Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier's buddy act

500-Weeks #14

Scott Mosier and Kevin Smith in Toronto in 1994 

I sat in the Uptown Backstage - a long since gone movie theatre in Toronto - watching a press screening of “Clerks”.  It was the 1994 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and I was there in the dark theatre with a few dozen other members of the media, laughing our collective butts off.

For anyone who isn’t aware: Kevin Smith was a convenience store clerk in New Jersey who left the job to attend Vancouver Film School where he met Scott Mosier. He dropped out after a few months and went back to work at the store while writing the script for “Clerks”. 

Mr. Smith recruited Mr. Mosier to be his producer and they shot the film in the convenience store where Mr. Smith worked – after hours - for a grand total of $27,575. Mr. Smith raised the budget for the film by selling his beloved comic book collection and maxing out a dozen credit cards. It went on to win awards at The Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes International Film Festival, and was bought by Miramax Films for $227,000. So it arrived at the Toronto Festival with buzz. 

The Butch and Sundance of TIFF 

I felt a certain kinship with Mr. Smith and his backstory. I’m a film school graduate who sold his beloved comic book collection to pay off his remaining student debt so I could quit my day job and start a career as a full time photographer. I ended up thinking about “Clerks” a lot afterwards and realized that it gave the lie to my film school education. It was so basic and simplistic, in so many of the technical elements that I had spent four years being taught were imperative elements of cinema. But it succeeded it one element I don’t remember being told to concentrate on as a film student: It was compelling.

Many scenes may have been comprised of only a single static shot of two people talking, but the characters and setting were so specific and the dialogue was so fresh and inventive and crude and witty that I couldn’t stop watching. Many other people had the same reaction.  

When I was assigned to photograph writer / director Kevin Smith along with producer/editor Scott Mosier, I wanted to bring some of the same aesthetic to the photos as I saw in the movie. Grainy black and white, with very basic lighting.

Other elements of the film’s production were mirrored in this photo shoot. We didn’t have much time, or space, or lighting, or even a hotel room devoted to media interviews. The room was a shared resource, with posters for other films, plus furniture and the door was open and people were walking around while we were trying to take the pictures. 

I remember the photo shoot being very short - less than five minutes - and don’t remember giving much direction. True buddies Smith and Mosier had their own posing and performance shtick in place. My job was to keep up and make sure they were both in focus. 

Clerks went on to be a critical success, earning over three million dollars at the box office and since that time. Mr. Smith and Mr. Mosier have continued, making multiple films together. More than can be said of many of the critical darlings of independent cinema from that era.

Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier in the glamorous hotel photo shoot location 

Technical stuff: Camera: Nikon FM2n with 35mm f/2.0 and 50mm f/1.8 lenses using Kodak 5054 TMX, T-MAX 3200 ISO black and white negative film. Lighting is a combination of window light and a Vivitar 284HV flash being bounced into an umbrella.