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Historical drama ‘Wesley’ has WCU connection, premieres this month

Arledge Armenaki knew filming a movie about John Wesley, a founder of the Methodist movement, with an independent film’s budget would be a challenge, considering just some of the actual events of Wesley’s life: rescue from a house fire, a near-shipwreck, a star-crossed love affair and violent mobs. But with challenge comes opportunities, and Armenaki, visiting associate professor at WCU, saw many when director John Jackman of Foundery Pictures asked him to be the director of photography for the project.

First, he thought of his students and the hands-on experience they could get. With coaching from Armenaki on filming locations in and around Winston-Salem and Morganton, 16 students served as a unit production manager, assistant directors, construction coordinators, set dressers, carpenters, boom operators, grips, camera assistants, wardrobe managers, an office manager and a script supervisor. Their assistance was critically important, said Jackman. “We couldn’t have done the movie without them,” he said. “We were trying to accomplish a very ambitious picture while operating on a very restricted budget, and their help was just invaluable.”

For two months in 2007 and two weeks in 2008, the students worked closely with Jackman and Armenaki to help find, manage and build sets fitting for the 18^th century and in line with the storybook feel the director and cinematographer wanted to create. Some even helped build a re-creation of the HMS Simmonds ship inside an old gymnasium at Methodist Children’s Home in Winston-Salem, and a 50-by-20-foot blue screen, which required a lot of sewing and lighting, to hang behind it. “Getting everything ready for a scene was quite a production in itself – like dressing a museum diorama,” said Armenaki.

Kristen Philyaw, a 2008 WCU graduate with a degree in motion picture and television production, can attest to that. She helped coordinate props for “Wesley.” “It was incredibly stressful because we had no budget to work with, and it often felt like we did not have enough hands among us or hours in the day to get the sets dressed, props made or pieces coordinated,” said Philyaw, who works at a financial institution in Charlotte and just co-founded a small production company with her fiance, Robert Cassidy, a WCU alumnus who also worked on “Wesley.” “Looking back, I have some great memories of working alongside my fellow classmates and Professor Arledge.”

The movie not only created opportunities for students but also for faculty. Armenaki coordinated auditions on Western Carolina’s campus that led to roles for Terry Nienhuis, retired professor of English, and Peter Savage, visiting lecturer of theater. Nienhuis was cast as John Locke, Wesley’s gardener, and Savage as Mr. Williamson, the scoundrel who is betrothed to and mistreats the woman Wesley loves.

Both said the audition was challenging and the experience rewarding. Savage said he nervously overacted the first time he met with Jackman and didn’t get offered the role until after a second, more relaxed audition with him at WCU. Nienhuis wondered if the film was too sophisticated for him when Jackman stressed the importance of authentic dialects and asked Nienhuis to try reading with an 18th-century sea captain dialect. “I did something that may have sounded like a pirate,” said Nienhuis. When cast as the gardener and advised to use a rough country Yorkshire dialect, “I did some research and found a recording of a Yorkshire farmer and then called Henry Mainwaring from the biology department (and from England) for help,” said Nienhuis. “He said, ‘It’s funny you should ask because I have a friend visiting from that area.’ I brought a tape recorder over, asked his friend to read my lines and then studied the recording.”

In addition, WCU alumnus Keith Harris played a leading role, Wesley’s brother Charles; three students had small on-screen parts; and two business professors, Stephen Jarrell and Paul Jacques, volunteered as extras in the film. They played churchgoers in one scene. In another, filmed on a different day, Jarrell was in several scenes, including one shot in a vineyard at sunset. “If I survived the final editing cuts, you may see one two-second shot of me, and if you stopped the frame, there might be 10 or more of me on the screen if they used technology to enhance the crowd,” said Jarrell. “But if I don’t show up in the movie, it was still worth it. I had such a great time and especially enjoyed seeing our students behind the cameras, working in costumes, doing hair and makeup, and hearing (student) Alex (Dillard) yell, ‘Quiet on the set.’” Savage also was impressed with the students. “Everyone acted so professionally, and it was exciting to see students using what we are teaching and to begin to work with them as colleagues,” he said.

The efforts of many, including the contingent from Western Carolina, come together Saturday, Nov. 14, when the film will celebrate its world premiere in Winston-Salem. Attendees will see how Wesley and his brother became revolutionary champions for the poor and how Wesley struggled to find the spiritual peace and faith for which he is known. “It’s quite a beautiful film with really powerful performances,” said Armenaki. “I am moved by Wesley’s journey and his wrestling with his faith. I think many of us have our own spiritual journey during the course of our own lives. It’s such a great story, and we – the actors, the set carpenters, costume-makers, electricians, camera operators, editors, the composer and special effects crew-members – all did our very best to make it into a wonderful film.”

Click here to read more about “Wesley,” the movie. Screenings will be posted on the movie’s Web site as schedules become available.

By Teresa Killian Tate

© 2009 Western Carolina University.