D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
August 2009
"Long Gun Mexico"
Page: 2Jim Essick, meanwhile, was also proving a reluctant retiree. But retirement did give him time to pursue a love of the movies that dates back to the silent film era. He vividly recalls seeing one of silent film's biggest stars, Buster Keaton, in one of his most notable movies, The General. Essick points out various scenes that awed him then and still command his respect. He was also a fan of Dracula, noting, "I want to do a Dracula movie, too."
He enrolled at WNMU, where he met and learned from David James Baker, a filmmaker and a visiting professor of media arts in the Department of Expressive Arts.
Baker says Essick brought a whole new dimension to his classes. "Academics tend to prefer the younger lot who don't really challenge what we teach. In my view, lifelong learners like Jim Essick are a godsend to everyone in the classroom," Baker says. "He's survived three wars. He's traveled all over the world. He brings all of those experiences into the classroom. And if that's not enough, he goes out of his way to help much younger students with technical and material support. Some days I felt the need to sit down and shut up so Jim could tell the whole class something really important. He always brought profound lessons into the classroom — like the human cost of war. That's not something I can tell a 20-year-old about very well.
"One of my favorite classroom experiences is Jim Essick dancing in the middle of the room to the 'Loco-Motion,' wearing glow sticks while another student filmed him," Baker adds. "From that day forward, I make sure students know I allow dancing in the classroom. I always wanted to encourage that, but until Jim Essick walked into the room I wasn't sure how."
Between Essick's classes and experience in filmmaking and Lopeman's previous forays into acting, it was only natural for the two men to team up. Though the resulting feature film, Long Gun New Mexico, isn't likely to win an Oscar or even screen much beyond the Land of Enchantment, the producers are determined to get it marketed via Amazon.com and into a few movie houses around the area.
Both are big fans of the Western genre. Lopeman lists Lonesome Dove and westerns that feature Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and, of course, The Duke among his favorites. Essick has a bit more esoteric tastes, and offers up Dead for a Dollar as his favorite oat burner.
The 80-minute Long Gun features Lopeman as a retired (for "real" this time) sheriff who is hunting down five men who murdered his family and burned his home. Lopeman plays the sheriff to good effect, and there are some excellent camera shots and good use of natural light by Essick.
In class, Baker notes, "Jim often brought images of paintings by the great masters of the Renaissance as examples of the effects of lighting on drama." And it shows.
The film does tend to ramble a bit, but good writing by Essick offers a bit of a surprise ending.
As in any ultra-low-budget film, one can easily pick out mistakes (someone pointed out to Lopeman that the canteen he uses in one scene is far too "modern"). But it is important, on every level, to remember that this is a new career for the two men, and most of the cast and crew, and that everyone involved was doing it for free.
A bonus was the response by the community. The film was shot in and around Silver City, with a bit of work done in the Deming area, at Gary Maxwell's Western movie town site there. Some shooting was also done on the Double E Ranch near Gila.
Essick says, "We put out a call for people to be in a posse scene, and 40 people showed up! I told them I can't use that many people, but everyone was okay with it, even those we couldn't use."
With a laugh, he also recalls the startled response by some of the cast when a few cows stampeded toward them. "That really got them going."
At press time, Lopeman and Essick were working to get the DVD of Long Gun ready to sell on Amazon.com, where Weed Whacker Massacre is already available.
But, not satisfied with sitting on their hind ends hoping for money to roll in from DVD sales, Lopeman and Essick have started working on their second feature, another western, with the working title of Blood Feud. Essick has written the screenplay and this time, Lopeman is directing, as well as starring.
Lopeman smiles gently under his perfectly trimmed mustache. "I think it was Abraham Lincoln that said, 'If there is no vision in life, people perish.'" His eyes sparkle and he smiles just a bit more, adding, "You've gotta have fun in life."
Long Gun New Mexico will screen one time only on Saturday, August 29, at Mesilla's Fountain Theatre, at 10 a.m. Lopeman and Essick will be in attendance, perhaps with some cast and crew. Admission is $4. For more information, leave a message at 524–8287.
For more information on Voices New Mexico films, see www.voicesnewmexico.com
Senior Writer Jeff Berg, like half the rest of the world,
is writing a screenplay.
It is based on a Tom Russell song, "The Sky Above,
the Mud Below"
— and it's a western!