Production Schedule

We don't have a lot of time for the actual production of our intro because of scheduling conflicts with my partner. We are cutting it very close to the actual deadline of the project, but truly have no other choice. This means we have to be fast and strategic about how we carry out our production day.

To facilitate the production process, I have created a brief outline for our production, and also a very detailed shot list. This will make production and post production a lot more efficient than just going in with a storyboard and crossing our fingers. We have a deadline to meet and we only really have one day to make sure we get everything done.

We are placing a lot of emphasis on rehearsals because from past experience I have realized that more extensive rehearsals yield better performances from actors.

In this shot list, I put something new that I have never tried which was implementing a column for takes. We can keep track of how many takes we did and circle our favorites, which will make editing a breeze.

Wait... how are we supposed to audition actors?

After posting our casting call, it was imperative that we choose people that could actually act, or it would defeat the purpose of even putting up a casting call.

We needed to audition the actors in some way, but I have no experience auditioning actors for a role that has no dialogue at all, so Andrea and I came up with a bit of an eliminatory process.

First, we switched the application requirements from just a headshot to also requiring an acting reel. This way we can see how experienced they are for the role.

Second, we needed to come up with a piece for them to send as their audition. After a bit of debate, we decided that it would be in our best interest to pick a scene from a different movie that displayed a certain amount of emotional vulnerability and physical anger.

After some searching and brainstorming, we chose a scene from Revolutionary Road. In this scene, Leonardo DiCaprio expresses his anger and frustration with his partner. He acts in an aggressive manner, but it is motivated by love for her and their unborn child.

The scene is a little too long for an audition so we narrowed it down to one page of the scene, which is this one...

Storyboarding

A rough storyboard we made for the script. In the future, I am looking to do a storyboard with photographs to get a better understanding of how the intro will piece together because I am not a very talented drawer.

Getting Actors

Our film opening requires the participation of two actors. Given the violent and twisted nature of the piece, we understood that getting any friends or family to act would be difficult, so we decided to turn to a very helpful resource for finding actors called Backstage.com.

I have posted casting calls on here before for past projects and it has worked out pretty well. Most of the submissions are not very good, but there are always one or two hidden gems who are very talented and committed.

By posting a casting call and using aspiring actors in our film, we can ensure that the people on screen are motivated and have a certain degree of understanding in the craft.

The casting calls can get a little pricey for high school students but I found a coupon online that gave us 50% off, which made the price very manageable.

After making an account, we filled out a casting call sheet that asked for a description of the project and the details of production.

We also had to give descriptions for the characters and the kind of people we were looking for.

Overall, Backstage.com is a great resource for filmmakers and actors alike. Despite living in area where there isn't a big film or theater presence, we still are given access to great talent.

Coming up with a Title.

Now that the script is done, we have to actually come up wth a title. A perfect title is integral to selling a film because it needs to be either short and cool like Inception or Memento, or it can be long and poetic like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

A lot of the very popular films within the realm of our genre, psychological thriller or slasher films, usually have very short one-or-two-word titles, for example...

• Split
• American Psycho
• Taxi Driver
• Zodiac 
• Saw
• The Machinist
• Shutter Island

One of the most notable exceptions being...

The Silence of the Lambs

I prefer the longer more poetic names that have a lot of deep meaning. I find them more intriguing, despite most of the movies within this genre being more succinct.

"When We Keep Silent"

We decided to pull our title from a poem written by Stéphane Mallarmé. This poem was originally written in French and I understand that a lot of the original meaning may have gotten lost in translation, but the english version spoke to me.

Although this is just one stanza, the whole poem touches upon the fact that we can never understand ourselves and the world around us because there is nothing is ever truly understandable. Every aspect of life has so much complexity that it makes it impossible. This ties to the theme of blurring the line between good and bad because it is so hard to find reason behind the actions of Trevor and also the actions of everyone else in the film, including the politician.

Aside from being an interesting title by itself, it carries a lot of weight because it is open to many more interpretations. 

I WROTE A SCRIPT! (New and Improved)

So after creating the plot for the movie and identifying intentions for the whole movie, we were able to piece together a script that is a better representation of our goals.

This introduction is a huge improvement from the last one because it is a lot shorter and plausible, but it also introduces the movie revealing themes and foreshadowing.

QUICK SUMMARY: Trevor Mazzini is in his bathroom doing his business when the shower curtain ruffles next to him. Inside the shower is a bloodied person tied to the faucet. Instead of harming him, Trevor shares an intimate moment with his hostage. The guy calms down a little bit, and then Trevor realizes he can't really keep him in here forever and then kills him.

This is a lot better because it introduces the character and his personality: an empathetic killer. It is clear Trevor cares about the guy, but his violent tendencies make him act in a horrendously immoral way. This feeds into our theme of blurring the lines between good and bad. 

A Plot and a Theme Walk into a Bar...

Although it is not required to create a complete plot for the film since we will only be creating an opening, I think creating a more intricate plot and developing themes for the movie is going to make the opening more purposeful and realistic. In this way it will flow better into the story that will (unfortunately) never actually be developed into a feature.

LOGLINE: During the height of the Vietnam war, A lonely projectionist with extremely violent behaviors falls in love with and kills the daughter of a prominent politician. Believed to be a politically motivated act, the projectionist is placed at the mercy of a fearful and unforgiving government and public.

The idea of a lonely projectionist losing his mind is a pretty interesting concept because it is someone who sits in a dark room all day and watching the same movies over and over again. He is consistently exposed to movies and media that are glamorized representations of reality. Movies can glamorize love and romance, but also can glamorize violence. When the majority of your life is spent looking at the world through a movie screen, your world view is definitely shifted.

He envies the people in the movies, desperately wanting to have the amount of human connection as they do.

This is more symbolic of the media we consume on a daily basis.  If somebody back in the 50's could go insane from just movies, then the amount of mental instability must be magnified in this day and age. Over consumption of media does not inherently lead to becoming a serial killer, but one could argue that it does have a profound effect on the human psyche.

Another theme that our movie touches upon is how we justify violence. The Cold War was a time of controversial wars for the United States, especially in Asia. Many believed it was the only way to protect a free and democratic world, while others saw them as pointless wars that were killing too many American soldiers.

Trevor and the politician both act as two different examples of this theme. Trevor is a deeply emotional guy who is just trying to seek affection from anyone that will give it to him, but he is also not able to cope with rejection and has a limited perspective on life, causing him to lash out in violent ways. It is almost as if he kills his victims out of love, not wanting to see them go from his life.

The politician is a strong supporter of the Korean War, which means he supports shipping off thousands of American soldiers to die in a war they cannot win.

Both of these men have a lot of blood on their hands. The only difference is that when Trevor is discovered to be a killer, it is hard for the public to understand and empathize with his motives.

WHY THIS MOVIE MATTERS:

Recently, a lot of movies that have come out in the last three or four years have been politically charged because of the extreme political movements happening around the world, particularly in the United States. These movies are highly popular and trendy, taking home the vast majority of the Academy awards the last couple of years, so we think by making a film that includes elements of the United States' political history, we are better able to connect with audiences of today. Some examples of some recent films with heavy political commentary are...