A Formula For Mystery.

And again, the updates spread apart. Possible overtime at work and other concerns have unfortunately put the film on the backburner of my priorities over the past week or so. I do miss these blogs, I really do...but sometimes it's hard after a long day in the sun to want to do ANYTHING that requires thought. Which "Our Story" definitely does.

However, I am feeling particularly musey tonight, so I think I'll continue in the same direction as last time: off a cliff. I mentioned in the previous entry how I feel like stories with ambiguity are the best ones, but that too MUCH ambiguity leads to pretension and a messy feel that ends up being unsatisfying.

Granted, leaving open ends doesn't always work for everything: for example, a swashbuckling adventure story, say...I dunno, a fantasy novel like "The Lies of Locke Lamora." Stories like this are not about ideas; they are about characters, places, and events. Their focus is on the immediate. I think it's easy to label stories like this as shallow...but this is completely wrong.

I personally feel a story can succeed on several different levels:

1. Immediacy. These are elements that do not necessarily require thought to recognize and enjoy, but do require thought to truly appreciate. Well-constructed plot twists, inventive settings, and memorable characters.
2. Sublevel. These are elements that are not immediately recognizable, but once you recognize them, fall into place with little effort. Symbols, primarily direct social commentary
3. Afterimage. This is the mood of the story, how it leaves you feeling, and images and ideas that it elicits that are not necessarily the intention of the author. I feel like these reflect common dreams and ideas between all people.

I think the beauty of storytelling as an artform comes to the surface when you realize that there is no magical concoction for any of these elements. There's no set way to get it right, there is no formula. Rather, these levels are by-products of the author writing from the heart. I feel like writing is less about technical skill and more about emotion (though of course, I suppose I shouldn't say that to some fanfic authors...)

I personally feel "Our Story" fits into the third level of "Afterimage." It is a film of ideas and of emotion, not of violent plot twists or rousing conflicts. The conflict is emotion that we are all familiar with, the violent plot twists are ones we probably see coming already. The idea for the movie came from the heart, but the script was purposefully constructed with the intent of having something for everyone to relate to.

A problem with basing a story primarily on that third level, that level of atmosphere and of ambiguity, is that you can easily lose your way until no one knows what on earth you're trying to say. This is why I had to be very careful when writing "Our Story" and hope I succeeded. It is not going to be a film where everything is always clear, and where all the blanks are filled in for you. In a way, they are not supposed to be. I want people to color them in themselves, with their own experiences, and their own memories.

However, the film also requires direction, and this is where things become very difficult. What can all people truly relate to in a story? Where will people fill in the gaps, and will the memories they use to patch the holes be beautiful or painful? These are all things I considered during the writing process. I kind of took inspiration from the theory of the monomyth, which states that there is a story exactly the same in every culture around the world, that somehow developed before these cultures interacted with others.

In "Our Story," there is a mono-idea of sorts, though obviously not on the scale of the monomyth. However, I hope that I did somehow manage to crack the shell of the universal human experiece. Maybe just scratch it. Just touch it.

Maybe even just catch a glimpse of it.

Hope I'm being clear,
-JD

Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 56%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%

A Note on Symbols.

Tonight's entry is going to be a bit less direct at first, but I promise it comes back around.

If you've read the first post (if you haven't, don't worry...I know it's very long) you may have seen that I've been writing as a hobby since I was around 11 years old. However, I don't consider myself to have fully blossomed into a writer until I wrote my first full-length screenplay. It was called "The Adventure," and the current draft clocks in at 108 pages.

The reason I consider "The Adventure" such a turning point for me is because it is the first time I ever attempted AND finished a story that purposefully had a deeper intent behind it other than being entertaining. I highlight finishing it because I had begun writing something a few years prior called "Unreality" that failed in this respect because it was...too outspoken. To this day it remains on my hard drive, saved, but incomplete.

See, "The Adventure" had a thing called subtlety. For all its ridiculous, high-budget imagery, pyrotechnics, and Apocalypse-based plotline, the story had a heart. The best moments of the script are arguably the tamer ones...at least as tame as the tame moments can be in a script about a world-ending disaster. It wasn't focused on grizzled military tacticians, or people killing each other in a struggle for survival, or about scaring you..."The Adventure" is about the universal human need for love and wonder, and about finding God and yourself, sometimes in the same place.

