'Thunder Bay' teaser trailer, already!

To compete with the recently released 'Dark Knight Rising' trailer.

ATTACK of the ALIENS from OUTER SPACE!

The showcase was a big success. In case you missed it, here is my film 'ATTACK of the ALIENS from OUTER SPACE!' A homage to classical 50s styles alien films, such as Ed Wood's 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' as well as references to more recent films like '2001: A Space Odyssey' and 'Independence Day'. Shot on 16mm film with a Bolex. Laugh and enjoy.

16mm Class Showcase on December 15th

Come to the Material of 16mm Film Class Showcase on December 15th, 7pm, at the Samuel L. Becker Building, University of Iowa. My class is premiering their 16mm films and would love an audience. Join the Facebook Event for more info.

The Next Ed Wood

I'm working on my 16mm project for my film class final. It's called 'Attack of the Aliens from Outer Space'. It's a stereotypical 50s style alien invasion film. Almost finished shooting it so I can send it off for expensive processing. Then I'll edit it digitally. Expect it in December!

Weather

It is hard to predict. Luckily I have an iPhone that informed me that today would be possibly the last nice day of the year. Rob Tracy is graduating in December and he is supposed to be in a scene that takes place on a sunny day. So I jumped on my phone and got him and Austin to agree to do a last minute shoot. It wasn't easy. We had to do Rob's make-up and liquid latex work in the mall, then run to the river to shoot their scene together. Aside from the horrible wind, it turned out quite well.

Now in Production

Saturday was the first day of production for the film 'Thunder Bay'. Half of the scenes for the future subplot were shot and completed, Demetrios Hadjis (as future Gavin) and Seth Miller (as Scott) were the actors involved. All-in-all the shoot went very well. We shot at a house in Cedar Rapids. This was my first time working with the Canon Rebel T3i and we ran into some trouble with the SD card and had to purchase a new one. Another $60 down the hole. The sound quality is also pretty poor so the rest of the film will be shot on sync sound which is sad because that's a lot of extra work for production and post-production. Let me recap what this project is about:

'Thunder Bay' is a drama film directed by Zachary Hayes and Austin Mooney. The story takes place in three different time periods, the past (1 year ago), the present, and the future (40 years later). The idea is that the periods in time interact with each other both metaphorically and literally. The characters are haunted by their memories, but in a very surreal way they also interact with their past or future selves.

The past: One year ago in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario; to pay off his med school bills, Gavin starts a meth lab with his friend, Ronnie, and by mistake blows the lab up. On the run from both the police and his friend, Gavin takes refuge in his brother's apartment. Simultaneously, Tyler is dealing with his friend, Maddy's, addiction to heroin. Maddy contracts HIV from an unclean heroin needle and commits suicide, prompting Tyler to run away from his problems and accusing parents. Tyler comes across Aiden being beat up in an alley by thugs he owes money to. To save Aiden, Tyler pays off Aiden's debts and in return Aiden lets Tyler sleep on his sofa.

The present: Tyler meets Aiden's dealer, Gavin, who gives Tyler company while Aiden is off on a "date". Gavin introduces Tyler to a drug that takes them into a fantasy world. Together they explore the limitless possibilities of this lucid dream-scape. Aiden is arrested for using a fake ID that by chance belonged to a wanted felon, and Gavin and Tyler are forced to get him from the police station. This experience sparks a friendship between the two and Tyler moves in with Gavin while Gavin's brother is off protesting The Conscription Crisis. Incidentally, Tyler begins to get sick and Gavin, fearing the consequences of taking Tyler to a doctor, offers to take care of him. 

During a high, Tyler and Gavin discuss what time is and conclude that time is a perception based phenomenon entierly reliant on the mind's ability to retain memory. This concept is exemplified throughout the film. As Tyler gets sicker, Gavin is forced to lie to Tyler to keep Tyler from wanting to see a doctor. Then, when Gavin finds out his old friend Ronnie was released from prison. Fearing that Ronnie is out for revenge, Gavin and Aiden plan to run away but are unsure of how to handle the Tyler situation. Tyler, as he gets sicker, uses the mystery drug to retreat to the fantasy world where he is not sick. But it does not save him from how fatal his illness really is.

The future: Gavin, now 40 years older, discovers that he has a brain tumor that costs him all of his memories from before a month prior. Fearing that he will die without any recollection of his past, and feeling that he "was born an old man, about to die from cancer", Gavin and his son go on a quest to uncover his past. Here he makes amends with mistakes he'd forgotten about.

