executive producers Ted Bezaire and Gerry Lattmann of Toronto’s The Dot Film Company.
Also a UWindsor communication studies graduate, Bezaire understands the challenges facing young filmmakers. In 2006, he released his first feature length film, Things To Do, which went on to generate some meaningful attention outside of Windsor, even playing in various film festivals overseas.
“We’re basically acting as guides for Tim, helping him navigate the sometimes rough waters,” said Bezaire.
“I remember when I was just starting out, things were very confusing. I was lucky to have a few mentors along the way to point me in the right direction. We saw some potential in Tim and wanted to lend a hand in any way we could,” he continued
The story behind the making of The Arrow & The String is proof that good things happen to filmmakers who are hard working, adaptable, and willing to learn from others.
Most importantly, these emerging artists must never cease to dream, always expanding the boundaries of film with new concepts and approaches.
Since digital technology has somewhat leveled the playing field, the filmmaker must now stand out as a storyteller whose words are as important as the voice that carries them.
The Arrow & The String is due for release next year.
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