The problem with "Unreality" in its drafted form was that, though it had some grand ideas behind it, it was far too overbearing. Its symbols were thrown at you, rather than simply shown to you. Its messages were literal, rather than implied. Quite frankly, I think I was assuming my audience was stupid (which also gave it an added air of pretension.) I focused too much on craft and too little on just writing from the heart like Sir Philip Sidney suggested we all do so long ago. "Unreality" was a spectacle too, but it was sort of like the second Harry Potter film: pretty, but empty, despite its best efforts.

"The Adventure" had its literal symbols and its literal messages. For example, in one section of the film protagonist Evan is walking through the streets of his city after the disaster. A paper drifts by that he catches with the headline "PRESIDENT IGNORES ALL THREATS." This scene lasts around 7 or 8 onscreen seconds. It is a literal message: oftentimes, our leaders are clueless and make bad decisions. This has further ramifications in establishing his disconnection with the world and, to a lesser extent, with authority. It is very direct and to the point.

However, it is not overbearing. What is overbearing is a conversation between two characters about denominations within Christianity, as there is in "Unreality." This is not a message that is slight or swift; instead, it is akin to a large man wearing a three-wolf moon shirt running up behind you and beating you over the head with a tire iron.

There's something I like to call the "The Misty Forest Syndrome." This disease extends beyond imparting messages to your audience; it also infects the devices used to impart those messages or ideas. For example, in Hawthorne's classic novel "The Scarlet Letter," there is a scene where Hester Prynne is wandering in a forest filled with fog. It is a surreal, almost dreamlike moment, reflective of the confusion in her own mind. However, this is obvious...and yet Hawthorne sees fit to quite literally spell it out for us and say it stands for confusion.

"The Adventure" has moments like this. Trees in the film are repeatedly used as a symbol of God or protection. However, this is never spelled out. No, I am not a better writer than Nathaniel Hawthorne (read "Maypole of Merry-mount" or "My Kinsman Major Molyneux" and you'll agree), but I feel like "The Adventure" succeeds because of moments like this. It balances sporadic direct symbols, such as the trees, with overarching ones, like the literal journey in the film being suggestive of a quest to find inner peace.

With "Our Story," I have opted to take what I have learned from "The Adventure" during the still-ongoing drafting process (did I really write dialogue THAT crappy just two years ago?) and apply it to "Our Story."

The script for this film contains one major element that can be called a symbol, one that I can't really reveal for spoiler purposes. However, like the journey in "The Adventure," it is overarching. "Our Story" is a story, with a beginning and end somewhere. However, it is much more a movie about a situation than a problem solved, and I feel like, at least for this format, it works better. I think people relate better to ideas than to anything delivered verbatim, because ideas are one-size-fits-all, whereas stories merely copied are just one-form-fits-one. Of course, then you have to worry about too MUCH ambiguity...but that's another entry for another night.

Well, I suppose that's all. ROSEBUD MEANS CHILDHOOD!

Spoiler alert,
-JD

Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 56%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%

Meet Our First Producer: Daniel Dockery.

Before I talk about Daniel, some cool news: my friend and former resident Taylor Parker has agreed to do some concept art for the film. One of his early sketches is seen above. You can view it in high resolution here. Chances are I'll ask him to do a teaser poster at some point, or maybe some art for the trailer.























Daniel has been a creative compatriot of mine almost since the beginning of college. We first met doing a short film in our freshman year written by mutual friend and also-producer Zaque Smith: a bizarre and horrifying comedy called "On The Karma Payment Plan." I played a child murderer; he played a cannibal.

That was the first impression I had of this guy.

Daniel didn't do much to dispel it, despite not actually being a cannibal and instead being a constant riot to both hang with and work with. He came aboard for "Stalin and Hitler" as our new Roosevelt character, and fit right in. We all fed off of each other's vulgarity when writing the script...sometimes we over-indulged, but we could always just loosen our belts or throw it back up. Usually it was the vomiting.

I could talk about Daniel's characters for several blog entries. I could tell you how wonderfully bitter Roosevelt is to cover up that insane loneliness (there are also the jokes about poop.) I could talk about the bizzarre Randy and why he thinks opening doors is badass, or I could discuss his incredibly self-centered, wannabe artist version of Christian Bale.

However, I will not. You see, Daniel is not an actor in this film, and that is not an area of his talent that is going to shine through.

















Convenient for us, however, Daniel is not just an actor at heart: he is also a writer in precisely the same place.

