Ruckus Visual Arts: Nevada Bad Ass
Asa Gilmore has started a “full service visual agency” called Ruckus Visual Arts based in Reno. According to their website, Ruckus Visual Arts’ “purpose and goal is to create work that is aesthetically groundbreaking and functional; the kind of work that stands out in a crowd.” They work in several media (photography, web design, print design, and film) and produce some really interesting material. From what I’ve seen on their website, Reno’s architecture, surroundings, and dingy outpost aesthetic play heavily in their work, but its not all they do. I took a look at some of the websites they designed and they are quite colorful and appealing in a very commercial way.
Film is a new venture for Ruckus and they sent me a copy of a short film they produced called Nevada Bad Ass. According to Gilmore, he’s been involved in graphic design and photography for ten years, and cinema was a logical progression for his company. Although Nevada Bad Ass is their first film endeavor, they have many projects in the works, from shorts to feature length films. Bad Ass was written by Jeff Opfer, produced and directed by Asa Gilmore, and stars local actors Robert Minor and David Tscheekzar.
More from Ruckus’ Gilmore on their film projects:
I’m interested in making low budget movies that retain high production and aesthetic values, and technology is making this increasingly more feasible. Nevada Bad Ass was our first cinema project, and you’ll be seeing more shortsfrom us in the near future. I’ve got an amazing film crew with some very talented people, and I’m hoping that we’ll be working on feature-length projects within a few years.
We’re also taking the same skills and experience that we’ve gained from independent film and applying them to commercial endeavours, including a recent project taking aerial footage for a local golf course. Hopefully, our commercial work will someday finance more films and a studio space in Reno.
Nevada Bad Ass is not exactly the minx’s aesthetic but it is a very interesting piece of Nevada-based art. Its literally dripping with dusty desert scenery and old western tropes. Its really a souped up and extra violent version of a western showdown with a very literal take on the eye-for-an eye form of revenge. I particularly enjoyed the sequence of scenes filmed in and around the Reno Jazz Club–its dark and just shabby enough to make you nervous as you following David Tscheekzar’s tough as nails character striding through its twisting hallways and pocked doors.
And let me just get this out of the way–Nevada Bad Ass teaches us absolutely nothing about conflict resolution. But there are aspects of it that make it worth watching, especially if you’re part of the Nevada Bad Ass culture the minx is still trying to understand (I suspect, like any subgroup, the enjoy seeing themselves on screen). In the special features, Robert Minor, who plays the snarling upstart in Bad Ass, says that he basically is the character he plays–and its this kind of Nevada character that makes the minx scratch her head in genuine mystification. Its some kind of amalgamation of white trash sensibility, misogyny, and punk-ass attitude that seems to be particular to the desert folk of the Southwest. Is it the dust? Casino culture? The meth? The cheap beer and trailer parks? The cultural isolation? I don’t know but Nevada Bad Ass and the people that inspired it come from the same mileiu that produced the Saddle Tramps, but it takes itself more seriously. Its an in your face, we don’t give a damn if you think we’re ignorant approach to life that doesnt really work because many of us do give a damn if your ignorant. But I guess that’s why someone had to die in the end. Whoops–spoiler.
I actually liked one of the special features, “Madness and Mayhem: The Making of Nevada Bad Ass,” as much or even more than the movie. It has an excellent soundtrack and interesting interview moments that told me more about what the Nevada Bad Ass aesthetic might be than the film itself. And there is lots of what looks to be alcohol induced maniacal cackling which is always fantastic. By the way, I think Asa Gilmore nailed it (the death scene needs some work), and I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.
Nevada Bad Ass is worth seeing. Its part of the ever diversifying arts scene that seems to be energized by a a group of young turks like Gilmore, Ryan Stark and others.
You can purchase from their website or rent it from Reno Video Maniacs stores.
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[...] Last night was no exception although with a movie like Borat, a rowdy crowd can actually enhance the experience, however, I am always against popcorn chompers, wrapper crinklers and wheezing children. Humiliating is not the word to describe the feeling I had while having to wait in line for the 9:50pm show. It was me and fifty teenage “Bro” aspirants. What’s a “Bro” you ask? Bros are dudes that combine Eminem bragaddacio and charm and Nevada Badssness. They spend all their money on huge trucks that push the state’s 24 inch bumper limit while wearing a bandana AND a baseball hat with the bill cocked to side, and if they’re really cool, black knee socks with their overlong, cutoff shorts. They seldom wear sleeves with shirts (Bros in Reno are an exception to this in winter), often wear an assortment of piercings and tatoos and of course call each other “bro.” Sometimes they have girls with them, “brohos,” dressed in various hoodies covering revealing tanks, skinny jeans, doing their best to look like all fake tough like Ashlee Simpson. My god–it was all I could do not to run out of the theater in search of the nearest ballroom dancing class. Remembering it still makes me shiver with horror. [...]
[...] Asa Gilmore of Ruckus Visual Arts, the Nevada bad ass who brought us Nevada Bad Ass, previously reviewed on this site, has a new short up on the web called Sisyphus. In his words: “The film is the result of collaboration between myself and a well known San Francisco actor named Jack Halton. It relates the myth of Sisyphus to modern day life with a somewhat existentialist slant.” It also features music from the San Francisco band Ubzorb (who play in Reno periodically). Aren’t Sisyphus and existentialist slant redundant? Anyhow, its good–check it out. [...]
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CORRECTION:) In the end of the movie, the character played by Robert Miner does NOT die; and the actor in reference spelles his last name M-I-N-E-R… thanks -RobM
I can’t spell either, apparantly… thanks for the review.
My apologies….
And you’re right–I just assumed that because your character had his eyeball removed, that he was dead…plus, wasnt there some choking too? Anyway….good to know