The Bell Rings Film Spotlight

Today’s film spotlight focuses on the feature film The Bell Rings directed by Ethan Hansen.

What is the title of your film and what inspired said title?

The movie is called The Bell Rings. I had the title long before I wrote the story, so I’m not entirely sure what inspired it.

Tell us a little bit about the story and origins of your film.

The Bell Rings is set on a dying farm in the height of the great depression, where two brothers struggle to decide whether or not to leave the family farm behind. All seems hopeless until one brother finds a wish granting bell that could either save or doom them both.

This film has been an idea of mine for a long time, but has gone through many changes over the years. The oldest pages I’ve been able to find date back to 2018. The original film was about someone moving back to their childhood town and something feeling odd about the townsfolk.

Over time the film changed again and again. The only thing that was constant was there being a bell with a supernatural power of some kind. After kicking the idea around some more, I landed on the film as it is today.

Any films or filmmakers that inspired this film?

There were a few things that I drew inspiration from for this movie, some old and modern films. The older films that influenced me were The Night of the Hunter, The Wizard of Oz, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and old Soviet films like Strike.

Some newer films include The Lighthouse, The Witch, (I’m a big Robert Eggers fan), Death to the Tin Man, and the tv series Legion.

What is the goal of the film for you?

With most of our films, the goal is to push ourselves beyond what we’ve done before. In the case of The Bell Rings, my goal was to write and direct my first feature length script. Up to this point the only other feature that I had directed was improvised, so this time I really wanted to go through the process of writing the script, and then directing it. It was a very daunting task, and I would not have been able to get it done without the help of my film partner Jordan, and the rest of the cast giving their input throughout the writing process.

What has the journey been like getting the film into production?

The beautiful thing about how we get our films made is that we don’t have to wait on much. Once we have the idea, we get to work on making it happen. No waiting to get greenlit, no waiting to secure a budget. Just start. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Like I said, this was the first feature film I have written, so that alone had a ton of uncharted territory to get through.

Definitely had to trust the process because there were plenty of days where it felt like I had wasted my time writing a mountain of bad dialog and clunky scenes. Luckily I had been meeting with the cast before the script had even been started to get their input on the way the story would unfold and what they wanted their characters to be written. It was a very collaborative process and I’m so grateful for that experience. It’s an amazing thing getting to bring other people into the creative process with you who care just as much about the characters as you do. Their input made this movie what it is.

Once the script went through a few drafts, it was time to start shooting. We had blocked out three weeks in August of 2021 to get the film done. Like most of our films, it felt like a mad dash to get everything done, and we had many long, hot filming days. Somehow we managed to get it all done on time. In the end it took 13 shooting days to finish the movie.

One thing you learned from this project?

I learned so much, it’s hard to narrow it down. Something I came to realize is that I’m still learning how to use the cut in a scene (or how not to cut). I had been so used to the traditional way of editing a scene together with the standard wide, close up, and shot/reverse shot, but I found that with this movie, less is more. The scenes had changed so much from how I had envisioned them in terms of how I would cut them together. The longer I could hold on a character the better. Letting the scene breathe through a drawn out pacing was crucial for this movie. You couldn’t rush it.

How can folks find you and your film online?

If you want to check out The Bell Rings, it will be coming out this August on our YouTube channel Doomed Productions. You can also follow us on our social media accounts if you want to stay up to date with the other films we’re working on.

Any last pieces of advice for fellow filmmakers?

Collaborate. Like I said, The Bell Rings wouldn’t be the movie it is without the help of every member of the cast and crew giving their input. There’s nothing better than all of us getting to make a movie that we all feel like we own.

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