Charlie (2013) Online

Charlie (2013) Online

Charlie is a film about the relationship a family shares with its pets. What is a dog? When Charlie the spaniel has to be put down, Nick, his owner and director of the film examines what about Charlie made this the most significant death in his life. At first Nick obsesses over his death by drawing him over and over again. The making of this film becomes an extension of this process and the reasoning behind it is integral to the story.

The vet scenes were all shot at the Barber family's local vet clinic. Two weeks after filming, Sammy the dog actually did eat something harmful and had to get his stomach pumped at the same clinic. 'You've been a naughty boy Sammy!'

In the living room scene, a computer is set up in the study (in the background). Next to it is the hard drive (with Charlie's photo on it) where the film is stored.

When Nick is talking in the note pad another notepad is placed next to him titled 'Gaurd Dog Scene'. These are actual notes for a scene from earlier versions of the script. Other things on the table include various other film influences of director Nick Barber's during this time of his life including several books on animation, Joseph Campbell's 'A Hero's Journey', his film school 'Tech Journal' and a blue folder containing ideas for his science fiction film 'Aislinn'.

The sequence about Nick's Pop was originally going to be animated. However, when looking for his mother's light box, Nick found a case containing hundred's of slides from the 60's. The same day Nick shot and cut together the sequence that is in the film.

The animation scene was all hand drawn by director Nick Barber with the same 'SSAA' pens that Nick is shown to be using in the film. Producing this 30 second bit of animation took as long as the rest of the film did to produce.