A Mote of Dust

I made this for two reasons, besides wanting to get the message out there. To test my Canon T3i (I just got a T3i for my 21st birthday!) in darkness before 'Thunder Bay' goes into production' later this week, and to test my "space helmet" which will be used in my 16mm 50's style alien flick.

Music: Us & Them as made famous by Pink Floyd
Narration: Carl Sagan "Pale Blue Dot"
Found footage attributed their respectable sources and used without permission, ah ha!

Please watch and comment!

A Recording of a Recording

Here is a recording of the showing of my Project 1 dream sequence. Shot with a 16mm Bolex, edited in camera (i.e. no editing, was shot in order, 1 take per scene), a few underexposed shots. Turned out a lot better than I imagined. Especially the stop-motion. A few scenes are underexposed, but I expected worse and, hey, this is my first time lighting actual film. Enjoy.

16mm Dream Sequence

You know what's really scary? Besides the photo on the right, I mean. Shooting on film. This semester I'm taking a class on 16mm filmmaking and we just did our first project with the Bolex. First off, you have to lock yourself in a dark closet (which brought back frightening memories) and load the film reel completely blind. You won't know for sure whether you filled it correctly until you're done shooting and there are a number of things that can go wrong. Then you have to worry about closing the diopter, opening the fade switch thingy variable shutter lever, cleaning the trap, cleaning the lense, covering the filter slot, winding the damn thing... failing to do any of these things could ruin the film (which, btw, we have to edit in-camera). After that, all you have to do is light the scene with an impossible amount of light, meter the light, figure out the f-stops, measure for focus, focus, and shoot. Did the shot turn out? You'll find out next week. That's 16mm filmmaking.

The most fun part is not knowing for sure when you run out of film. It tells you how many feet of film you've run through, but I'm not sure I trust it! Hopefully, the reel didn't end prematurly. I wouldn't want my setup for the end credits, pictured below, to go in vain.

The purpose of this project was to shoot a dream sequence and my partner was Terry, who will likely be the Director of Photography on my drug film, so he at least had an idea of what he was doing.

What did I learn? I learned to love digital. There isn't as much payoff for success, but success is at least obtainable. I also learned that film is stored in refrigerators and sock drawers. I'm sure my roommate enjoys having to push my stacks of film aside to reach the milk.

Back in Iowa City.

Another Trailer? Where's the Movie!?

Here is the short version of the 'Finding Genesis' movie trailer. The longer version may be coming soon, hopefully followed by the film itself.

Ten Points Deducted - 48 Hour Film Project

Here is our 48 Hour Film Project entry, 'Ten Points Deducted'. I can't say it won anything but it got a lot of laughs at Fleur Cinema during the festival and that's what's most important to me.

Wholesome. Nutty. Fruity. Team Trail Mix.

When my High School friend, Laura Fast, asked me if I was interested in starting a team for the Des Moines 48 Hour Film Project, I said "No I'm not a fucking psycho!" "Yes". And so, I began to help her put together a team of what turned out to be five people, together we were Team Trail Mix. Laura, Summer, Brent, Shawn, and myself kicked off  on Friday, July 29th, and the 48 hours began at 7pm. Now, 56 hours later, I just woke up from my well deserved nap. But let me back up...

Friday, as soon as we got our genre, required prop, character and line of dialogue, we jumped right into writing and spent that entire day working out the story.

Here are the requirements:

Genre: Coming of age.

Prop: Marshmallow(s).

Character: Kelly/Kelli McBride the teacher.

Line of dialogue: "Open the door."

We finished the script at midnight, narrowing the story down to a funny story about getting one's license being the first step to becoming a man. The next day was spent shooting from 9am to 6pm. I only got an hour of sleep the previous night so I was a bit groggy but as soon as we were out and about that went away. After shooting, I had to take that footage and narrow it down to 4-7 minutes, the hardest part about the entire weekend. I stayed up the next night to edit and it was done right on time the next day when we rushed it to the finish line. Made it! I'm not allowed to put online until after the judging and screening, so since you're so excited to see what we came up with, you'll just have to wait.

Next week I'm on the set of Shawn's film, 'Claddagh'.

