HOW TO PLAN A COMMUNIST PARTY

Walking up to the house I noticed that there is a sign to the right of the front door. Covered in barbed wire, it states, 'Remove your shoes!', followed by a sheet of white paper taped to the door. It says, 'Quiet on set, filming in progress!'. As I take in the words on the paper the door springs open and out steps a cast member with his shirt removed and covered in blood. So begins my foray into the world of an independent film short, titled " The Communist Party" .

Making my way into the house, I see various actors sitting about waiting for their turn in front of the camera. It appears they are waiting in the living room, which has been converted into a crimson party hall. Red streamers dangling from the ceiling, various framed lithographs of militant propaganda hang from the walls and the room is cast in an eerie red glow. It does feel as if I have stepped over into an oppressive zone of communist angst, until I see the DJ booth set up in the corner of the room. And on the far wall I spy a score board called the "Wall of Infamy" that has different Communist leaders ranked by the millions they have slaughtered with Stalin in the lead. This is definitely to foreshadow things to come.

I hear sounds coming from the garage; the washroom door opens and out comes Zach P. Freeman, the writer, director, and portrayer of Lenin. He is a lanky young fellow decked out in dark pants and a black t-shirt. On his head rest a ball cap, the trademark of most film directors, below the hat Zach looks upon me with tired eyes. But you wouldn't know it from his face. For all intents and purposes he is alive and full of energy. He is a man breathing life into his vision no matter how fatigued he is. He smiles as I introduce myself and asks me to join him in the garage.

As I walk in I see a hot set with cast members at the ready, waiting for the command of action. Zach instructs the extras, as well as myself, to egg on Karl Marx, the 19 th century philosopher, social scientist, and revolutionary, to do a keg stand. Soon comes the word "Action!" and Karl Marx, as played by Eddie Deirmenjian, does a keg stand and pounds down enough beer to wax socialistic until the sun comes up. As we the extras chant, "Chug, Chug, Chug!"

Upon seeing this, I'm truly intrigued to know how this movie came about and what we as the audience should be expecting?

In between shoots I'm able to pull Zach aside and ask him, "How did you come up with the idea of The Communist Party ?" Zach looked down at his feet and rubbed his chin then said, "At first Eric Tsou, whose the light guy and Mao Tse-Tung , sent me a link to buy a t-shirt called the communist party, it shows all these communist at a party, it's basically a pun. We all thought it was funny and I thought, 'Hey that could easily be a short!' "

With that, Zach takes me around the set and shows me the various rooms that have been converted into eras in our world history. The kitchen has been made to resemble the harsh Russian winter, with snow like cottony fabric covering virtually every thing in site from the cabinets to the counter tops. Wooden barricades also stand in place to add to element of an oppressive Russia. Sarah Litterer; who is the make-up, wardrobe, craft services, and production designer, tells me they plan to light that set with a blue hue to make it feel icier. She is definitely on the right track because it already feels a little chilly in there.

The room in which I conduct most of the interview with Zach is covered in a green and brown tarp. It is aptly titled, "The Green Room" and is the Vietnam set piece. Live plants decorate each corner and a cammo-netting clings to the tarped walls. In the center of the room sits a poker table covered with a green shimmering cloth. On the table sits a deck of cards and a red bong off to one corner of the table. The light is dim and gives off a yellow tone making everyone who enters appear slightly sick.

The garage, where Marx did a keg stand, is done up with rice paper walls to invoke the feeling of being in a room in an imperial Chinese palace. This whole house has been turned into a mini-studio that speaks to the dedication of Zach and his team. It must have taken them days to get all of this in place to shoot.

After showing me the set, Zach goes into his overall feeling behind the "The Communist Party".

"It's political satire, Stalin starts hording all the beer and the bread. There is a 'Now Serving Sign', just like in communist society where you have to wait in line to get your stuff - Well, you have to wait in line at this party to get your beer. Except the 'Now Serving Sign' has been stuck on the same number all night!" It is at this point that Zach tells me someone at the party tells the DJ; communist leader Lenin, that Stalin is hording all the beer.

Those of us who remember our history lessons would recall that Stalin was responsible for killing millions of his people through war, famines, prison, labor camps, and state terrorism. So it is only fitting that his fictionalized persona would feel compelled to horde all the beer. A party cannot reach its apex without beer! This sets Lenin into a tirade to liberate the ill-gotten goods. Well, you can imagine what ensues after that.

Zach goes into how communism as an idea seemed great on paper but just didn't work in real life. The idea of everyone being equal and reaping the full fruits of society's combined labor did seem to be a perfect ideology but, as Zach states. "It failed because of communism's leaders, they let the power go to their heads."

Since Zach is also an actor in this production Eddie Diermenjian co-directs while Zach is in front of the camera. Eddie has been a long time collaborator of Zach since their days at Green Valley High, when they decided that they would be future filmmakers. Choosing to attend UNLV after graduation to pursue their dreams.

