The idea for the film and about 2/3 of the screenplay itself was conceived by Fred during a semi-waking dream over winter break 08-09. He remembered it the next day and wrote it down.
The
opening "leader introduction" segments were conceived by
Carolyn, with the actual dialog coming from her, Fred, and the
actors.
Character Info
Linked names will take you to an article that should shed more light on a given name. Names were created by Fred, Oslec, and Steph. Casting by Fred and Steph.
Salome Smith-Barney (two separate links!)
Astrid Oldfather - named in honor of Maggie Oldfather '04
Jacques Russell - named in honor of Kim Russell '02 (co-founder of Vox), Jacques Cousteau, and Jack Russell terriers.
Marie Darrington - her name is a tie-in to the song "Sweet Marie"
Sierra Macomber - named by Oslec Villegas '03 for the City of Heroes character Mary MacComber
The other character names are just absurd, silly names that Dickens might choose if he were alive and writing a bad a-cappella comedy.. Suffrin is "suffering," Holly Ivey is like the Christmas song, Douchebagge is self-explanatory....
Pat O'Tatten, the unseen guy who gets into the Bro, is named in honor of Patrick Tatten '04
Setting Info
Millstone College is named for the Millstone nuclear power station just off shore from Connecticut College
The Daverio Common Room is named after Heather Daverio '02, co-founder of Vox.
CJ Dining Hall is named after Christine Jackson '08, standing in for her beloved JA
The Bosslec snack shop (and Bosslec hurts) are named after Oslec Villegas '03, Voxer extraordinaire
In the very last version of the script the summit room was called the Leue Conference Room and the performance hall was called the Spigelman Hall, in honor of Ian Leue '07 and Brett Spigelman '05. These facts never made it on screen or into dialogue, though a shot featuring the sign for the conference room was planned but dropped.
George Galatis's home in NYC is 55 Central Park West. Check it out.
Shooting Info
All the big group scenes (sign-ups, the summit, the keg) were shot in one night on a camera belonging to Conn's film department (see technical info at end). No more filming took place until Fred bought a Canon consumer HD camcorder several weeks later, and the rest of the film was shot with that.
Scenes were variously shot by Fred and Carolyn, just Carolyn, or just Fred.
All but two scenes in the film were shot after dark, most after 9pm. The exceptions are the Mill Tones audition and the Cro opening shot.
The final scenes shot were Marie and George's long chat after the keg (May 3) and the inserts of Pax RoLlama's audition direction signs (May 4).
Fred was responsible for insert shots and the titles/credits, and his total editing time was about 7 hours. Carolyn was responsible for all other editing, for a total editing time of 3920382502 hours.
Totally Unsubstantiated Rumors
I've been told, but can't confirm, that each of the following groups in the film is a wild characiture of a Connecticut College a cappella group. This is just what I've heard....
Pax RoLlama = Vox Cameli
The Be'ellzebelles = The Shwiffs
The Mill Co Bro = The Co Co Beaux
Mill Workers = Conn Artists
Crystal Mall Singers = Williams Street Mix
Mill Tones = Conn Chords
John Sherman's wig belongs to Fred's sister
The joke about messenger bags comes from a post at McSweeney's Lists.
The line about Amy Winehouse was overheard by Fred in the Branford 1st floor bathroom
Continuity Fails and Wins
Fred is supposed to have Korral Blackfisk (the octopus) in every scene, and while he always had it with him, he fails to get it into shot in two scenes. He does, however, wear his SILVER jacket throughout
Jesse and Ben both drastically change position during cuts in the sign-ups scene
Nick is wearing a different shirt during the keg than what he's wearing when he leaves.
Not really a continuity thing, but you may notice that there is a script visible somewhere in nearly every scene
Technical info:
Shot in 1080p at 24fps on Canon XH A1 (at 1440x1080) and Canon HG20 (at 1920x1080)
Edited in Final Cut Pro 6. 480p master generated in Compressor. A 720p master exists, but has no home. Audio cleaned up in Cakewalk Sonar 8 PE.