Make no mistake: Daniel and I typically write very different things. I think I tend to write much lighter, more hopeful material, even if it has a dark edge. I dwell on beauty, not on darkness. Daniel once described his writing to me as "the essence of what you hate yourself for thinking when you see a cyclist crossing a busy street." His writing does not immerse itself in darkness; rather, it dips its feet into the edge with a wild caution that lights a wicked grin on its face and causes the hearts of everyone watching to skip a beat.

I feel like a very good example of this is in his newest script, "Eyes on Me," which is being shot this fall after "Our Story." In this tale of a man returning home, Daniel explores his usual cynicism with a surprising twinge of sensitivity and sorrow; throughout the film, we do not hate the characters or even feel sorry for them as much as mourn for them, and for life and the circumstances it puts people into.

This is the true sign of Daniel's mastery: he can take his nerdy love of horror stories, exploitation films, and dark fantasy and turn it into something real and, doggone it, beautiful.













Daniel, though I'm not sure he knows it, has influenced me a lot as a writer. He has been a model for me in perfecting the balance of darkness and light needed to portray realistic conflict, and for not being afraid to dive off the deep end into struggles that may, in the end, be unsolvable. He was one of the first people on board to help with "Our Story," commenting on areas of the script, offering input into certain scenes, and generally supporting the production in any way possible.

This is why he is going to be present during shooting and will be one of the first people to see the film, before anyone, this fall. He is the chancellor to my emperor: he's going to be there to help me stick to the vision I originally had in mind. He's going to make sure I don't always leave the lights on, that I might look at the stars and not see beauty but instead see emptiness, and that "Our Story" is as raw as it truly needs to be in order to remain real.

No severed heads though.

Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 56%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%

Nevermore,
-JD

Progress in Work.

First off, sorry for the slow updating...it's been a busy week at the water park I work at.

However, I have been getting some work done on a crucial part of the film's production: storyboarding. I took some time to myself on Wednesday and made a trip to Thomasville's local coffee shop and bought a (very tasty, mind you) iced mocha, sat down for a few hours, and worked. Some people thought I was doing homework...it was fun to pretend I was a wizard unknowingly cooking up a recipe to save the world.

When I write, like when most people read, I essentially see the finished product in my head as the words flow onto the paper. However, when I'm forced to actually put those images on paper with rather limited skills in the art of drawing stuff, things begin to get a bit more hazy.

This is something I learned in Monkeez Brew. I find it kind of awesome that while developing a movie about life not being all you want, that the process doesn't quite go as planned. I can easily see these storyboards taking the rest of the summer to finish with my fluctuating schedule and the problems with overcoming frustration in creating the images. I feel like the ultimate quality of "Our Story" is going to result from my ability to deal with that very problem: adapting when things simply do not go as I had originally intended.

Similar things happened with the script: as the actors were reading through it, I noticed they often took things in a different direction from what I had originally envisioned...usually, these were all new and interesting directions, with lots of pretty flowers on the side of the road. I filled in these new directions and suggestions for speech on my personal "master copy" (I love that term) of the screenplay.

Perhaps the storyboards will have the same function, eh?








No worries. I promise.

Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 56%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%


Cross my heart,
-JD

P.S. You should check out these (relatively spoiler-free) scans I made of some storyboards and a marked-up page of the script.

Versions of Love.

The weather in North Carolina is dreary lately.

Rain is often nice here, especially in my backyard when the leaves are out. At work...eh, not so much. Lifeguarding in the rain is not exactly my idea of awesome. However, it definitely has one benefit: tomorrow I plan on heading to the local coffee shop, buying a tasty beverage, and working on the storyboards for "Our Story."

Anyway, I've mentioned "Bloom" before and how Zach Braff was an early inspiration for me as a writer. In many ways, my favorite pretty-eyed Jew still is.

However, a lot of Braff's films (can I call you Zach? Thanks.) tend to depict romance in a certain light that I believe I subscribed to a bit too much when I was young and easily influenced. As I've gotten older and written several A) love stories or B) stories involving love (they are not the same) I've begun to realize that the Braffian view of love is part of a trend. In all forms of media, be it print, music, or film, there are certain methodologies for depicting love.

Braffian love is cute. Poignant, funny, and beautiful. It's a picnic in a park on a summer afternoon where the guy shows up late with a crazy excuse as to why he was late, a rushed apology, and a bouquet of wilted flowers covered in motor oil. The girl smiles, he sits down, and they start talking as acoustie indie kicks in. However, later in the story, the girl gets pregnant and has a miscarriage, and we all learn a profound life lesson.

