Wednesday, October 26, 2011

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.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

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!