Back to the Story Board

I spent the last week recovering from oral surgery and thought it might be a good opportunity to work on a screenplay. Those of you who are loyal readers of my blog (and I know there are 45 of you, don't try to hide, 'Follow' me!) are probably asking "What happened to the 'Darkness Around the Sun' movie?" Well that's the script I was working on this past week but I didn't get much done. I will finish it, though! It was way too fricken cold outside to record anything new, so I'm stickin' to this animated film.

I did manage to get ahold of my old associate writer, Laura Fast, after trying three different emails. Laura wrote the two scripts for my old High School film club that I presided over, The Future Filmmakers of the Future. She wrote ingenious full-length comedy screenplays for 'Valley High School Musical' and 'Robert of the Neighborhood but this time I asked her to come up with some ideas for a serious, artsy plot so I could have it finished for the next film festival. That way I don't end up with submitting another bust like 'Xenophobic' but you have to admit it wasn't bad being written, shot, edited and distributed in half a month... I mean that was the point of it, right?

So far, Laura has come up with two great plot proposals that will inevitably be drawn out in a screenplay. I'll share one of the ideas with you because the other idea I'd like to save for next winter. I've not made a final decision on whether or not I'm making this into a film but I will if Laura doesn't have any more ideas for me.

The story revolves around a man who is in a horrible car accident which nearly paralysis him. He makes a full recovery thanks to an experimental treatment created by a doctor who makes regular appearances throughout the film. The movie will open after the treatment when the man is trying to live a normal life with his new wife. The man starts noticing strange occurrences such as a flickering moon and things disappearing and all sorts of crazy stuff. He has dreams about a blue room that echoes with a frequent beeping. The man goes to the doctor who tells him that it could be a result of post traumatic stress from the accident and perhaps something having to do with the treatment. Soon the man is driven crazy because he can't even understand his own wife. The ending is a doozy of a twist! For obvious reasons, I won't spoil it. But I can almost guarantee that it won't disappoint.

I'm casting new actors for this movie because in the past I've always used the same people and I need a change for this one because it is more serious and dramatic. I have a few people in mind to play the three main characters; The man, wife and doctor. Whether there are any other parts to cast or not will be figured out after the script is finished. Production won't begin until the snow is gone, like I've mentioned before.

Music will be by Rob Rodgers again. I'm using the same soundtrack he developed for 'Xenophobic' because I think that score would work better for something like this.

As soon as the 'Darkness Around the Sun' screenplay is finished, I'll have it up on my blog so you can download it. I'm not too worried about people stealing it because I'm already breaking enough laws by basing it in Warcraft. That's okay though because I'm making it for fun and friends, not festivals and attention.

Have a nice weekend, and stay warm! Unless you're warm and cozy in California... in which case we should network!

'Up in the Air' Review

Jason Reitman received a "Best Screenplay" Golden Globe for his newest drama, 'Up in the Air' (Along with co-screenwriter Sheldon Turner). 'Up in the Air' received many Golden Globe nominations and a Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor, George Clooney. In the end, it only received an award for Best Screenplay which was well-deserved. Despite the plot's simplicity, it wasn't the usual, predictable melodrama.

The bulk of the movie takes place in airports and hotels around the United States. My parents actually saw George Clooney in Omaha while they were filming there. There is even a quick scene in Des Moines, my hometown, but I'm not entirely sure whether or not George Clooney was actually there. The story revolves around Ryan Bingham (George Clooney). Bingham has mastered the art of firing people. With the recession causing massive layoffs around the United States, companies hire people like Bingham to fire their employees for them. Bingham is an independently happy traveling business man with very few goals for the future except to fly ten millions miles (or something like that). While he is flying from city to city, he also gives inspirational speeches about living without commitments which he calls "Ryan Bingham: What's in your Backpack?"

Ryan Bingham's boss is Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman). I like Jason Bateman for his work in 'Arrested Development' but he always seems to be playing the same generic characters in every movie I see him in. There is a rumor of an 'Arrested Development' movie? If that is true, I'm willing to forgive him. Sometimes I feel like the characters were written to be played by Bateman because his dialogue is all so similar. It bothers me, but it isn't necessarily bad.

Anna Kendrick plays Natalie Keener, a young woman fresh out of college and looking to improve the business of firing people. At first I found her voice to be shrill and unbearable but as the movie progressed she began to grow on me. Her character just seemed very real. There was very subtle character growth. Then I saw that Anna Kendrick plays Jessica in the Twilight movies. Shame on you Anna Kendrick!!!

'Up in the Air' captures our present day era while balancing comedy and romance. The plot is twisted, ironic and completely exceeds my expectations. I hate that I haven't written a single bad review on my blog yet, but the sad and unprofessional truth is that I don't watch bad movies. I rate 'Up in the Air' an "awesome" and "entertaining" 73 out of 100. Not a life changing movie, but worth seeing in theaters.

