Conner O’Malley on Going Full Dumbo for Rap World

As a film enthusiast who has dedicated my time to understanding the intricacies of independent cinema, I find myself deeply moved by the dedication and passion that goes into creating a movie like this one. Having had the privilege to work on low-budget projects myself, I can relate to the struggle of trying to capture authenticity while working within financial constraints.

As I recall those days, mate, one of the rappers from our small-town saga, “Rap World,” says towards the end. Those were some of the best nights of my life, happening in the parking lots. It’s 2009, and we four lads from the quaint town of Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, have taken it upon ourselves to accomplish a task: creating and recording a rap album in a single night, while we have access to an empty house (Mom’s off in Costa Rica getting her ears reshaped). The stakes are high; we hope the album will transform our lives forever, yet also capture a fleeting moment in time and pay tribute to our hometown, which conveniently rhymes with “Benihana.” Our story unfolds as a humorous documentary detailing our attempts to produce the album and the distinctly American pastimes that derail us, from late-night McDonald’s runs to idling in grocery-store parking lots.

For those who were teens during Obama’s early presidency, these scenes may evoke nostalgic flashbacks, yet it’s important to note that these characters are not teenagers; instead, they fall into their late twenties and early thirties. Time is running out as the pressure mounts: Will they achieve success with their album and acquire a fleet of Corvettes, or will they find themselves working for the railroad, as their leader Matt (Conner O’Malley), who works at a movie theater, warns?

In collaboration with Eric Rahill and Jack Bensinger, O’Malley penned the movie “Rap World.” This work harmoniously aligns with his other characterizations of determined Midwesterners struggling to make it, such as the ambitious tech entrepreneur in the stand-up special “Stand Up Solutions” or the aspiring improv actor in the short film “The Mask.” Despite being labeled “very stupid,” as O’Malley puts it, the movie carries a poignant undertone. It traverses a unique territory that resembles both the documentary-style comedy of “American Movie” and the mockumentary humor of “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.” Additionally, it boasts appearances from well-known comedians like Sarah Sherman, Jeremy, Rajat, and Edy Modica.

At 57 minutes, “Rap World” serves as both O’Malley’s inaugural full-length production and a joint directorial effort with his regular partner in creativity, Danny Scharar. They remark that the film’s concise duration barely misses the mark set by Disney’s “Dumbo”. Following its festival circuit, it can now be viewed on O’Malley’s YouTube channel. Below, O’Malley and Scharar share insights into the filmmaking process and their belief that Paul Schrader might classify it as transcendental cinema.

Where did the project originate? I remember it initially being a short film, and I’m intrigued to learn about when you opted to develop it further and the reasons behind that decision.
Conner O’Malley: The conception happened in October 2020. Our plan was to capture footage over an entire weekend and then set the scene in 2003. Afterward, we would chop all the footage into 30-second segments and upload them all to a single YouTube channel with titles like “JPEG_98764”. These titles would be nonsensical, and there’d be a storyline that viewers would need to piece together by figuring out the order of the narrative to watch it properly.

Initially, we filmed something, but upon reviewing it, we felt it wasn’t quite right. We left it untouched for six months, until Jack Bensinger suggested revisiting it. He watched the footage, laughed a lot, and compiled a ten-minute short. While watching it, we realized there was potential for more than just a short film. So, Jack, Eric Rahill, and I collaborated on a script. Over the course of two to three years, mostly during weekends, we filmed bits and pieces, eventually assembling what would become our feature-length project.

Did the short film we made reach a point where it felt more like a full-fledged feature instead of just a short clip? Was there a moment when we realized we needed to expand it into a longer production?
Danny Scharar: I believe that was around the time Jack discovered the right tone for the edit in the short film. It became a handy guide for actors joining the set, letting them know the kind of mood we aimed to create. They could improvise without fear of making mistakes or choosing the wrong characters because even the silliest lines might end up in the final cut, and that was acceptable.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=NkARD8oTzOM

Was the entire storyline planned out in advance, or did certain character developments occur spontaneously during the writing process?

In our production, we meticulously planned out the sequence of scenes and key moments, along with specific dialogue. However, during filming, we aimed for a sense of realism by maintaining a loose structure and improvising throughout. We’d record a scene for around 40 minutes at a time, repeating it multiple times to incorporate fresh ideas, but most importantly, to achieve a natural flow. Our primary concern was authenticity – if you stumbled upon this on YouTube, you might think it’s an old, unpolished documentary from 2009.

I wanted to know more about the historical aspect of our production. We chose 2009 as it allowed us to discuss and reference Christopher Nolan’s film, The Dark Knight. Since we made numerous references to Dark Knight in our short, but it was 2003, we felt it was a big error to do so again, hence the change of year. I haven’t noticed brimmed beanies lately either.