The two Directors/Actors worked on a previous UVF showcase piece called, "Over the Gulch". In it we see two wayward adventures that set about the task of exploring the Nevadan wilderness during the early 1900's. The two explorers meet many interesting adventures to say the least.

I asked Eddie what brought him to this project besides the fact that he was Zach's best friend. Eddie stated, "Zach has a gift for comedy and that was never more present than in this script. Zach told me about the idea in February and spit out a 22 paged script in two days! That was mind blowing! And when I read it I couldn't stop laughing!" Eddie went on to describe what it was like be a co-director and a co-star, "Zach and I have known each for awhile so we know each other pretty well. This works because we shoot all my scenes one day and Zach directs. Then the next day we shoot his scenes and I direct, it works out pretty well."

I also asked Eddie about playing Karl Marx, his response, "I'm playing Karl Marx as a drunk partier who smokes weed for the first time, which is funny because he was known as this quiet, deep-minded intellectual."

As I concluded my interview with Eddie in the kitchen I notice other crewmembers setting up to shoot Lenin's DJ scene. I see Mike Erdman, who is the head lighting grip and portraying Stalin, talking to Eric Tsou about where to position the lights. The set is truly alive with people buzzing in and out.

I catch Mike in time to ask him a couple of questions about playing Stalin. Mike informs me that, "It's actually fun to be able to portray Stalin, given the fact that he is known as this evil man. To be him at a party doing what he does best, keeping all the food." Later on during the shoot I get to see Mike in makeup as Joseph Stalin. This nice gentle giant of a man I met the day before now resembles the ostentatious Stalin, I must say Sarah Litterer has done quite a job on the makeup.

I speak with Sarah for a brief moment to ask her about the make up and the set design. What's funny about her involvement is that she, also a UNLV student, is a political science major and this particular task was right up her alley. "On all the historical figures I studied old photographs, then Craig [Makeup & Key grip] and I would come up with a look for the actors. On Mike, we made him pale and added this dark, oily black wig, with a black prosthetic mustache. The key item though is his hat, that definitely made him look ominous." Stated Sarah.

It is soon there after that Zach arrives on set dressed up as Lenin, donning a grey suit, trench coat, and a hat of Russian design. Zach rehearses his lines as Eddie talks to his crew about how best to shoot the scene. Soon I hear Eddie talk about the need of more extras for this scene, as would be expected on a indie film everyone scrambles to call family and friends to come help out. With the near instantaneous speed and reliability of cellular service we all reach out to the local underground film supporters and bring in some needed extras. It is truly astonishing for me to witness the dedication and sacrifices of sleep, money, and time to complete this project. This is one example of the drive of local Las Vegans to make independent film survive and thrive in Sin City.

While waiting for the extras, Eddie decides it would be good to knock out the "Hitler ball-gag" scene. One couldn't have a party about dictators and not include the most infamous one of all. And who would be more fitting to play the local "party Nazi" but Hitler himself. The crew moves outside to the front of the house, where Kevin Kuehnast, Assistant Director and Producer, is made up to look like Hitler. He is in his bedtime attire with slippers on his feet, a black eye, handcuffs on his wrist, and a ball-gag in his mouth. All while tied to a light pole with red duct tape.

Right before the camera starts to roll a U-haul pulls up to the house next door, with a car of shocked onlookers bringing up the rear. The neighbors must think this is a scene straight out the Tom Hanks' movie, The Burbs . Eddie comments about getting the shot quickly before more neighbors show up. Too late, there was a children's party going on down the street! Some of the kids got curious and began meandering up the street.

Needless to say they completed the shot and rushed Kevin inside before his hands turned a prunish purple from the handcuffs. When inside Kevin changed out of costume and resumed his role as the "set Nazi" corralling the arriving extras into the costume area all while still wearing his mini-mustache.

Eddie checks with Zach to see if he is ready to shoot the scene, Zach agrees. We extras, decked out in green t-shirts with a big red star in center, receive our instructions on where to stand and what to do from Kevin.

Eddie calls for quiet on set and yells, "Action!" Zach goes into acting mode and brings to life a version of Lenin never seen before. Scratching albums on the turntable and rapping like a lost member of the Beastie Boys. This Lenin knows how to party! The extras chant and dance, while Eddie watches the action on the video monitor. He smiles, pleased with the scene, and yells, "Cut! That's a print!"

Throughout the rest of the day this team pushes on getting shot after shot. As the time passes various characters of history pass me on set. From Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Mao Tse-Tung, a Jamaican-Communist Rastafarian, and Mikhail Gorbachev. They all decide to drop by for this truly amazing and ingenious "The Communist Party." After having been on set and seeing how this was coming together I could only sit by with anticipation of the short's release.

Evan Scruggs
photos: A Ross

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