You've Got Production Office

From the making of 'Finding Genesis' I learned that passing along information can be tedious. So, for the currently untitled film, I have created an online production office using facebook groups. Now our crew and actors have access to all the information they want, and only the information they want, so I can shorten emails to just what they need. Here is how the PO describes itself:

"As far as I'm concerned, this is the first online production office. The purpose of this group is to facilitate documents, schedules, and information about any Fall semester film projects being produced by our growing circle of University of Iowa film majors. If you have important information that you need a member to see immediately, contact them directly because it is unlikely that everybody will check in on this group regularly. This group should instead be regarded as a primary source and reference that one can be directed to for information on "current projects", scheduling reminders, and a forum for informal discussion.


This group is for active participants in "current projects", but does not require active participation in this group as long as you have it as a reference.

What are "current projects"?

Current projects are currently in the idea phase. The one project that is in later phases of pre-production is a film we'll just call The Untitled. Please browse the group's Docs for more information on this project, as it is likely that you were invited to this group for the sole purpose of working on it specifically (as either actor, crew, or both).

It will be beneficial for you to familiarize yourself with the calendar and Docs."

Among the things I've posted is the first draft to 'The Untitled'. You can read it here, or you can wait until the film's release and avoid spoiling the ending. Otherwise, here is the description of the film similar to the one I posted earlier. It is the same description posted on our online PO.

"What is time? This question is not only thoroughly explored in the film, but explained--leaving it up to the audience to decide whether they can accept the answer. This postmodern film, 'The Untitled' which has been called by many titles including 'A Dog Named Trixie', is a story of two college-age boys living in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Tyler, a naive and innocent runaway, is introduced to a magical drug-induced fantasy world by an intelligent, witty, non-stereotypical drug dealer named Gavin. Together they explore the boundaries of controlling perception over time, unaware of the severity of Tyler's illness and the little time he may have left.


This film is about time, friendship, forgiveness, and most importantly--how our lives are shaped by memories. The story unfolds non-linearly, switching between the present, recent past, and 40 years in the future. But, even with four decades between them, moments of the past and future interact in an original way that has never been done on film before."

I realize that when I type I sometimes sound like an ass pretentious.

The Dark Knight Rises Goes Viral

I was so excited to see the teaser to 'The Dark Knight Rises' that premiered with the new Harry Potter. I've been following updates on Christopher Nolan's third, and final, Batman movie since seeing 'The Dark Knight'. So if you haven't seen it, here it is. Don't worry about it spoiling anything, half of it is reused footage from the past films. Comes out in one year, I'm waiting at the theater already.

It Has to Involve Drugs

'Finding Genesis' hasn't been released yet, but I've already come out with the next film project that I've been secretly working on for the past couple months. Inspiration started for this untitled piece around the first few weeks of summer when I decided a few things had to be true about my next film.

• It has to involve drugs, but not necessarily be about drugs.
• The time-line has to be out of order, i.e. Quentin Tarantino.
• Random stuff has to happen that doesn't push the story forward. 
• It has to take place in Canada.

And one night, as I lie awake at 4am, it hit me. But I can't explain without spoiling the entire film, so I'll tell you what I can.

With the running title, 'The Untitled', the story follows two college-aged boys living in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The innocent and preppy Tyler meets intuitive, non-stereotypical drug dealer Gavin who introduces Tyler into a drug induced fantasy world where anything is possible. The premise: "what is time?" This question is not only thoroughly explored in the film, but explained, leaving it up to the audience to decide whether they can accept the answer. Although the film is not as random as a Tarantino flick, there is a past, present and future that are revealed out of order as the characters learn more about each other. The first draft of the screenplay is completed. The actors have been contacted. All that's left to do is start shooting. Here is the up-to-date credits list.


Crew

Producer/Writer/Director: Zachary Hayes

Assistant Director: Austin Mooney

Director of Photography: Terry Quinn

Unit Production Manager: Ryan Shenefelt

Canadian Culture & Lifestyle Supervisor: Taryn Spitzer

Music: Michele McLaughlin

Graphic Designer: Patrick Crowley


Cast

Gavin: Austin Mooney

Gavin (Present): Demetri Hadjis
Tyler: Zachary Hayes

Aiden: Brain Healy

Ronnie: Rob Tracy 

Xuan: Kim Cooper

Maddy: Joshua Preston 

Scott: Seth Miller

Chloe: This roll has not been casted.

Extras

EMTs (2)
1st: Derek Tracy
2nd: Not been casted.

Police Officer: Not been casted.

Unnamed friends (2)
1st: Not been casted.
2nd: Not been casted.

Druggie (2)
1st: Not been casted.
2nd: Not been casted.

