Staying In

Were you as taken with Evil League of Evil applicant Tur-Mohel as I was? Good news — director Ryan Lewis and writer/Tur-Mohel portrayer Jeremy Dubin recently took some time to answer a couple of questions for Staying In!

Who came up with the concept for the video and the character of Tur-Mohel? How did it come about?

Ryan Lewis: The concept was all Jeremy.

Jeremy Dubin: I came up with the character. I had read about the contest on-line, and it sounded like a whole lot of good, old-fashioned, geek-out fun. Then I remembered a recent conversation I had had with a friend of mine about how he wasn’t going to have his son circumcised, and how this was apparently becoming increasingly popular with parents. And I just envisioned all these pissed-off, idle mohels sitting around shaking their heads in consternation (kind of like the Maytag repair guy). From such humble beginnings was Tur-Mohel born.

How did you get involved with the production?

Ryan: I’ve known Jeremy for a few years and we’ve worked on two films together over that time. He’s always been great to work with and absolutely hilarious both on camera and off so when he pitched me his idea, I agreed immediately. I had already seen Dr. Horrible and loved it, so when Jeremy said that the Evil League Of Evil was accepting applications and that he had an idea for a character, I was in. I didn’t even need to hear his idea before I told him I’d direct it.

Jeremy: I had the good fortune of working with Ryan and Mike Maney (the DP) before on the 48 Hour Film Project and on a film of Ryan’s called Emulsion. So I crossed my fingers and hoped that they would be interested. I think I actually made the pitch to Ryan at a bachelor party, and maybe it was the martinis talking, but he said he was on board.

How long did it take to film?

Ryan: The whole video took about three hours to film. Jeremy came in with such a clear script that it made the shoot much easier. The hardest part was trying not to laugh while he delivered his lines.

We finished shooting at about 9pm. I told myself I would start editing the next morning, but after a two-hour break I decided to start looking at the footage. After going through the takes, I began to edit a little. Before I knew it, it was 3am and I had most of what you see in the final video edited. The only portion that wasn’t close was the end montage. I woke up the next morning, started working again, and was able to show Jeremy and the other actors and crew a nearly final version that evening, a little over 24 hours after we started shooting.

Jeremy: I told the rest of cast that it would take about three hours, thinking that that was an amount of time I could get them to commit to, and thinking it was at least conceivable that we could get it done in three hours. And if it happened to run longer — well, hey, they’d already to be there, so they might as well stay, right? To my amazement, and to Ryan and Mike’s credit, it took exactly three hours, maybe even a little less. Ryan called me the following afternoon and told me he had a rough cut done.

Were you working with a script or was it more of ad-libbed, living by the moment type of production?

Ryan: The scene where Tur-Mohel discusses his application and explains his plan to impress the Evil League was completely scripted. We played with the blocking a little, but the dialogue was totally set. As for the music montage, that was a bit more ad-libbed. We had ideas of a few Jewish traditions we wanted to depict but it was definitely more run-and-gun. A couple of shots were thought up beforehand, but most came up on the day.

Speaking of the montage shots, you should have seen the people we ran into on the street. They had no idea what was going on and the actors never broke character. I think starting with the ridiculousness of the exterior shots definitely helped everyone get into a perfect mindset for the shoot.

Jeremy: I had a script prepared. I figured it would behoove me with that ‘three hours’ promise I had made. But some of the shots in the montage, we came up with in the moment. Eleven guys dressed as Hassids is just fertile ground.

I found the bouncing Star of David to be a really inspired little detail. Was that written into the script or was that an idea that came along more during the editing of the video?

Ryan: The idea of using the Star of David came up during the shoot. We had just finished recording the song for the end of the video and were setting up for Tur-Mohel’s monologue when Jeremy, Kelly Mengelkoch (Production Assistant) and I started discussing the fact that we wanted to make sure the audience could understand all of the song’s lyrics. Of course, subtitles were an easy choice, but the three of us simultaneously had the idea for the Star. We pitched it to the actors playing the Minyan and after seeing their response, we knew it had to be included.

Jeremy: After recording the song, we were a little worried the lyrics might be indecipherable, so Ryan suggested having the words along the bottom of the screen. If I recall correctly, before I even finished my sentence suggesting a bouncing Star of David, Ryan was nodding saying “That’s exactly was I thinking.”

Was there something you really wanted to do in the video, but just couldn’t because of time/money/resource/etc. issues?

Ryan: I think we pretty much hit everything that I envisioned for the video. Again, Jeremy’s concept was so tight that I was just excited to be able to capture everything that he had pitched to me the first time we discussed the project.

Jeremy: Frankly, I’m thrilled it turned out as well as it did, for which, again, I have to give major credit to Ryan and Mike. The video probably wouldn’t have happened without them, and certainly wouldn’t have happened so well. I also owe a huge debt to our Propmaster Megan Pressley who, when I asked for a model Washington Monument, a detonator, and eleven sets of sidelocks, just said, “Yeah, no problem.”

Some of the other Evil League of Evil applicant videos have taken on a life of their own. Do you have any plans to make more Tur-Mohel videos?

Jeremy: No plans as of yet, though maybe we can get the Minyan back together for a reunion tour.

Ryan: Well, first off, we just launched a website and Myspace page for Tur-Mohel (www.tur-mohel.com and www.myspace.com/turmohel) to keep everyone up to date on what he’s up to. As for future installments, there are no plans as of right now, but you never know. The responses we’ve received so far have been amazing and I’d definitely love to see what other plans Tur-Mohel has up his sleeve.

This question isn’t really related to the video, but just for fun. What’s your favorite song from Dr. Horrible?

Ryan: My favorite Dr. Horrible song changes every time I watch the film. Originally it was “A Man’s Gotta Do” — that was the one that got me hooked. But right now I’d have to say either “Everyone’s A Hero” or “Slipping.” They’re definitely the ones that get the most play on my iPod.

Jeremy: I think my favorite is Brand New Day. It’s like a contemporary Gilbert & Sullivan patter song. I love the intricate wordplay and rhyme schemes. I work at a Shakespeare theatre, so I guess I have a thing for linguistic acrobatics.

Thanks to Ryan and Jeremy for taking time to chat with Staying In, and best of luck getting into the Evil League of Evil!