Kevin Smith: Risking It All for A Dream

Most people don’t know who Kevin Smith is, unless you’re a film buff. He’s a film director of cult movies, although his movies are definitely not for most people. He’s also an actor, an author and a comic book writer among other things.

But i was introduced to him when i first watched the movie Clerks. Yeah, you’ve probably not heard about it, but its really good. In fact if u look at any list of greatest movies out there on the Internet, this film is probably right there near the top.

Its a black and white film about two slacker friends, one working in a convenience store and another in a video store next door. The movie focuses on the events of a particular day, and quite a lot happens in that day, amidst of vulgar language and a particularly disturbing scene. but all in all, its a pretty extraordinary movie.

Whats even more extraordinary was when i read about how Kevin Smith, who was pretty broke at the time, financed and filmed the movie. This excerpt, taken from Wikipedia, explains it.

The film was shot in black-and-white and roughly edited due to a very modest budget of $27,575. To acquire the funds for the film, Kevin Smith sold a large portion of his extensive comic book collection in 1993, maxed out eight to ten credit cards with $2,000 limits, dipped into a portion of funds set aside for his college education and spent insurance money awarded for a car he and Jason Mewes lost in a flood. The film was shot in 21 straight days (with two “pick-up” days).
A Quick Stop convenience store where Smith worked was the primary setting for the film. He was only allowed to film in the store at night while it was closed (from 10:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.), hence the running gag of someone jamming gum in the padlocks and the steel shutters remaining closed; otherwise, it would seem odd that it was dark outside during all the daytime scenes. Because Smith was working at Quick Stop during the day and shooting the film at night, he slept no more than an hour a day. By the end of the 21 day shoot, Smith was unable to stay awake while some of the most climactic scenes of the film were shot.