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| Red 11: A film by Robert Rodriguez that you were never meant to see, just like El Mariachi |
In 1996, my college roommates were into movies such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and when the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez film From Dust til Dawn came out, we saw that as well. It was a good movie. My tastes were a bit different in the old days. In fact, I really didn't see too many movies in the theater. I didn't know anything about Rodriguez at the time so it wasn't until 2004 when his name popped up again.
I was going through a rough time in my life. I ended up discovering the world of paid medical research studies and moving to Austin, Texas. You go in and take some drugs and leave with a check. It wasn't a bad deal at all. It was then when Rodriguez's name surface as a bit of an urban legend. It was purported that he partially financed his first film, El Mariachi at the very research clinic I was at. I had to look up his name on IMDB and was intrigued to find out he co-directed From Dust till Dawn. It was also odd to discover that Office Space, another movie I saw years back that was filmed in Austin.
After 15 years of doing medical research studies, I ended up volunteering for my 4th year at SXSW. I am now a movie lover and enjoy seeing movies at SXSW as you might never see them again. I had often wondered if Rodriguez would ever make a film about medical research but I need wonder no more. During my first run through of the schedule, nothing really stood out. When I had more time on the toilet, I was delighted to see that Robert Rodriguez was premiering a film call Red 11 which was about medical research. He was also giving a preview of his upcoming Film School docuseries on his network El Rey. This series pays homage to his humble beginnings and shows the viewers what it takes to make a film for $7000. At the same time, he decided to actually film a project while it was not intended to be a complete film nor be seen by people. Where had we heard that before? In other words, one could watch this series and shoot a high quality low budget film tomorrow.
Without giving away any plot points to Red 11, this is a film that people like myself and other lab rats (medical research volunteers) will find amusing and funny. However, even people who have never heard of medical research can certainly get into the film. But the real gem is the acting and production. Without knowing that this film was made for $7000, you would have thought it was a big budget film. $5 million maybe? But it goes to show how a lot of creativity and ingenuity can go a long ways.
The biggest thing I enjoy about SXSW is that most directors and key crew are at the premiers and usually answer some questions from the audience. This year it seemed like the hosts fielded most of the questions but it's interesting to hear more about the process of making the films. Robert Rodriguez did not disappoint! During the preview of his docuseries, he shared many tips and tricks for making mesmerizing effects for no budget as he calls it. In an age when many directors opt for special effects and green screen, Rodriguez showed how practical effects are still convincing and budget friendly for the budding filmmaker.
Whether or not this film gets distributed widely, I'd suspect that it will air on his network at some point. If the run time listed was correct, the movie is a tad short in my opinion. Shorter than the original Toy Story. But, Red 11 was actually filmed for roughly $5500 so Rodriguez could certainly shoot a few more scenes, expand on a character or two and still stay under $7000 while getting the movie up to at least 90 minutes which is on the low end of the spectrum.
