This is my second short film starring the brilliant Pat O'connor and Jayson Valentin. This film was written, directed, filmed, and edited in one week. There are also no cuts in the entire 6 minute film.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Elwes Backstory
Elwes is 39 years old, and works for the parks department. He works in the woods and maintains the trails. Elwes writes on his own and occasionally his work gets published. He is the author of the book "Under the Pines" which is a novel about two mens obsession with murder. The main character believes less educated/wealthy people to be inferior. Not only are they useless but he holds himself and his friend to the highest esteem. He believes that people of their caliber (he and his friend) are dominant. Because of their supremacy, the weak can be slain as entertainment. This is the little game he plays with his friend, to see if he could murder someone and hide it amongst another person highly intellectual. If he succeeds he thinks there is no greater success. He thinks the best satisfaction is granted upon covering up the act, and not being caught.
He believes murder should only be reserved to the brilliant. An art reserved to them. A game played at the expense of the lesser. Yet, after doing the deed, he realizes the complete opposite. The complete lack of intellect it takes to kill someone. The primitive will ape like instinct you posses. Instead of feeling the ultimate satisfaction he begins to regress and feel worse about himself.
This story says a lot about Elwes, because he hates murder. The point of his novel is to point out the complete lack of respect a murderer has. The complete disregard of human life, and the narcissism and self-obsession. Elwes has complete disdain for any kind of murder, which is why at the end he makes such a change by killing chris.
He believes murder should only be reserved to the brilliant. An art reserved to them. A game played at the expense of the lesser. Yet, after doing the deed, he realizes the complete opposite. The complete lack of intellect it takes to kill someone. The primitive will ape like instinct you posses. Instead of feeling the ultimate satisfaction he begins to regress and feel worse about himself.
This story says a lot about Elwes, because he hates murder. The point of his novel is to point out the complete lack of respect a murderer has. The complete disregard of human life, and the narcissism and self-obsession. Elwes has complete disdain for any kind of murder, which is why at the end he makes such a change by killing chris.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
HINDSIGHT-Updated
V.O. (Elwes)
During a writing seminar once, the speaker looked deep into the audience and said: there are only two certainties in life: that we are going to die, and that we do not see ourselves as we are. I think that is incomplete. We do not see anything as it is. There may be evidence, but we can never see the complete picture. Only in hindsight is the truth revealed.
{Slow fade-in from black}
EXT. WOODS
Four bodies lie lifeless in a ditch within the woods.
One of the bodies starts to move.
Chris- [Panting] Where am I? [Hears rustling, one of the other bodies is moving]
Is someone there?
Elwes- [excrutiating] I think my leg is broken. [he leans up and winces in pain, it is apparent his neck hurts and he begins to rub it]
Chris- What happened, where are we?
Elwes- [looks up at the sky, and off to the trees, continues to rub neck] I'm trying to figure that out.
Chris- Do you remember how you got here?
Elwes- No [Pause] I took the train home, went to bed, and woke up here. You?
Chris- No, but i'm calling 9-1-1. [reaches into pocket for phone]
[Elwes's phone is right by his head, smashed and broken]
Elwes- mine's cracked.
[Chris feels something in his pocket and pulls it out, it is a bloody knife]
It work?
[Chris doesn't answer]
Elwes-hey, what's goin on over there?
[puts knife back in his pocket]
Chris- nothing, mine's cracked also.
[pause]
Elwes- What are you hiding?
[Chris avoids eye contact]
you gunna tell me or what?
Chris- ok [takes out the knife]
Elwes- Jesus Christ.
[looks at the bodies]
Chris- I didn't kill these people.
Elwes- your holding a bloody knife.
Chris- I know, but no one is bleeding.
Elwes- how do you know?
Chris- they're wearing white t-shirts I think we'd see some blood.
Elwes- ok, how'd they die then?
[Both look around at evidence, Elwes spies a piece of rope by Chris's body]
Strangled. [Elwes nods to rope by Chris's body]
[Chris picks up rope and looks at it, he has trouble with his mobility]
Chris- maybe, hey, help me up, we'll look at the bodies together.
Elwes- you look at him [points to furthest body] I'll look at this guy.
[They tend to the man closest to them, Elwes scans the victims body with his eyes then looks at Chris]
We're all dressed the same.
[Chris looks down at his shirt, it is not white]
Except you.
