would kick up so much dust and
debris in the air that he had to
wear several masks and goggles.
Minnella often put himself in
risky situations during the shooting of this film, but his effort succeeds in driving home the human aspect of the disaster.
“The test I had on this film was
can I be steady and do it in a
dangerous spot like when I’m
running through a house from
the outside through to the other
side knowing that the house
could collapse or I could step on
some nails or step into a sinkhole. I just gritted through and
said I’m going to tell this story
and I want people to see it exactly the way I’m seeing it,” he
explained.
After Sandy has dramatic
scenes shot by a Glidecam
showing the devastation across
an entire house or neighborhood. Time-lapse photography
NewJerseyStage.com
is also used very effectively. The
film doesn’t just cover the disaster but the years after in which
the towns and townspeople
struggled to rebound.
“I put scenes together in a way
that’s most impactful for me,” he
explained. “I think if it impacts
me and I see it all of the time
then it’s going to be impactful
for whoever else watches it.”
The film does an amazing job
of telling a complete story something even more impressive when you realize that it was
a story still being written at the
time.
After Sandy will be screened at
the New Jersey Film Festival on
Sunday, January 31. It will follow
a film called Two Years by Lauren
Hall, which is also about Super
Storm Sandy and a New Jersey
community fighting to recover.
--Gary Wien
2016 - ISSUE 1
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