Finally, Special Effects

While editing scene after scene of stagnant dialogue is reeeaaaalllllllyyy fun, I decided to skip to the scenes in 'Finding Genesis' that I was most excited about--the special effect scenes! Here is a vague tutorial on one way to make a crater like the one in 'Finding Genesis' (spoiler alert?).

Step 1: Record a field. If you're insane, don't put the camera on a tripod.

Step 2: Make the crater. But have your local water company mark the pipes first.

Step 3: Composite. Blend the crater using smoke and fire. If you don't have smoke and fire, go out and buy matches and lighter fluid. Start a small fire in your basement and go outside. Wait until the house burns down, then use the insurance money to purchase one of many online pre-keyed element packs which include smoke and fire, and After Effects!

4. With some finishing touches, your crater is ready and looks just like mine! I'll see you in court.

Finding Genesis teaser trailer

Was up all night animating this. Also have to get my money's worth out of the soundtrack. Enjoy.



An astronomer struggles to afford his fiance's life support when he discovers a message from an extraterrestrial intelligence. Starring Austin Mooney, Rob Tracy, & Joshua Preston.

Below the Line

With two years left of school, the looming question for me is: what's next? Go on to grad school, or immerse myself in the industry. The latter can be pretty dangerous if you don't know what the f**k you're doing, and the former can waste time and money. While it doesn't hurt to have a good reel of student films, it won't help you get into the DGA. For that, you need to start off as a Production Assistant and work your way up the ladder. How else are you going to learn what a lockup is or how to read a call sheet and fill out an Exhibit G? (Maybe by buying and reading THIS BOOK). They are certainly not teaching us that at school. So, thinking realistically, I should balance my own projects with finding opportunities to build a good resume. Anything that will make it easier for me to get that first PA job. The catch 22 is, you typically need PA experience to be hired as a PA. So, as of where I am, the best thing I can do is be involved in the works of grad students.

I jumped at the opportunity to work on the set of my former screenwriting TA, Avi Michaels, who is directing a project he wrote called 'The Whistleblower'. This was a great start. I learned a lot, got hands-on experience, and worked 14 hour days with 4 hours to sleep in-between. Our crafty was all vegan, so I got a taste for all the foods I love except made of beans. I've never felt healthier. Hell, even the apples were made of beans. Most importantly, I met a lot of new awesome people at and above my level who I hope will be future contacts. Networking and experience are worth more than a paycheck until I get my first "professional" gig. I'm not really sure how I would define "professional", since we did everything as professionally as possible in this production.

Thanks to Ryan and Turk for letting me crash at their place this past week, my mom for letting me use her car, and all the people involved in the production!

Save The Date!

Here is the time and date that my film, 'Waiting for Eternity', will be shown at the Interrobang Film Festival (Des Moines Art Festival). Friday, June 24th; 5:00 in Room 2. It will be the third of three short films being shown at that time. I hope to see you there! If you can't make it, watch it online here.

Here is the trailer I don't think I ever posted:

Production Stills

Here are a few of my favorite production stills from 'Finding Genesis'. Click them to enlarge the photo.

  

See My Film at the Des Moines Art Festival [June 24th-26th]

Hey everybody, come see my film 'Waiting for Eternity' at the Des Moines Art Festival. I don't know when my film will be shown exactly, but I will hopefully find out soon. I can tell you that the art festival is between June 24th and the 26th in downtown Des Moines. My film will be part of the Interrobang Film Festival. Here is a promotional video that they asked me to share:

'Finding Genesis' Poster

Here is the first poster to promote 'Finding Genesis' which we will finish shooting Monday, May 9th. It is scheduled for release this summer!

The American Racial Hierarchy in Contemporary Cinema

First year critical theory class, please give me a break!

            'The Blind Side' is a 2009 film written and directed by John Lee Hancock that was nominated for an Academy Award for being an inspirational movie following the true story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) and his adopted family. Michael Oher is now an NFL football player with the Baltimore Ravens, but at the age of seventeen he was barely educated and lived, homeless, in the Memphis ghettos. Given the circumstances he is born to and the fact that he is African American, Michael Oher would be considered a hopeless youth with no contributable niche to society whatsoever. That is until on one November night when the Tuohy family by some fortune encounters Michael on the rainy street with no place to sleep; Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) offers Michael their sofa for the night. The Touhy's are a typical white, upper class, Christian family and huge fans of football. Michael slowly becomes a member of the Touhy family. They feed him, clothe him, give him his own bedroom and eventually adopt him. Most importantly, they care enough about his well-being to help improve his grades and get him on the school's football team. There he finds his niche, and by graduation, just about every College University wants to give him a scholarship to play for their school. Leigh Anne is there every step of the way to couch him and give Michael everything he needs. Thanks to the Touhy's, Michael Oher is saved from poverty to become a wealthy and successful member of a white family.