It's easy to see the appeal behind Braffian love from a writing standpoint: not only does it typically look really pretty on screen, but it allows you to show two sides of life and therefore offer contrasting messages to the audience. They enter smiling, and leave moved, but not depressed. It is usually sad, but hopeful. However, it is particularly idealized because it insists everything will eventually be alright. This is a very nice picture, but it is also not true...there are times in life where everything will not be alright.

There is Hallmark love: it is idealistic and strong. Passionate. Powerful. It is also cheesy. It is roses lit by candlelight, silhouettes of thirtysomethings basking in moonlight on a stone balcony overlooking an old English garden. Hallmark love dramatizes moments of strong feeling in relationships, and this is why it is very unrealistic. Many of the strongest moments of love are quiet, and you might not even remember them. I think the reason Hallmark love sells is because its passion and extreme nature appeals to those who need a little spice in their life.

There is Linkin Park love: it is unnecessarily complicated, emotional. It's that kid you knew in high school that would take all your jokes way too seriously and end up making everything awkward. However, deep down, he just wanted a pretty girl to hold. The problem with Linkin Park love is that it tries too hard, because underneath the aggression it is too insecure. It is not a realistic awkwardness or a moment where you're unsure of yourself: it is a worldview that is cynical and unhealthy.

What is "Our Story?" I don't know. It's bitter, but it is also idealized and, at times, very intense emotionally. It has its quiet moments and its indie pretension, its moments of angst and yet keeps hope alive for the future, albeit perhaps in vain.

Hopefully, despite all these things, it's real.

Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 30%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%

-JD

Shades Are On.

Tonight's blog is short, and possibly irrelevant. However, this is quite possibly one of the most surprising things that has ever happened to me.

Yesterday I saw a friend. This friend and I know each other, but we are not extremely close. This was the first time we had seen each other in a long time; she is one of the few people that actually reads things I write. Despite always getting encouraging remarks like "You're a good writer, Jonathan!" or "Yeah, I'll totally read that sometime!" most people I know have actually read very little of my work.

This is going to sound ridiculous to most of you, but I can't express in words how much it meant: before we parted ways, she slipped me an envelope.

Inside this envelope was a "donation" of $15 to the budget with a note that says the following:

"I believe in Our Story! And its awesome director! You're going to make it big one day Jonathan Dantzler! <3 Name."

No, I'm not some bigtime creative genius. I know that. I'm a regular college kid with a bright idea, some like-minded friends, and a camera. But this still made me realize something: people actually believe in this project. Do I know most of them? Yes. But I doubt being in an unfamiliar town and having a stranger say they've seen "Stalin and Hitler" would be as meaningful as having 142 people (according to the Facebook page) who believe in the film, and, dare I say, believe in me.

I can't help but tell myself: "You know...maybe this is for real."

Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 30%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%

-JD

Location Lowdown: Jeffress Park.

Today has been absolutely nuts.

For one, I found out that our previous film "Stalin and Hitler: The Motion Picture" has been invited for an IMDb page through our festival submission website, Withoutabox. This, surely, is nuts. Even more nuts: a behind-the-scenes crew has been assembled that will be creating a documentary about the making of "Our Story" without any involvement from me whatsoever, in order to capture the film and the production process from an unbiased viewpoint. These guys will be starting a blog of their own closer to production, and I will definitely provide a link when that day comes.

Nuts.

Anyway, I was sitting on the porch this evening with a cold Shock Top and a copy of "Neverwhere," and realized something: those location photos I put on our page the other night don't mean much by themselves. So, like every other aspect of pre-production, I figured I'd discuss them, how they relate to the film, and why they spoke to me so much in regards to the script.




















I did not know Jeffress Park even existed until one day when myself and a few other crew members, including producer Zaque Smith, were scouting on a nice day for our other upcoming project "Eyes on Me." We had some free time, and decided that since the wind was so gentle and the sky so blue, to take off to the Blue Ridge Parkway in hopes of finding some good spots for "Our Story." Our intended destination was Hangman's Hill to the North, but the road was closed, so your lovely model Katy (in the picture there) suggested we hit up Jeffress Park. In the park are a picnic area and various hiking trails...specifically one that led to the miraculous site above.