You know, I did an article on a killer who use to dress all his victims the same.
[Chris looks around for something to save him from this situation, he begins to stall with his words]
Chris-i never heard of that before [still looking around] So your a journalist huh?
[Elwes is sizing up the cliff, trying to get out of this pit]
Elwes- freelance, but I wrote a novel last year. "Under the Pines," it won a few awards.
Chris- oh, yea, i've read it. [sees something, begins moving toward it, still stalling] Good book.
Elwes- thanks. [Chris finds a t-shirt and jeans on the side, in a puddle of water, it is identical to everyone else's.]
Elwes- I apologize.
Chris-So that's what you do?
Elwes- Actually, I'm a park ranger, Part time.
Chris- oh yea? any idea where we are then?
Elwes-yea, that's the weird thing. I work, here. In Great Kills park.
Chris- yea that's pretty weird, wait, we're in a park called Great Kills?
Elwes- yea
Chris- your book, isn't it about a murder in the woods and the ironies of life?
Elwes- It's an allegory.
Chris-{this all should be said as if he is thinking and recalling, like answering a question in class} something doesn't fit, your protagonist was obsessed with irony and death. He thought murder should be reserved for the intellectually elite. That murder is an art, and only the supreme could parade it while still concealing it.
Elwes- That's what it was about on the surface, what I wanted was submersion, that's what my books is about, how you never can predict how your decisions will manifest themselves. The killer wound up feeling the exact opposite after he committed the murder.
Chris- You can use fancy terms all you want, but I still see the huge irony of murdering people and burying them in the very place you work, a place called Great Kills. Sounds like the "perfect crime."
Elwes- "The perfect crime" you would quote the last line of the book. [Sirens begin to wail in the distance]
Chris- I guess they'll decide.
Elwes- in my book, the killer uses a gun , none of these people have gunshot wounds, they were all strangled, and I think the rope has enough of your sweat and finger prints to incriminate you, I mean, plus the bloody knife in your pocket. That paired with my testimony and-
Chris- so your gunna rat me out huh? [Sirens wail even louder we can not hear what Chris says but he says it with much anger]
[tackles Elwes, they wrestle on the floor, Chris takes out his knife, they struggle, the sirens grow louder as they continue to wrestle. The knife loosens and Elwes takes it, and stabs Chris in the chest. Elwes falls to his back as the knife sticks out out of Chris's chest, Elwes takes giant panic breaths as he lies on his back]
Elwes- [speaks softly] It was a firetruck.
{The screen very slowly fades to black...this begins as Elwes falls to his back}
{The screen fades in from black and we see a newscaster standing where the two fought, except now they are gone}
Newscaster- Early this morning, 4 victims of a kidnapping were found. Three dead and one in critical condition. The kidnapper turned out to be a serial killer police have been chasing for several years. The victims were dumped here, in Great Kills Park. Apparently the last victim was semi-conscious and mortally wounded his kidnapper before being thrown down the hill. This kidnapper has been identified and linked to several other murders. After scouring the area, police found another six bodies, all dressed the same, this brings the killers death count to 40 over the past seven years.
During a writing seminar once, the speaker looked deep into the audience and said: there are only two certainties in life: that we are going to die, and that we do not see ourselves as we are. I think that is incomplete. We do not see anything as it is. There may be evidence, but we can never see the complete picture. Only in hindsight is the truth revealed.
{Slow fade-in from black}
EXT. WOODS
Four bodies lie lifeless in a ditch within the woods.
One of the bodies starts to move.
Chris- [Panting] Where am I? [Hears rustling, one of the other bodies is moving]
Is someone there?
Elwes- [excrutiating] I think my leg is broken. [he leans up and winces in pain, it is apparent his neck hurts and he begins to rub it]
Chris- What happened, where are we?
Elwes- [looks up at the sky, and off to the trees, continues to rub neck] I'm trying to figure that out.
Chris- Do you remember how you got here?
Elwes- No [Pause] I took the train home, went to bed, and woke up here. You?
Chris- No, but i'm calling 9-1-1. [reaches into pocket for phone]
[Elwes's phone is right by his head, smashed and broken]
Elwes- mine's cracked.
[Chris feels something in his pocket and pulls it out, it is a bloody knife]
It work?
[Chris doesn't answer]
Elwes-hey, what's goin on over there?