            Michael Oher's story is touching and miraculous, and the movie is meant to demonstrate the beauty and what can be overcome with racial harmony. However, after giving the premise of 'The Blind Side' some exploratory thought, there is something deeply troubling about this film. Troubling, because it is not a story about a young black boy who overcomes poverty, but rather about a white family who intervenes and becomes a black boy's only means of escape from poverty. 'The Blind Side' relies heavily on race/class stereotypes, even given that it is based on a true story, so the question remains: Why is this the feel-good story that we take pleasure in being told? This trend of narrative where the white man becomes the black man's only hope for escape from their "inferior culture" is reflected frequently in modern cinema. Notable examples include 'Freedom Writers' (Richard LaGravenese, 2007) and 'The Soloist' (Joe Wright, 2009). Since the filming of Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird' (Robert Mulligan, 1962), it has been a popular notion, and cultural trend, that white culture can redeem itself for over 200 years of slavery and the ongoing racism in America by displaying the hero in the cinematic apparatus as being selfless and moral by saving the African Americans from themselves.

            In her essay, 'Feeling in the Dark: Empathy, Whiteness, and Miscege-nation in Monster's Ball', Aimee Carrillo Rowe analysis the film 'Monster's Ball' (Marc Forster, 2001) similarly. 'Monster's Ball' has been celebrated for becoming the benchmark of racial tolerance in cinema. In this film, Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), a discontented racist, has by midway through the film given up on life until encountering Leticia (Halle Barry), a black woman living in poverty. After a love affair with Leticia ensues, Hank learns the error of his ways and undergoes change. When Leticia is evicted from her house, Hank offers that she move in with him and buys her a car and gas station. In other words, as Rowe argues, Hank seeks redemption for having been a racist through miscegeny and by saving Leticia from poverty. The racist, white supremacist is treated as being a victim himself of a discriminatory trait over which he has no control. However, despite his wrongs, the white man is still treated as being racially superior because by rescuing the subordinate African American from poverty, he is both showing that he is superior and proving that he is worthy of that superiority. "The nation as an imagined community governed by particular ideologies, practices, and legislative norms, provides the condition of possibility through which rights and wrongs are rendered intelligible," (Rowe, 124) so given that the power over whether racial discrimination is right or wrong lies with the nation controlled by the white man, he redeems himself as being a self proclaimed, justified superior capable of balancing past failings. The African American subculture has no say over the effect of the reparation and is continually treated as being inferior, and a nuisance.

            This American racial hierarchy is similar to the theory of Orientalism. C. Edward Said describes the history of Orientalism as beginning when Europeans first came across eastern cultures, the orient. These eastern cultures were considerably less developed relative to the Europeans, so they were considered uncivilized. This attitude has carried on to today when eastern cultures are often viewed as exotic. Arabs, for example, are considered an uncivilized culture and their religion, Islam, is violent and wrong. Cinema has played a key role in shaping Orientalism. Shohat and Stam theorize on how Imperial Imaginary, the illusion of a racial hierarchy, in films has naturalized western European countries as being dominant over the east. Films like ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (Spielberg 1984) follow the western European hero who arrives in an eastern country where the uncivilized natives need the help of the white hero. Take this concept and apply it to African American culture. Everything about their culture in America is considered wrong, such as the status of where they live, how they talk, dress, and walk—all characterized as uncivilized. They are the Other, and therefore substandard or in need of change.

            The Imperial Imaginary is evident in 'The Blind Side' even though the film is meant to show racial harmony. The Touhys are meant to represent the perfect family; white, very Christian, very conservative, athletically involved, and wealthy. Even the atheist, democrat tutor they hire is made to be apologetic for her beliefs and submissive to the Touhys' implied dominance. Being the superior, the Touhys might subconsciously feel obligated to earn their status and do so by using Michael Oher as an object of redemption. In one scene, Leah Anne Touhy is confronted by her clan of rich, white girl friends who fear that Michael might take advantage of Leah Anne's daughter. Leah Anne is disgusted that they would even suggest that because it is an extremely racist and prejudice thing to say. This scene almost counteracts the idea that this film misrepresents African American culture, until later in the film when Michael runs away and returns to the ghetto. There, his friends, who are stereotypical black hoodlums, ask Michael whether or not he "tapped that", i.e. raped Leah Anne's daughter. This scene is by far the most morally repugnant in the entire film because it implies that black men do in fact rape white girls, unless they have been rescued from African American culture by a white family.

