A Florida Film

Adam Bower’s movie “New Low” is going to put Gainesville on the map. Bower confesses “In Gainesville we didn’t have many people interested in film production, so when you wanted to make something, you and the two other people who cared at all were the only available people.” When I saw Bower’s ode to Gainesville I was blown away by the quality of the image, story, and dialogue. He wrote, starred, directed, produced, and edited this movie himself. It even went to Sundance this year and Bower says “I’m just a kid from Florida, so I went from zero people wanting to talk to me to a lot.”

The Gainesville Sweat

His movie is a comedy about a 20 something lost Gainesvillian (played by Bower) who works at a video store, and is looking for love in all the wrong places. After dating several bad girls, he decides to go for the good girl, but then he becomes even more confused. Based on his own experiences in Gainesville, Bower says “Every girl I dated in college seemed to be really dysfunctional. They were angry, had personal issues, drinking problems, etc.” This is the story of a post-modern anti-romantic trying to figure why he likes these bad girls “I started to wonder why I worked better with them than with this perfect girl, and what that meant about me as a person.”

Bower really capture’s the Gainesville scene, or sub-culture. He even manages to photograph all the people’s sweat with dazzling close-ups on humid nights in the swamp. Bower conveys how everyone in Gainesville uses bikes instead of cars. The film also showcases some great locations unique to Gainesville including; Video Rodeo, University Ave, Kickball at East-side Park, and the view from underneath those beautiful oak trees.

Guerrilla Style

Bower, who went to the University of Florida for telecommunications not film, used his telecommunications classes for equipment and made short films before starting this feature. For “New Low”, he borrowed all his equipment and shot it on a Panasonic DVX100B with the M2 Redrock lens adapter.

The image is stunning and practically every shot has a sick shot depth. Bower did a lot with a limited budget, “almost the whole movie was lit with practicals and a china ball lantern from Pier 1.” He used wheelchairs for dollies and “sat the crew on the trunk of my Volvo and had one or two guys push it to minimize noise pollution.”

The cinematography is superb and Bower advises, “really hold your script, actors, cinematography, and everything else to a high standard. Because of the advances in technology, there are more films being made now than ever, so make it worth your and everyone else’s time.” Bower’s is now living in LA, but said he would be here for the Florida Film Festival.

Do not miss this movie!