I think, in everything I've ever written, I've always had a penchant for the dreamlike or surreal. "Our Story" is no exception, though the fantasy aspect has a more psychological role in this film. The cascades at Jeffress Park are just that, even as they are still caught in the grip of leaveless winter. From its furthest point the cars on the road are silent, and the only thing you hear is the rushing water. God rays even shine through the tree branches like in a fantasy novel or something.










































This particular log caught our attention (specifically Zaque's.) We're unsure whether we're going to use it or not, but like all logs that stretch across rivers, it has a childlike sort of wonder to it that we are trying to capture in this scene in the film.

I feel like this area particularly affected me because it reminded me of trips to the mountains when I was a kid. We'd visit all kinds of nameless places like these, places that seem to be a dime a dozen in Watauga County. It inspires a powerful nostalgia, almost want. Memories are shaped by time into being perhaps more ideal than they really are; you replace pictures with emotions, emotions you've materialized and made physical.

I feel like for the scene in question, there's no better place than Jeffress Park.

I again can't ruin the specifics for everyone, but this kind of building up of emotion, of undermining beauty with delusions of grandeur, is a central theme of the film. Jeffress Park, in all its wonderful isolation, fits perfectly. The scene we're shooting here sort of feels separate from the rest of the film: it has almost nothing to do with the central plot thread, and instead serves as a manifestation of the main character's emotions. Maybe I'm a little biased because of the nostalgia factor, but I'd like to think that upon seeing the finished product, you guys will at least see what I'm getting at.

Here are some more photos from the excursion.

















- The aforementioned cascades. These were taken at the lowest point of the path, and chances are they'll be used.


















- Zaque Smith (Producer) with someone that looks like me, engaging in serious business.


















- I feel like this particular photo gives a very good idea of the soft, delicate shadows and copious amounts of foliage we'll be working with here.


















- Those wonderful, wonderful stone stairs from a top view. Zaque not included.

And now, your pre-productive organs for the day.


Script: 100% since 2/09
Cast: 100%
Crew: 100%
Camera Supplies: 25%
Storyboards: 30%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~7%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0%

Be well on your way,
-JD

Pre-Productive Organs.

For those of you who weren't aware, some new photos have been released on our Facebook page of location scouting for filming. You can check them out here.

Today I finally dug back up the storyboards for "Our Story" (our storyboards, as I like to call them) and realized something: yes, no matter how much I dislike storyboarding, I need to finish them. Damn it.

My experiences with "Stalin and Hitler" taught me one thing: organization is CRITICAL. Even for a film like this with some weirder shots, with the kind of experimental edge I'm playing with, needs to be planned out. If anything, the wilder stuff needs to be planned out even more to make sure it all goes perfectly. It's hard, though, because honestly in the past No Budget has kind of just gone with the flow. Hell, "Stalin and Hitler" was the first film we actually had a script for that we stuck to. Seriously.

However, as the final product indicates, we are A) funny and B) not living up to our full potential. The reason for "Stalin and Hitler" not going as planned is because the day to day stuff wasn't organized well enough. Who has the camera? Who has the light kit? Did they go home this weekend or are they somewhere else? Are we all good to go or does someone have to study for a big exam on Monday?

It got even more complicated once we actually set out to shoot: what angle are we in? Does Boris need to wear a shirt for this shot? Shit, we forgot that prop, how do we work around it?! We had to cut that part out, remember? Quick, someone work a way around the plot hole!

With "Our Story" a goal I've set out to accomplish that I'm sure my fellow crew will agree with is for more organization. Down to exact times: "this scene shoots here today. We need these people. If the weather is bad, we shoot this one instead. You are responsible for bringing the lights, you need to bring extra batteries..." Of course, our shooting atmosphere still needs the ease and relaxation of the Stalin and Hitler sessions; if we're not having fun making movies, then what are we even making movies for?

So, in an effort to organize the shoot better and to make sure everything is going according to plan, I've decided to document the entire process in our production diary with a thing I'd like to call "Pre-Productive Organs." With each blog entry, I'll include the following list of things necessary for a stable shooting environment to begin for the film on our planned first shooting date of September 5th, 2009. I will update the list regularly with a rough percentage progress and perhaps add new items to it depending on what comes up during pre-production.

And now I present to you: your first helping of my Pre-Productive Organs!

Script: 100% since 2/09 (May add another scene)
Cast: 100% (all 2 of them)
Crew: 90% (we still need some people to head up a "Making Of")
Camera Supplies: 25% (still need steadycam, dolly track, and chest harness)
Storyboards: 30%
Definitive Shooting Schedule: ~5%
Movement Rehearsals: 0%
Locations/Permissions: ~75%
Green Screen Construction: 0% (may remain that way until after filming begins)

See, I told you this blog would be up close and personal.