            This kind of attitude is not only present in films, but alternate modes of media as well—including video games. Paul Barrett discusses critical race theory applied to the video game, 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' (Rockstar Games 2008) in his thesis 'White Thumbs, Black Bodies: Race, Violence, and Neoliberal Fantasies in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'. One aspect that Barrett mentions is how the urban area in which the main character, CJ, lives offers no explanation for why the conditions are so terrible, why CJ's friends are unemployed and parentless,  and why one cannot walk down the street without being shot—which naturalizes these conditions as typical for African American lifestyle and without any alternative. "By disconnecting the poverty that San Andreas claims to represent from any historical context, the game, by default, reinforces the neoliberal line of an absolutely isolated sense of agency," (Barrett 101). This is exactly what movies like 'The Blind Side' are doing. The condition of the ghetto where Michael was raised is made to be the norm of African American culture. It is represented as a dangerous place full of bad black people, but the perfect white family who knows no wrongs can save the black children from this subsidiary culture. The entire premise of 'The Blind Side' is to make a white person feel obligated to save African American children because the white person seeks redemption for how African Americans are treated.

            Towards the end of 'The Blind Side', Leah Anne Touhy lists a number of young African American men along with a montage of news clippings of their ultimate demise. She says that each of these boys had something to offer the world, but they couldn't because they were killed, usually murdered by another black boy. What is she really saying? This is a call to action claiming that because these African Americans were not saved by a white person like herself, they were inevitably killed by their own culture. These racial binaries should not be acceptable in modern cinema because they only fuel the idea of a racial hierarchy. To change the power relations which produce discrimination between races, narratives like that of 'The Blind Side', whether true or fictional, should not be show cinematically. African Americans are not objects of redemption, they are human beings and their culture is just as valid as that of any other race.

Work Cited:

1. Barrett, Paul. "White Thumbs, Black Bodies: Race, Violence, and Neoliberal Fantasies in           Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas," The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural   Studies, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006. (pg. 95–119).

2. Carrillo Rowe, Aimee. "Feeling in the Dark: Empathy, Whiteness, and Miscege-nation in           Monster's Ball," Hypatia vol. 22. Aimee Carrillo Rowe, 2007. (pg. 122-142).

3. Said, C. Edward. Orientalism, 25th anniversary edition, New York: Vintage Books of Random House, 2003. [Original: 1978]. (pg. 1-26).

4. Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. "The Imperial Imaginary." Unthinking Eurocentrism:      Multiculturalism and the Media. London and New York: Routledge, 1994. (pg. 100-136)

Audio-Visuals:

1. The Blind Side. Dir. John Lee Hancock. Perf. Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron. Warner       Bros. 2009.

2. Freedom Writers. Dir. Richard LaGravenese. Perf. Hilary Swank and Patrick Dempsey.            Paramount Pictures. 2007.

3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Rockstar Games. 2008.

4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw. Paramount Pictures. 1984.

5. To Kill A Mockingbird. Dir. Robert Mulligan. Perf. Gregory Peck and Mary Badham.   Universal International Pictures. 1962.

6. Monster's Ball. Dir. Marc Forster. Perf. Billy Bob Thornton and Halley Berry. Lee Daniels        Entertainment. 2001.

7. The Soloist. Dir. Joe Wright. Jamie Foxx and Robert Downing Jr. Dreamworks. 2009.

"Award of Achievement"

This weekend I received the "Award of Achievement" for Student Production Long Form at the 2011 Iowa Motion Picture Awards. It was a great honor and I had a lot of fun attending the ceremony with my dad and meeting Iowa's best of the best filmmakers. I will definitely be seeking a nomination next year for 'Finding Genesis' if that turns out. Here is my handsome trophy! I put it up on the shelf next to the "Best Director" trophy my parents gave me when I was 12.

Iowa Motion Picture Award Nominee

That's right, 'Waiting for Eternity' was nominated for an Iowa Motion Picture Award, Student Production category. Hey, I'm a student, that's like an Oscar for me. I will be attending the ceremony on April 23rd, but however that goes, at least I know I'll be able to label my film with "Iowa Motion Picture Award Nominee/Winner" and that'll make me feel pretty accomplished. Especially after that damn Cedar Rapids Film Festival denied the hell out of me. Lazy "experimentalists".