My Explanation of Inland Empire

'Inland Empire' is a movie by David Lynch that I just watched and I wanted to get my theories on what the movie is about while they're still fresh in my mind and before I'm tempted to look up other people's explanations. Like any David Lynch movie, 'Inland Empire' is a psychological thriller. In other words, it is one of those movie that you have to figure out for yourself. I like those kinds of movies because after you watch it, you think about it for weeks trying to figure out what happened and usually there isn't a real answer. What's really fun about them is that you get to go online and share your theories. Which is exactly what I'm going to do!

SPOILER ALERT - If you intend on watching this movie, I wouldn't suggest you read beyond this point.

So allow me to assume that if you're reading this, you have seen the movie. I don't need to tell you that it is practically unexplainable. There is a 99.999999999% chance that my "explanation" isn't even close to what the movie is actually about, but I'd like to give it a shot anyway.

The title, 'Inland Empire', is more or less the setting of the movie. Inland Empire is sort of a nickname for the part of Los Angelas county that isn't touching the ocean (i.e. inland). It could also have a double meaning describing how everything in the movie is inside of something. There are rooms inside of rooms, and movies inside of movies, etc inside of etc.

Nikki (Laura Dern) is a washed up movie actress trying to make it back on the A-list but can't get back on her feet. The entire movie is sort of a premonition about her career and her fear that her acting career might be over. Nikki's career is depending on whether or not she gets the lead role in 'On High On Blue Tomorrows'. But, like she says to the old woman before the premonition begins, it is highly unlikely that she will get the part. When watching a movie like this, you have to assume that everything is true. So when she does get the part, something isn't right. That's how we know she has gone into a premonition brought on by the old woman.

Now Nikki finally has a chance to jump start her career. I'm making the bold assumption that Nikki is a method actor and most of my theory is based around that. A few times in the film, she asks people if they recognize her. She is kinda asking them whether or not she is in character. Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that the entire movie is about Nikki trying to become her character, Susan. She gets so caught up in her character that she starts confusing her life with Susan's. For example, Susan has an affair with Billy - So, Nikki has an affair with Devon (the actor playing Billy). As the movie progresses, she goes from being rich to living on the street. This is supposed to show how she is changing from Nikki to her character. She is slowly becoming Susan and by the last scene in 'On High On Blue Tomorrows' (the scene where she dies next to the hobos) she is Susan. That is the defining moment because Susan dies in that scene and when Nikki wakes up she is dazed and confused, no longer struggling to be Susan.

While Nikki is making this transformation into Susan, she is confronted by a group of women who make the same gradual changes that Nikki does. A lot of the time, Nikki is just watching them interact which makes me think she is studying them. These women each represent a different persona of who Nikki imagines Susan to be. I can't think of any better way to word it. Nikki is creating the character of Susan and those women are her different depictions of Susan. They run away when Nikki has "found" Susan.

Back to what happens after the scene where Susan dies. It is revealed that she is still on the set of the movie. Now Nikki is starting to come out of the premonition but before she can do that, she has to face her fears. Her fear is that her acting career is over and she'll end up on the streets just like Susan. She goes into a movie theater and sees herself on the screen. This sort of represents what she wants - to be on screen in movies. She then faces some guy... the movie was so confusing that I don't remember who that guy was but I'm sure he is of some significance. She shoots the man, but his face is replaced by hers. Symbolic in a way. Then she comes to room 47. Earlier in the movie it is mentioned that the number 47 was considered bad luck and was the original title of 'On High On Blue Tomorrows'. When I searched "47" on Wikipedia I found some interesting information:

"47 has been the favorite number of Pomona College, California, since 1964. A mathematical proof, written in 1964, supposedly demonstrates that all numbers are equal to 47."

Pomona is a part of greater LA that the hobo women talk about during the death scene. Coincidence? So Susan walks through this door and finally faces her demons (the rabbits). The rabbits are like a sitcom. Perhaps because Nikki is afraid that she will end up acting in a crappy television show instead of in movies? That's dumb, I know. Then some more crazy stuff happens and the premonition ends. She returns to where she started, facing the old woman and then it cuts to her sitting on the sofa across the room alone. Earlier the old woman said that Nikki would be on that sofa tomorrow. Anytime I see a character interact with a sofa in the movie I associate it with tomorrow. In the premonition, Nikki is on the sofa with friends. She gets a call from her agent telling her she got the job playing Susan on 'On High On Blue Tomorrows'. But at the end of the movie, she is sitting alone and she doesn't get the part but she isn't too upset about it because after having the premonition she has already faced the fear that she wouldn't. There is still a lot that I can't explain, but I don't think anyone has everything figured out. What's your theory?

That's a Wrap!

