“All the world’s a stage,” wrote William Shakespeare. Director Christopher Carter Sanderson is taking that idea and running with it in his new feature film production of “Macbeth”; filmed completely by actors all over the world on their smartphones.
This Shakespeare project has been a dream of his since 2003. In 2009, Sanderson posted a video to his Gorilla Repertory Theater Company Facebook page about creating “Macbeth” as a film with all close-up shots. The coronavirus pandemic uncovered the perfect time to make this dream a reality.
Before all TV, movie, and theater productions were suspended in the state shutdown, Sanderson had on his schedule a developmental reading on Zoom of an original screenplay he wrote. By the time the reading happened, New York had been shutdown for two weeks. When the reading went well, Sanderson had an epiphany.
“I realized that every actor I would want to be involved with the Macbeth project probably has a lot of time on their hands right now, and they probably also had an iPhone,” he said. “Suddenly the technology and the opportunity had caught up and I thought, I hate this pandemic, but maybe we can start making something good out of it.”
Sanderson has directed over 30 productions of Shakespeare in New York City and internationally. He moved to Liverpool, NY with his wife for a job opportunity and a place to raise a family. When he realized he wanted to work on “Macbeth” during this time, Sanderson reached out to actors he had worked with before and auditioned for roles to put together his dream cast of players.
The film is comprised of 29 actors, many of them are Screen Actors Guild accredited and NYC veterans, but there are also actors from CNY and London, England. Macbeth is being played by Leajato Robinson whose credits include TV shows like “Orange is the New Black,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Homeland,” and more.
Actors were sent scripts ahead of time and then they rehearsed each scene together with Sanderson on Zoom.
“We got all the actors on Zoom so that when they had to film their scenes by themselves they would be able to hear the others’ voices in their heads,” Sanderson said.
A new production of Macbeth, completely shot in close-up on mobile phones is being directed by Liverpool resident Christopher Carter Sanderson. The actors rehearsed each scene together on Zoom before filming on their own.Christopher Carter Sanderson | Provided photo
They were also given detailed instructions on how to film their scenes from editor Lisa Baron of Baroness Films in Syracuse. Not only were they told how to set up their cameras and lighting, they also had to make sure to use the outward facing camera and that the file was big enough to make into a feature film. Anything grainy or fuzzy would need to be filmed again.
The film is meant to look good on your phone, on your TV, and on the big screen. However, Sanderson said the film has a bias towards watching on your smartphone because the entire film was shot in portrait mode, a diversion from the typical landscape format viewers are used to seeing. He said Macbeth plays well in this format due to its spooky and scary storyline.
“When you play it on your smartphone it will literally be like your friend is FaceTiming you, but your friend is Lady Macbeth,” he said. “You’ve got the whole cast in the palm of your hands.”
He believes that when these faces are then 35 feet tall on a movie screen, they will still have the same spooky impact that they do on a smartphone.
Sanderson said they were able to make iconic scenes from the play work in close up, like the three witches surrounding their cauldron with “Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” They were even able to choreograph broadsword fighting via close-up shots.
“A good actor can act with their face. The face can say everything you need,” Sanderson said.
Part of the “iPhone Macbeth" cast, as the actors have dubbed it, is 16-year-old Lambros Alamond of Liverpool, NY. Active in local community theater, this is Alamond’s second experience working with Shakespeare, but his first time acting on film — one he had to film himself no less. He said being able to meet all of the other actors and connect with them via Zoom was his favorite part of the project.
His scene as Young Siward required him to film at night, which is typically not optimal for filming on a phone. He set up an external light source and an external microphone and filmed his scenes on his front lawn.
“I really liked the process of it. It was really easy and fun,” Alamond said. “We had to adjust to shooting everything on an iPhone and rehearsing through Zoom, but the way Christopher had it all set up was really, really easy.”
Filming has finished and “Macbeth” now being edited and scored. Sanderson will be submitting the project to critics and film festivals once production is finished.
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