In related news, I'm one of the IMPA's spotlight members. This isn't really a big deal, any IMPA member can achieve this, but I'd like to post what they sent out to all the other members since only members can read it. The information comes from a fancy questionnaire I filled out for them a while back.

Member Spotlight
Zachary Hayes
Where are you located?
Iowa City, a sophomore at the University of Iowa.

Provide a brief bio of yourself. Include both personal and professional.
My name is Zachary Hayes, I'm 20 years old and a student at the University of Iowa studying to become a filmmaker. Born and raised in Des Moines. My goal is to become a director of photography, though I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of the industry and feel I could be proficient almost anywhere else--so there is room for error and I'm still young. I currently work at City Channel 4 in Iowa City as a camera operator. While I'm always working on my own projects, I love being part of other filmmaker's projects as well.

List your credit highlights and/or area of work.
My "best" short so far is probably “Waiting for Eternity.” It's as cheesy as it sounds, a story about a vampire that falls in love with the corpse of his victim. Short, sweet, and trendy. Lots of visual effects. Besides the countless amateur shorts I've made since I was 11 years old, my other "professional" work would be the commercials I made for Affinity and a local bakery. Each won a contest, so that's good.

Why/how did you become involved in the motion picture industry? Where did you train/study?
I got my first camera when I was in elementary school and filmmaking has since been the only thing I'm interested in. I'm still studying at the University of Iowa and meeting a lot of great people here that share my passion.

What is your most satisfying professional achievement? Most embarrassing?
Conquering my fear of eating Ramen noodles and tuna for the rest of my life by attending film school. It was also satisfying winning a video contest for Affinity. Although looking back at that video, the quality is embarrassing!

Who/what are your greatest influences?
Peter Hedges is a big influence of mine because we both attended the same high school so I felt like I didn't have to be born in LA to be a filmmaker. Also my dad, although he probably wishes I'd become a doctor.

Why did you join the IMPA?
To network, stay informed and fill out questionnaires.

What's your favorite movie?
That's probably the hardest question I'm ever faced with; I'd have to say “Chaplin” starring Robert Downey Jr.

What are your interests outside the production world?
For the longest time, I had a comic strip called Hysteria Syndrome that was featured in a couple publications.

What would you be if you weren't working in production?
A magician.

What's something your film colleagues wouldn't know about you?
That I'm giving them deffered pay working on a film that probably won't make any money.

What's up next for you?
I'm making a movie with the working, maybe official, title “Finding Genesis.” It will be between 30 and 45 minutes, essentially about an alien race who come to Earth in search of "god." There will be explosions, romance, and an epic soundtrack. This is not a class project, but a lot of other Iowa students will be helping me out. I'm excited! You should be too.

Lights & More Testimonial

Here is a new sample of some of my professional work. I did this simple testimonial video for Lights & More in Urbandale, Iowa.

Day 1 of Production!

I made the executive decision to start production on 'Finding Genesis' yesterday (March 4th), with a pretty well drafted screenplay but only three months left to finish shooting. All scenes have to be shot by mid-may before we lose our primary locations and head home for the summer. We spent the entire day preparing and shooting a minute and a half scene, which was all we planned on shooting that day, but we did not plan on it taking from 4 to 10 PM. Problems arose when the neighbors decided that Friday night, in a college town, was the best night to play very loud music--how did we decide this was the best time to shoot? In the end, it went very well and we conquered all obstacles.

Rob Tracy

Rob Tracy is my assistant director. He will also be playing the deadbeat, drunken stepbrother--Hank. To keep his character real, we decided the best method would be to actually get him drunk. It's okay, he is over the legal drinking age. Him, along with a few cast members and production assistant, and I met in our Modes class (an introductory course to filmmaking at uIowa).

Austin Mooney

It is officially official that Austin Mooney--known for his comical acting in 'DEVIN! The Dick Prop Comic: A Life' which he also wrote and directed--will be playing the lead role of Ben in 'Finding Genesis'. This is good, because I had him in mind when I created his character. Next day of production won't be until after Spring Break.

'Finding Genesis' is Sci-Fi Drama about a young astronomer trying to get enough money to afford life support for his comatose fiancee. In the process, he uncovers a message from an extra terrestrial race who are searching the Universe for 'The Creator'.

Concept Art 'Finding Genesis'

Here is some concept art for the alien encounter scene in 'Finding Genesis'. This is what the alien figure is predicted to look like, although he will end up as less of a physical humanoid--as in made up of energy. There will be three of these glowing figures, each with "wings of light" and pitch black eyes. The screenplay describes them as angelic. The man in the lower right is the main character, Ben, played by Austin Mooney.

