Hansel and Little Rapunzel
The Web Site
Hansel and Little Rapunzel
A Fractured Fairy Tale
| Story by Abigail Robbins |
| Screen Play by Abigail Robbins and Hamel Bloom |
| Executive Production by gonnie PfifferlinC |
| Produced by Hamel Bloom |
| Directed by Hamel Bloom and Abigail Robbins |
View the Annotated Screenplay.
Site Contents
| Annotated Screenplay |
| Starring |
| Crew Credits |
| Set Construction Credits |
| The Story of the Sets |
| Special Thanks To |
| Costumes |
| Props |
| Hamel's Reminisces |
| Titles |
Starring (in order of appearance)
Nikki Dog as The WolfAnna-Elin Kemble as The Pregnant Woman
Brian Zapp as The HusbandAbigail Robbins as The Witch
Justin Dick as Young HanselJacey Cargill as Young Little Rapunzel
Jessie Matanky as Little RapunzelBrian Zapp as Hansel
Abigail Robbins as the Narrator
Crew
| Cameraman | Matthew Roberts | |
| Assistant Cameraman | Hamel Bloom | |
| Assistant Director | Josh Dick | |
| Editor | Abigail Robbins | |
| Assistant Editor | Hamel Bloom | |
| Second Assistant Editor | Matthew Roberts | |
| Best Boy | Justin Dick |
Set Construction
| Josh Dick |
| Justin Dick |
| Anna-Elin Kemble |
| Jessie Matanky |
| Matthew Roberts |
| Brian Zapp |
Special Thanks To
| Carol Meier and Tom Cargill for providing the video camera and costumes. |
| Rennie Zapp for getting construction materials and starting construction. |
| Kate Fotopolous for stretching sheets for sets. |
| Connie Pfifferling for putting up with this endeavor and helping in many ways. |
| Michael Matanky for crafting the tower minature. |
| Anne Durham for on-set nannying. |
| Mike Marshman for rushing to resurrect the Choclate House when it fell on Abigail. |
Costumes
| Pregnant Woman big dress, pillow, string, sandals |
| Husband kahki shorts, collared shirt, old tie, driving cap, sandals or loafers (not gym shoes) |
| Witch shirt & black skirt & sandals |
| Young Hansel tie-dye shirt, shorts, sandals |
| Young Little Rapunzel red shirt & weird skirt |
| Hansel tie-dye shirt, jean shorts, gym shoes |
| Little Rapunzel red shirt & weird skirt & sandals & big coat |
|
Props candy cane á baby doll á Oreos á miniature tower á doll in tower á jar with banana mush á bird feathers á bird with feathers that can be pulled off á ropes of lengths 1', 3', 6', and 20' á soccer ball á twigs for the tower floor and for Hansel's face after his fall á blanket for the tower floor á Hansel's walking stick á contact solution for Hansel's tears |
Hamel's Reminisces
|
I have a few stories to tell about the making of the movie, Hansel and Little Rapunzel - A Fractured Fairy Tale. First of all, spending the week with Abigail and the other kids was great!
Abigail came to visit Connie and me for 10 days in the summer of 1999. Neither Abs nor I had ever made a movie before. She was 13 when she arrived but had aged a year before she left. Abi wrote the story, and listed the actors, props and costumes before she came out from Richmond, VA. We developed the screenplay together after she arrived - mostly working on that at night because there were so many other things to do during the day. I created the template for the screenplay and then Abs typed or dictated while I typed. We formed the cast from friends and friends of friends. Jacey Cargill, 7, is the daughter of our friends Carol Meier and Tom Cargill; Brian Zapp, 15, the son of my old friends Rennie and Loretta Zapp; and Jessie Matanky, 13, the daughter of even older friends, Michael Matanky and Pat Holgate. Matthew Roberts, 10, is the son of my friend, Kate Fotopolous who, among other things, is an actor in local theatre and on local radio. Matthew sort of grew up backstage. Anna-Elin Kemble had been helping me with chores around the house and she brought her part-time wards, Josh Dick, 13, and Justin Dick, 11, into the picture. We did a lot of work and had a lot of fun but I have to admit, the project was overly ambitious and I ended up bossing Abigail around a lot so that we could finish - which we did. I'm sorry for being so bossy, Abs. Rennie got us started on Sunday with the set construction - bringing the materials and building the first frame. Matthew practiced shooting video, Abigail did some of everything, and pretty much everyone contributed to the set construction. Michael came over to pick up Jessie and he was drafted to work on the tower miniature. Kate came to get Matthew and she was drafted to stretch sheets over a frame. Basically, if an adult showed up I tried to put her or him to work. But the kids did almost all the work with Brian as the biggest contributor. We spent three and a half days building sets and started shooting on the fourth day while the paint was still wet. Once we started shooting, we shot all the scenes in about six hours over a day and a half. There were about 85 separate shots on sixty minutes of video tape. We ended up doing speed shooting because we started a day late and our actors had other commitments - like football practice and fencing lessons. Most shots were done with only one take. Interestingly, when we took time for more than one take we usually ended up using Take 1 anyway. Murphy's law kicked in overnight after the first day's shoot. We foolishly left the sets standing on their stilts overnight and the Chocolate House was blown over and significantly damaged. Connie came to the rescue and spent the morning making repairs. We had quite an audience for the backyard shots on Friday. Connie and Anne and Tom and Carol were there along with their friends Mike and Bev Marshman who came all the way from Canada. Mike jumped to the rescue when the Chocolate House fell again - this time on Abigail's leg as she walked through the door during a rehearsal. Editing started Friday evening with Scene 4. Abigail crashed before I did but she started again in the morning before I got up. Editing was great fun. We had invited all the players and their families to a cast party and screening of whatever on Monday evening, July 5, Abigail's 14th birthday. By 2 PM on Monday we were ready to cut a tape. But our software, Studio 400 from Pinnacle Systems, was not up to the task. So, we showed the movie on the computer screen in my tiny office to shifts of guests. This was great because some of the kids hung in there for five or six screenings. Ultimately, I did quite a bit more editing and Connie and I added a music track. But I was never able to transfer the movie from the computer back onto videotape. The Customer Service Manager for Studio 400 at Pinnacle acted like it was normal to spend hours and days on what I'd expected to be a simple push-button-copy task and I finally gave up in frustration. To make up for the fact that I couldn't deliver videotapes to all the kids who worked so hard and did so well, I made this web site. I hope everyone enjoys it and shares it with their friends and family. Happy holidays, love, and best of wishes to all. Hamel December 1999 |
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