[puts knife back in his pocket]
Chris- nothing, mine's cracked also.
[pause]
Elwes- What are you hiding?
[Chris avoids eye contact]
you gunna tell me or what?
Chris- ok [takes out the knife]
Elwes- Jesus Christ.
[looks at the bodies]
Chris- I didn't kill these people.
Elwes- your holding a bloody knife.
Chris- I know, but no one is bleeding.
Elwes- how do you know?
Chris- they're wearing white t-shirts I think we'd see some blood.
Elwes- ok, how'd they die then?
[Both look around at evidence, Elwes spies a piece of rope by Chris's body]
Strangled. [Elwes nods to rope by Chris's body]
[Chris picks up rope and looks at it, he has trouble with his mobility]
Chris- maybe, hey, help me up, we'll look at the bodies together.
Elwes- you look at him [points to furthest body] I'll look at this guy.
[They tend to the man closest to them, Elwes scans the victims body with his eyes then looks at Chris]
We're all dressed the same.
[Chris looks down at his shirt, it is not white]
Except you.
You know, I did an article on a killer who use to dress all his victims the same.
[Chris looks around for something to save him from this situation, he begins to stall with his words]
Chris-i never heard of that before [still looking around] So your a journalist huh?
[Elwes is sizing up the cliff, trying to get out of this pit]
Elwes- freelance, but I wrote a novel last year. "Under the Pines," it won a few awards.
Chris- oh, yea, i've read it. [sees something, begins moving toward it, still stalling] Good book.
Elwes- thanks. [Chris finds a t-shirt and jeans on the side, in a puddle of water, it is identical to everyone else's.]
Elwes- I apologize.
Chris-So that's what you do?
Elwes- Actually, I'm a park ranger, Part time.
Chris- oh yea? any idea where we are then?
Elwes-yea, that's the weird thing. I work, here. In Great Kills park.
Chris- yea that's pretty weird, wait, we're in a park called Great Kills?
Elwes- yea
Chris- your book, isn't it about a murder in the woods and the ironies of life?
Elwes- It's an allegory.
Chris-{this all should be said as if he is thinking and recalling, like answering a question in class} something doesn't fit, your protagonist was obsessed with irony and death. He thought murder should be reserved for the intellectually elite. That murder is an art, and only the supreme could parade it while still concealing it.
Elwes- That's what it was about on the surface, what I wanted was submersion, that's what my books is about, how you never can predict how your decisions will manifest themselves. The killer wound up feeling the exact opposite after he committed the murder.
Chris- You can use fancy terms all you want, but I still see the huge irony of murdering people and burying them in the very place you work, a place called Great Kills. Sounds like the "perfect crime."
Elwes- "The perfect crime" you would quote the last line of the book. [Sirens begin to wail in the distance]
Chris- I guess they'll decide.
Elwes- in my book, the killer uses a gun , none of these people have gunshot wounds, they were all strangled, and I think the rope has enough of your sweat and finger prints to incriminate you, I mean, plus the bloody knife in your pocket. That paired with my testimony and-
Chris- so your gunna rat me out huh? [Sirens wail even louder we can not hear what Chris says but he says it with much anger]
[tackles Elwes, they wrestle on the floor, Chris takes out his knife, they struggle, the sirens grow louder as they continue to wrestle. The knife loosens and Elwes takes it, and stabs Chris in the chest. Elwes falls to his back as the knife sticks out out of Chris's chest, Elwes takes giant panic breaths as he lies on his back]
Elwes- [speaks softly] It was a firetruck.
{The screen very slowly fades to black...this begins as Elwes falls to his back}
{The screen fades in from black and we see a newscaster standing where the two fought, except now they are gone}
Newscaster- Early this morning, 4 victims of a kidnapping were found. Three dead and one in critical condition. The kidnapper turned out to be a serial killer police have been chasing for several years. The victims were dumped here, in Great Kills Park. Apparently the last victim was semi-conscious and mortally wounded his kidnapper before being thrown down the hill. This kidnapper has been identified and linked to several other murders. After scouring the area, police found another six bodies, all dressed the same, this brings the killers death count to 40 over the past seven years.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Todd and Dustin Standing (Left Side)
Todd on Left. Dustin on Right.
I was thinking this angle for when Dustin is speaking his lines.
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