There’s by no means been a ebook written concerning the sub-genre of the so-called “hangout” movie. In truth, the earliest reference I’ve come throughout of the time period was Quentin Tarantino describing his admiration for Howard Hawks’ “Rio Bravo” and Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused.” Tarantino outlined the sub-genre as being, “films that you simply hang around with the characters a lot that they really turn into your pals.”
When director Carson Lund was on the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast he talked about getting down to make a hangout movie with “Eephus.” The director, who used to put in writing about films for Slant, has turn into a pupil of the style, and provided a extra particular definition.
“[The hangout movie] is a movie that prioritizes character interplay on the expense of ahead plot momentum. It’s extra about simply having fun with, as a viewer, spending time with these folks,” mentioned Lund on the podcast. “ Howard Hawks is the grasp of this. They didn’t name ’em hangout movies then, however I consider one thing like ‘Hatari!’ as undoubtedly a hangout movie, the place the scenario is basically simply an excuse to spend time with these folks.”
The story of “Eephus” revolves round a baseball recreation, particularly two leisure baseball groups of grown males, in small-town New England, taking part in their final recreation on their beloved area earlier than it will get torn down. And whereas “Eephus” may be very a lot a baseball film, it’s decidedly not a sports activities drama constructing towards a dramatic fruits of the sport.
“Baseball is a hangout sport, on the skilled stage there’s 162 video games [a season], you don’t have to win each recreation,” mentioned Lund. “It’s a recreation that has loads of downtime, what folks see as boredom. I feel whenever you play it’s full of anticipation and in addition simply full of [socializing], camaraderie whenever you’re within the dugout, there’s so much happening, even when the sport itself shouldn’t be very tense. I got down to make one thing that may seize my very own emotions taking part in the sport, just like the precise expertise of being a participant on the sphere and feeling that.”
Lund stopped taking part in highschool ball rising up in New England, having turn into fed up with the stress and weight room coaching which drained the enjoyable from the game for the longer term filmmaker. However when he picked it up once more as an grownup, becoming a member of a rec league after transferring to Los Angeles, he rediscovered what he liked concerning the recreation, in addition to inspiration for him to make his personal hangout movie.
“The league is made up of these those who didn’t make it, that didn’t get to that subsequent stage, so truly the stress’s off and it’s actually extra about that camaraderie and simply having that type of like refuge as soon as per week to go play a factor that you simply love and that reminds you of childhood,” mentioned Lund.
Whereas the baseball recreation itself provides the movie with a unfastened construction — Lund and his co-writers Michael Basta and Nate Fisher began the scripting course of by making a field rating for the complete fictional recreation— the main target is commonly on what occurs between performs, the ritual, and the interactions, which Lund discovered turns into extra fascinating when coloured by what is occurring within the recreation and the anticipation of the following play.
Lund additionally needed to seize the essence of the oddball neighborhood of a rec league group. Like with Linklater’s hangout movies, corresponding to “Dazed and Confused,” “Eephus” is structured by its emphasis on the ensemble. Whereas having a protagonist immediately leads the viewers to count on objectives, battle, and character arc, Lund needed a movie concerning the communal expertise of leaving the day-to-day of labor, household, and routine behind for a number of hours.
“We’ve got an enormous ensemble and we needed fairness between all of the totally different characters. It permits you loads of freedom to determine, ‘Okay, who’ve we not frolicked with in a short time? What group, or what participant, or what individual on the sidelines have we not given our consideration to?’ So it turns into this train of transferring round that ensemble,” mentioned Lund. “We simply needed to create that fullness of the expertise to get a way of everybody who involves this recreation and what it means to them. As a result of that is actually a collective expertise. Everybody’s going by the identical factor, having the identical sort of epiphany or lack of epiphany. It’s necessary to verify we don’t type of overlook sure facets of that ritual.”
Like with the very best of Linklater’s movies, usually set over a brief and outlined time span, Lund needed to seize the sense of time passing, and the wistful melancholy that comes with it. In “Eephus” there’s an added emotional and narrative dimension to this with it being the final time these males will play baseball.
“That’s certainly one of my favourite qualities of cinema is whenever you really feel time passing,” mentioned Lund. “I’m an enormous fan of Linklater and in addition Chantal Akerman, extra of those durational filmmakers, who make you actually really feel a passage of time.”
Lund particularly set the sport in New England throughout the fall, the place the change of seasons is seen within the leaves, and the approaching winter may be felt within the air. For Lund, the sensation of time passing is particularly tied to the sunshine, and inserting further cautious consideration throughout manufacturing that the viewer would really feel the passing of the day by capturing at particular instances of day.
“One factor that will get neglected, each in life and in films, is that passage from magic hour to darkness. We get loads of movies that make the most of magic hour for magnificence, however to really really feel every minute cross, and the best way that the solar adjustments and the best way that the general gentle is altering and affecting our expertise, it’s a sort of a magical factor that occurs daily,” mentioned Lund. “I actually needed for you as a viewer to really expertise that, the theater darkening because the film goes on, as a result of that’s one thing that’s so visceral.”
“Eephus” opens right now in New York Metropolis at Movie at Lincoln Heart and the IFC Heart. It expands subsequent week to different cities, together with Los Angeles, and all through Massachusetts. For extra infomation, go to the “Eephus” web site.
To listen to Carson Lund’s full interview, subscribe to the Filmmaker Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favourite podcast platform.