For those of you who are new followers of my film blog, let me first say welcome to the Reel World! Furthermore I feel that I should get everyone up to date on what is happening so that we're all on the same page. On December 27th, 2009 I found out about the Cedar Rapids Film Festival. It was allowing student submissions and I saw this as an opportunity to send in a short film of my own so I can possibly gain a bit of attention. The only problem was that there were no films that I've made which I saw fit for the festival. So I came up with what was a fun idea. I would make a movie before the film festival's entry deadline, January 30th! It hasn't been such a fun idea. It sort of reminds me of that time I went on an all day bike ride across central Iowa - A horrible experience full of frustration, pain and stress, but after it is over I'm glad that I can say I did it.

First, I had to write the screenplay. I went through a hundred original ideas before concluding that I'd be making another scifi alien epic. It is almost exactly like 'Probed' (an alien film I made for a digital graphics project in high school) so the idea isn't really original... at all. However, I saw many advantages to making another alien movie instead of trying for something a little more serious. I knew I would be able to make it because I've made one before. If I had more than a month to write, shoot, edit and distribute this film then I would easily come up with something a little more original. The problem was that there wasn't time for experimenting. The other advantage was I'd have an opportunity to use more special effects. I can write a good screenplay, but not when I have a week to do so. Having the threat of a poor plot ruining my film, the best thing to do was to pull a Lucas and cover it all up with special effects. Yes, they are cheesy! But give me a break, it has been a long month. I spent a few nights staying up till 4am working on the screenplay before scrapping everything I'd written to write something more simple the night before shooting. The original drafts of the screenplay involved too many flashbacks and I was afraid that the audience wouldn't be able to follow along. I also found out that my boyfriend, Stephen Hueholt, would be coming to the shoot so I'd have an extra actor.

The shoot was even more tedious than the screenwriting. We had one day to film the entire thing. It was so freezing cold out that we had to shoot the twenty second outdoor scene in three segments so that we could go inside to warm up. I'm usually very cranky when I'm directing, but I was especially testy because I hadn't eaten and I probably yelled at Matt James after every take, even if he hadn't done anything wrong. You'll have the opportunity to see some behind the scenes stuff on the EPK when/if it is released.

Finally, editing. I just finished editing about an hour ago and it is rendering now. Editing is never a challenge for me, even though this time I had time restraints and a lot of special effects that I've never done before. Little did I know, Adobe Premiere Elements 7 - which I've always loved working with - would decide that on this particular movie it would completely f*** me over. I'm not one who enjoys cursing (if you consider that a curse) but really... come on... really? Adobe Premiere, you have been so loyal to me and now you decide to make my life so hard. Here are the issues I've had this month and just this month: It has frozen on me four times which forced me to shut down and do all my unsaved work over. It unsynced the sound and video in a portion of the raw footage. The footage does not look like it is in HD even though I shot the film with an HD camera. It alleged that half of my already edited media was "offline" and the only way to fix this was by going to each and every cut, moving the media in the viewfinder and pressing Undo... none of which made sense. If the media was actually offline, it would have meant that the original file was missing or corrupted. Also, when I played certain scenes back, it went really slow or would skip the scene entirely. In other words, playback is a b****. The best thing about the editing was the music. Thanks to Rob Rodgers, who I describe more in depth in the previous blog post, I had an original track which he composed and recorded in under a week while he was on vacation. Amazing!

So with another hour of rendering to go, the movie will be finished unless I see some mistake that must be changed immediately. I just sent in my application and payment to the Cedar Rapids Film Festival. If nothing else, I'll at least get a t-shirt out of this deal. As soon as I'm able to share 'Xenophobic' and the EPK online, I'll have it up on my blog first thing! Hope you check it out. Peace.

Screenplay Done, Let's Start Shooting!

Twenty-six days to go before the film festival deadline and we're already starting production on the untitled alien 'epic'. For the past couple nights, I've stayed up until 5am working on the screenplay. Each night the script just got more complicated. Too many confusing flashbacks which wasn't worth how unimpressive the twist at the end is. So, knowing that today I'd be shooting the actual movie, I spent last night rewriting the screenplay and came up something a little less confusing but not as epic. Keep in mind, I'm still writing the 'Darkness Around the Sun' screenplay and I have to juggle between writing that and this.

Today, we are shooting the entire movie. It isn't very long but some of the shots are a big complicated. I plan on making an EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for my blog viewers. Basically, just a behind the scenes video but now that I'm doing film festivals I gotta use the correct jargon.

So, here is the screenplay, as promised. It is untitled, not proof read and probably hard to follow but I don't expect too many people to actually download it when they can just see the movie after it is released. Note: The characters in the screenplay are given the names Dillon and Tommy. In the actual short film, there won't be any names attached to the characters. That is just so the screenplay isn't as confusing as having 'Man 1' and 'Man 2'.

Download Screenplay