THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407270166
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: In The Neighborhoods
SOURCE: Mike Knepler
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
To produce a movie that portrays the future, a group of young filmmakers discovered just the right spot in Norfolk.
It's not a downtown landmark such as Waterside or Nauticus, the latter touted by City Hall as the first building of the 21st century.
The film makers did not even request a model of the proposed MacArthur Center shopping mall.
They turned to Mid-Town, an aging industrial district along north Church Street. Among broken streets, struggling small businesses and empty warehouses they glimpsed the future.
``I really liked it,'' said Jay Black, student producer. ``It was post-apocalyptic!''
The ``dreariness'' and ``surreal'' air enchanted Black. The story, ``Shadowplay,'' takes place after a ``cataclysmic event and everything shuts down.''
Much of the film-action occurs in a white-brick building formerly occupied by Fancy Foods of Virginia. It closed in 1992, but Black likes the sturdiness and texture of the 84-year-old structure.
``All the doors still work, and all the walls are still up, and the windows are still there,'' he said. ``What I liked about it was that it looked like it was operational and, then, instantly abandoned.
``It's very surreal because of its size. It's so huge, and it seems like it's functional. And yet, it's deserted. And that's a real quality.
``Also, there's a layer of dust on the whole thing, like it was instantly deserted.''
Good thing Norfolk has lots of vacant buildings. It saves movie production crews from constructing so many stage sets.
Owner Rick Salzberg has mixed feelings. He acknowledges the realities of his empty building, adding that filmmakers never would have discovered the site ``had there been a bit more commercial activity.''
His ``cataclysmic event'' was the credit crunch on small businesses.
Still, Salzberg wants City Hall to attract more filmmakers.
Indeed, Norfolk seems to be passing the screen tests. In 1993, City Hall issued 31 permits. So far, in 1994, it has granted 24, ranging from dog commercials and industrial-safety messages to rock videos and full features.
Public sites included elegant Ghent streetscapes, cobblestoned Freemason, the Waterside marina and the ``Whaling Wall'' mural next to Dominion Tower.
Favorites among movie crews are two obscure alleys off downtown Tazewell Street. Angles of light and dark play hide-and-seek with rusted fire escapes, pigeon droppings, discarded wine bottles and potholes.
City Manager Jim Oliver seeks a positive spin: ``If it's a progressive skyline or a new ballpark, it's a plus for us. If it's something inside a neighborhood, it has no meaning other than over time it keeps furthering our reputation. There are benefits, too, in people staying in town'' while filming.
Back to the future and ``Shadowplay.''
It's a time when ``all of society communicates with musical instruments instead of with vocal words, and everyone is controlled by one rock band,'' Black said.
The rich dominate with high-powered instruments that ``play a hard-rock type of music which controls people,'' he said. ``It's keeps them in a rhythmic stupor.''
The middle-class have brass horns. The poor rely on wooden recorders and old acoustic guitars.
A saxophone-playing hero emerges to teach the downtrodden to break from cultural conformity.
There's a scene with upper-class punks chasing a woman. Part will be shot in Salzberg's building in front of a bank of deactivated electrical circuit breakers.
Special-effects man Juan Benavides makes the equipment act live with a spark-making device.
Too bad that trick works only in the movies.
Mid-Town wants sparks of real business activity. MEMO: Comment or suggestion for Mike Knepler: call 446-2275 or write The
Compass, P.O. Box 449, Norfolk, Va. 23501.
by CNB