How many Dark Knight references are in the movie? I can’t remember any.
C.O.: None.

2009 seemed to be a year when everyone had cell phones and were immersed in social media, but at that time, not many people knew how to conduct themselves properly in front of a camera.

Is the 2009 ambiance of the movie so consistent, visually speaking, merely due to the use of digital video cameras? Or is it because the filmmakers deliberately chose older models from 2009, like those found in a parent’s closet, which were typically used for recording piano recitals?

In 2018, I created a video titled “Teens Save the Mall” using a DV camera. Recently, I visited an abandoned mall. The footage and location transported me to another era, giving off a sense of, “Wow, this feels like stepping into a different time.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=watch?v=FIVlq420FHM

How about this instead: Danny, how was the experience of co-directing with Conner, who usually directs his own projects?
D.S.: I consider myself extremely fortunate for being given the opportunity to collaborate on this project. I strove to contribute my unique perspective while simultaneously realizing that a movie like this often requires a certain level of surrender and not trying to force scenes to go in a particular direction, because whenever we try to impose our will and say “This is how a movie should be,” it tends to become less engaging.

In Danny’s case, he wasn’t just directing; he was living the character as well. The team was small, yet everyone brought their humor to the movie set. Throughout the process, we were all unsure of what exactly we were creating. It felt like a bunch of guys in costumes, acting foolishly in a house, and then, two years later, we’re at a film festival. However, it was an amazing stroke of luck that brought together this fantastic group of extremely funny individuals who were more than willing to collaborate. I don’t believe there was ever a formal sit-down where we planned out strict roles. Instead, it seemed like a spontaneous, organic collaboration.

It’s fascinating that we all came together during Conner’s FX pilot in 2019 or other studio projects, but now we’ve evolved into a team who collaborate on DIY projects one after the other. Is it rewarding to know that even if a studio project doesn’t pan out, there might be a Danny waiting for us?

Now you’re making a feature film for the first time.C.O.: We got close, yeah. [Laughs.]

You got to 56 minutes, at least.
C.O.: Yeah, I mean, Dumbo’s like, what, 60 minutes?

D.S.: We said we want to make almost one Dumbo.

C.O.: Yeah, there’s five minutes of Dumbo that sucks.

C.O.: The movie “Rap World” is a blast when watched with an audience. I can’t help but think it could become a timeless midnight movie, playing intermittently at independent theaters forever. Have you ever experienced watching it in such settings? During our editing process, we considered this perspective, often imagining viewers at Sundance hating it and even summoning the FBI to arrest us for making such an unconventional film. Despite its oddities, editing for internet release and a theatrical setting was intriguing, and we aimed for it to excel in both environments. We’ve screened it numerous times with Q&As, usually sneaking peeks at it in parts, but yes, it feels peculiar to watch a movie that once could have been downloaded from LimeWire at BAM.

It was comforting to witness our work for the first time at the L.A. Film Festival, realizing that the humor we thought was amusing was also appreciated by the crowd. The film moved swiftly, almost too fast to catch your breath, which I believe is its power when viewed with an audience. Due to the laughter of the crowd, some jokes might be missed because they were laughing over a joke that happened mere fractions of a second ago.

In the 1950s or so, there’s this story that a man discovered a method to reach the summit of Mount Everest in an hour without any gear. This could be pure myth, but he suggested that by running continuously and ignoring the effects of altitude on oxygen intake, it was possible. Remarkably, he claimed to have achieved it. The film would lose its credibility if it paused for even a moment to consider this outlandish tale.

You might ask: Was it planned that Conner’s character would be 32 years old, or did you come up with that detail on the spot during the production process? In the script, we intended for that age dynamic, but there was also a part where Jack’s character is 19. This is because of the peculiar friendship dynamic that can arise when working with someone who is ten years older than you, even if you smoke together during breaks and such. It’s a strange dynamic that sometimes happens, possibly related to class or other factors. We wanted to portray this mix of people from different backgrounds and ages that often forms in movie theaters, but it usually stops after people go to college. For instance, when I was 16, I had friends who were 37 and her boyfriend, and he had his own refrigerator filled with Icehouses. I remember thinking, This is so cool. But yes, we wanted that age difference in the film.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve always been intrigued by the editing process. So here’s the deal: Jack was the main editor, but let me tell you about our approach. We had around 70 hours of footage that Jack painstakingly went through. Now, we followed the script up to 90%, but the ending wasn’t set in stone. A little spoiler alert for the movie, after the gunshot scene, Jack added real funeral footage from YouTube. It was a parody version of a popular song, where they replaced the lyrics with someone’s name instead of “Amazing Grace.

C.O.: It was “Amazing Grace,” but they changed the lyrics to like, “Amazing Dave.”

