Cory Cowley

[null] BTS

Added 2023-07-16 14:04:34 +0000 UTC

Two days back home and I can finally collect my thoughts.

Buffalo was certainly something that I never anticipated to be that much fun. It’s almost heartbreaking to see a city that was once an innovator in distribution and industrialism; now, is a shell of its former self.

My Atlanta trip back in April was fucking terrible. I won’t divulge too much on that since I’m technically under NDA now, but yeah…it sucked. This made up for that a million percent. I can certainly say that David R. Williams is one hell of a great director, visionary and artist.

These are some BTS shots I got of the place one last time. Within its decaying walls was an echo of history. I didn’t necessarily feel any hesitation, with the exception of one bathroom. For some off reason, this bathroom was very off-putting. We did a surveillance camera sequence in there. David and the crew left me alone to do…whatever it was I wanted. There was a very heavy, uncomfortable feel about. Even I had to coax myself into calmness by talking to myself. Suffice it to say, the scene is beyond strange. I guess, even if it made me feel vulnerable, it worked.

Since this film is 100% improv, Collin, my costar, and I sort of just played on each other’s characters. There is a sequence in the film where Collin and I have a brief dialogue. We both made stuff up and sort of allowed it to flow; the pigeon flying back and forth in the frame was the perfect ingredient to an already natural sequence. If that wasn’t cool enough, a cone of silence between us broke, as a distant church bell rang. Even I could not have anticipated the perfect timing.

The building itself was an echo chamber that was ripe with liminal spacing—as you all have seen. Collin mostly meandered by himself with the POV glasses and alluded that he was just a lost soul trying to find his way out. The simplicity of the film, I think, is what makes it stand out.

There is no ulterior motive; no plot; no anything, really, but a man trying to find an escape. I just so happen to be there. And maybe that’s just it; maybe there really is no rhyme or reason. Perhaps it is just a circumstantial event. We filmed this with the idea that whatever happens, happens, and the viewer is left completely to whatever conclusion they may make.

In conclusion, I just really enjoyed the shit outta myself. It’s hard for me to say this, but I really started to feel connected to that factory. Collin and I both did feel a sense of grief leaving it. I think that, when you step foot in a place like that, its memories tend to imprint a piece of itself onto you, like the building itself is alive. It’s not so much the memories of the people there, but the essence of what the building has seen, experienced, and felt. I do believe that constructs take on a soul of itself, and that human presence just adds an element into it. Whether it was me just enjoying my character or not, it hurts knowing that I had to leave.

The cast, crew, and everyone involved in this was a treasure. I’ll miss Buffalo. I’ll miss this gem in the Diamond mine of rust belt cities.