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Marxist and 'The Matrix'

'The Matrix', directed by the Wachowski broth-... the Wachowskis, is an ideal representation of the social construct proposed by Karl Marx. Marxism¹ describes our economic and socio-political build, how the struggle between classes historically brings social change, and calls for revolution from the proletariat. As citizens, we have a veil of false consciousness which blinds us from the true nature of our class with the belief that we can move upward to a higher class if we work hard and follow the system. Horkheimer and Adorno's similar ideologies are of dominance and social hierarchy being fueled by the industry that is culture. 'The Matrix' represents these ideologies metaphorically through its clever story telling.

The premise of 'The Matrix'² is that robots, in order to survive, harvest humans like batteries and have put them under a false consciousness to sustain them. This reflects how our increasingly mechanistic society is reliant on the proletariat doing their job as part of the system. For the system to work, the citizens must remain under this false consciousness otherwise they'll reject the oppression brought on by the dominant class (robots). The dominant class needs the proletariat to be falsely conscious so that they, the lower-class, aspire to the dominant class and view it as a good thing and as a necessity. If the proletariat were to come out of this zombie trance... well... let's just clarify that the word "Apocalypse" is Greek for "The Unveiling".

Revolution is what is required to have social change. Neo meets the group of enlightened revolutionists and they offer to unveil him. In the process of being awaken, Neo faces a mirror. A likely reference to Lecon's Mirror Stage. Neo sees himself as he is in the matrix. A representation of his ideal self. A split-subject. But he is soon awaken to the "real world", where he sees his real self for the first time after the veil of false consciousness is lifted. In the real world, the true nature of their oppressor is clear—power and control over the human race. To the humans of the real world the matrix is nothing more than binary characters encoded and decoded, like Hall's theory, onto a computer.

Cypher has a very important perspective on the situation. "Ignorance is bliss," he says. If we are falsely conscious, do we really want to be awaken? Is the truth better than the lie? If society is as it was before the robots took over, what is the issue? As sentient beings, we're not okay with being controlled. If we know about it, we can not just ignore it entirely. Cypher wanted to forget or to never have known the truth. Knowing is not enough to overcome the oppression. There has to be a successful revolution because until there is change, the citizens will reject or ignore the issue.

Agent Smith offers another key perspective. The original matrix was designed as a perfect world. Agent Smith explains that the citizens rejected the utopia matrix. They were unable to accept it as true, and as a result—entire crops of human battery power were lost. This is very much true in the real world. Humans have the capability and means of creating a utopian society, yet they haven't. Utopian socialism, as proposed by Marx, is an model that has yet been perfected. The aim is not necessarily to create the perfect society, but to create a rational social and economic system based mainly on socialism. It is possible that our false consciousness causes us to reject a perfect world because it is meant to blind us from what the world could be in addition to what the world is.

Horkheimer and Adorno³ say that the culture is like an industry producing goods which manipulate people into passivity. Popular cultural goods—like movies, music and most things media related—only contribute to the false consciousness of the proletariat because it makes them content with the difficulties of their economic situation. This need to feed into the culture industry, which supports and makes capitalism possible, replaces actual human needs like freedom, creativity and happiness in the subjects’ minds. Horkheimer and Adorno considered this a danger to fine arts, which today includes cinema. “Hollywood” cinema gives into the culture industry by producing films which only add to this veil.

It’s a bit of a contradiction to this idea that the Warner Bros. produced movie, ‘The Matrix’, should call this false consciousness to its audience’s attention. The film has a lot of elements of an independent film which gives it the essence of higher art cinema and not just an ordinary money-making blockbuster.

The Wachowskis also directed ‘V for Vendetta’ which directly places the blame for the oppression of the proletariat on its corrupt government, so it is safe to say that the Wachowskis speak out on cultural issues and the premise of ‘The Matrix’ being related to cultural constructs like Marxism is not just a coincidence. “Matrix” is even an anagram of the word “Marxist” minus the letter s. With references to Lecon, Hall, Horkheimer and Adorno—the film is a clear metaphorical expression of the Marxist ideology.

Sources:

1. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture, Marita Sturken & Lisa Cartwright. Oxford University Press; 2009.
2. The Matrix, The Wachowskis. Warner Bros. Studios, 1999.
3. Dialectic of Enlightenment, 'The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception', Horkheimer and Adorno. Frankfurt School, 1947.