Jack added that part, which turned out to be the funniest moment I’ve ever included in my editing. This sequence helped clarify what we still needed to capture on camera. In terms of editing, Paul Schrader once said that it’s simpler to use only the best footage you have and figure out how to fit more in to make it coherent, rather than including everything and then having to remove parts to make it work. For Jack, it was like, “Alright, there are a few narrative aspects that we need to refine or reshoot slightly to ensure they’re clearer,” but the majority of the cut was his initial work.

I believe he’d find it to be a work of cinematic art that transcends the ordinary, much like his own films.

Instead of struggling through his films, it’s much simpler to delve into his script books. They’re mentally engaging – they take me deep into ‘Cerebro’.

In a lighter vein, there’s a hint of Schrader in my comments about the Q&A sessions. As a comedian, I dislike getting up on stage and speaking formally, but I found myself contemplating whether we could have Schrader moderate one of these events. Initially, I started drafting an email, but then I hesitated, thinking he might be too busy to respond.

D.S.: He’s asking for people to bother him. He’s giving away his couch on Facebook.

I often ponder over the video he created along the High Line. It seems many have shared it with me. I must admit, I tip my hat to that generation of baby boomers who nonchalantly say, “Film is on its way out, and that’s fine. What’s next?” Our approach to this project was similar, thinking, “Sure, we could make a conventional movie appealing to certain film festivals, but it wouldn’t be the most intriguing for us.” That’s why our movie has an unconventional length and was shot on DVs. These were the best decisions for us at that time and, in my opinion, the most amusing. However, Schrader is truly the master.

In a different tone, let me rephrase this for you: In the movie, the rap scenes portray an attempt at white-boy rap that misses the mark when it comes to complex rhyme patterns; they seem to think that’s all there is to it. What was your process for composing these raps?

To clarify on Jack’s behalf, he possessed a total of ten song ideas or themes, some of which were titled “John Gandolfini Is My Favorite Actor” and “Positive School Shooting.

C.O.: “Positive School Shooting” was mine.

What was the intention there?): The scenario reverses a school shooting, instead focusing on educating these children about the teachers’ potentially harmful mental influence. It involves metaphorically firing an information-rich bullet into their minds to make them more aware and vital.

D.S.: Like the kid that yells at the teacher.

Indeed, the video reminds me of it – “Instead of simply handing them a packet, you know.” Furthermore, since Jack and I were part of special education programs ourselves, this film is essentially a tribute to the courageous individuals in similar programs from all over the country.

A line from the rap that caught my attention was “Revealing the secrets of the Illuminati / You’ve never seen me pour a Bukkake on Benghazi.” In simpler terms, it could be rephrased as “I exposed the hidden truths of the Illuminati group / You’ve never witnessed me making a specific type of joke involving Benghazi, a city where an event took place much later in 2012. However, it’s worth mentioning that the character Jack is more interested in geography than this controversial topic.

When was Muammar Gaddafi ousted from power? It seems the discussions often overlook the fact that Gaddafi authored “The Green Book” before a film based on it won an Academy Award.

Could it be that some of us have watched Green Book? There might be a reference to it somewhere.

Question: Did anyone from Toby-hannah watch Rap World? What are their thoughts on how accurately it portrayed the area?

C.O.: It’s Paris.

D.S.: It’s the Paris nearest to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Conner, in your chat with Vulture last year, you expressed feeling limited by no-budget projects. With your recent low-budget feature release, do those sentiments still hold? What’s the future hold for your team?
C.O.: I have a few projects in the works. One is quite costly, while another fits under a million. I vacillate on which one might materialize. It seems that the current state of financing is peculiar, with what’s being financed and for how much varying greatly. Sometimes it appears only ideas below a million can be made, then it needs to exceed $5 million. However, I’ve found that when Danny, Harris, Jack, or Eric become enthusiastic about an idea, and contribute to it, the collaborative base-level is most exhilarating, and this usually happens with low-budget projects.

As a movie enthusiast, I’m brainstorming an imaginative follow-up with a spiritual connection, set in 2003. It’ll be a raw, DIY production using DV cameras, focusing on three unsung heroes – they’re the cooks stationed at a military base in Iraq. Being confined within this operational base, their world revolves around feeding the U.S. troops, yet their stories remain untold.

Conner has empowered me significantly in my role as an editor and director, contributing to my personal growth. I’m eager to collaborate with Conner on future projects, allowing us to continue our work together.

C.O.: Danny, stick around after Chris takes off. I got to talk to you for a second.

This does appear to be bullshit, but the late Nepalese climber Ang Rita summited Everest ten times without the use of supplemental oxygen, beginning in 1983.

2024-10-25 21:55

Conner O’Malley on Going Full Dumbo for Rap World

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