“I got into it because I love film as an art form,” said Chase, a Portsmouth resident. “For most of my life, it was a pipe dream, and then, about five years ago, I was going from job to job, and they weren’t getting me any closer to what I wanted to be doing. I was sick of doing things I didn’t care about. That’s when I bit the bullet and started the production company.”
 

“Sharp Dressed Men” is a full-length comedy, which follows the misadventures of three brothers as they scramble to organize and prepare for their parents’ much-anticipated wedding day. It’s showing as part of the sixth annual SNOB Festival on Friday, Nov. 9 at 9:30 p.m., at the brand new Red River Theater in Concord. It’s also showing at Inn on the Blues in York, Maine, on Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. The film is part of the Inn’s Independent Film Series and admission is free.

The film, which stars G. Matthew Gaskill, Andrew Fling, Christopher Savage, Scott David Chase, Carolyn Connolly and Adam LaFramboise, was shot in Portsmouth and Barrington. It’s based on a script written by Gaskill, which he wrote for a play that was never produced.

“The basic premise of the film is based on his play, but the details changed as we worked together,” Chase said. After finishing the film, Chase and Gaskill were inspired to turn it back into a play, which ran at The Players’ Ring in Portsmouth and was well-received.

Chase’s first film, “Golyadkin,” was filmed in January 2005. “Sharp Dressed Men” was filmed over the course of two weeks in October 2006. “‘Golyadkin’ was me getting my feet wet and learning. It was shot in a more traditional way, with multiple takes. For ‘Sharp Dressed Men,’ I wanted to make myself do things differently, to get away from drama and have a different shooting style,” Chase said.

Instead of doing multiple takes from a variety of angles, Chase uses longer takes in “Sharp Dressed Men,” which means the actors had less breaks in between sets to prepare for the next scene. “It forced me to really get the performances that I needed out of the actors right there on the set. It was almost as if it was a play. They had to sustain the story for five-, 10- and 12-minute shots,” he said.

Chase is pleased with the outcome.

“Stylistically, I like the way that it looks,” he said.

Chase is currently working on his first hi-def film, “Stricken,” which is due out next year. According to him, it’s nothing like “Sharp Dressed Men.”

“‘Stricken’ is much darker and deals with heavier themes. I like the idea of challenging myself with different stories. I would like to try to make films in all different genres,” he said.