Call me,
-JD

Meet Our Boy: Nathan Paul Barker.

Upon first meeting Nathan in September 2008, I didn't quite know what to think. He's an incredible goofball, startlingly friendly, and sometimes hard to keep up with - I get the feeling his mind sometimes runs ahead of his mouth. Yet he is also an incredible intellectual, a classically trained singer and actor, and eager to help with almost anything (at least with the film club.)

I first worked with Nathan the month I met him filming "Clocks," a short comedy about Coldplay that I originally wrote for SpoonBank but which, through the creative process, became something else entirely that was just as funny. The original version that I wrote was going to be our inaugural film of the new semester, and originally I chose Nathan for two reasons: 1) his enthusiasm and 2) his KILLER British accent. I honestly had no idea how it was going to turn out.

I quickly found something out: Nathan comes alive on camera.

I italicize that text for a very good reason: Nathan has an incredible, almost youthful radiance. His performance in Clocks was absolutely flawless; he added new facets to the character on the fly, without anyone else's urging, and they fit perfectly. The script allowed lots of room for improv and Nathan kept spitting it out at lightspeed, so much that I'm sure the other actors had trouble matching it. I know as the one behind the camera, not only was it a struggle to not burst into laughter, but it was also an absolute joy to have this guy meld himself so perfectly to every scene.


































"Clocks," in its original form, needed a lot of work due to my inexperience as an editor. However, in March 2009, the much-improved director's cut made its debut at the 2009 Open APPerture Film Festival to a rave reception from a small audience. Many of the biggest laughs came from Nathan and his dry, blissfully unaware delivery of the strangest lines imaginable.

Nathan attends Appalachian State University as well, and is perhaps the only skilled actor I have ever met that is majoring in Pre-Professional Biology. Like Lily, has been acting for a long time. Also like Lily, he has been primarily involved with the stage. Nathan has been in ten different plays for either school or community theater; his favorite role was that of Tevye in the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" (that's not a Stalin and Hitler gag...really, he played Tevye.) Unlike his eccentric personality, but perhaps meshing very well with it, Nathan's approach to acting is very straight-up: he loves to entertain.

Besides "Clocks," Nathan may be familiar to some of you. He has frequently worked with No Budget and the Broumvirate on numerous other projects in some form or another, including "No Budget Productions Gets a Movie Deal." However, his most prominent role by far was playing Winston Churchill in our beloved "Stalin and Hitler: The Motion Picture," a role which also had huge screen presence and a character which Nathan again made his own.

He will be working with us in the future as well. He's actually writing a script for us right now based on a single crazy college night called "Fear and Loathing in Boone" that looks to have a much wilder edge than even Stalin and Hitler does. He says he's working on a sci-fi sort of thing too called "'The Continuous Mysterious Dealings of Commander 113." He is also going to be working on another mockumentary we have planned for the far future about Nickelback called "Something In Our Mouths."

And of course, there's the always awesome British accent, which I'm sure will come to use again at some point.















I will admit that despite Nathan being very interested in "Our Story" from the very beginning, he was not my first casting choice. However, this was really my fault, not his: I simply didn't understand his range because, quite frankly, he's been a bit typecast in most of the stuff he's helped us with so far. I certainly thought his apperance, what with the glasses and shaggy hair, seemed to lend itself to the vulnerability required of the Boy...but I was very worried his energy would be tough to contain for the many quiet moments in the script.

However, Nathan displayed a keen understanding of the script and, in a rare melancholy moment, said he related to it very well due to his experiences with a previous relationship. So, I set up a readthrough with he and Lily.

Everyone always attaches a sort of negative stigma to surprises; this one was completely sweet.

Nathan again proved something to me: despite his crazy personality, he melds to anything. With almost no effort, he and Lily got along famously during readthroughs and established a great chemistry. When reading the more upbeat parts of the script he also added a bit of himself into the character: he read the part with a confidence I had not imagined before, a much more positive energy...which helped contrast the two separate versions of Nathan's character. I unfortunately can't explain much more about what those two sides are without severely spoiling the plot, but just rest assured: you'll eventually see what I'm saying.

Yet what was more astonishing is that Nathan read the quiet parts well too. I realized that I had severely misjudged him as an actor; I had always known he was talented, but I was not aware of the emotional range he was capable of. All the bitterness, desperation, and hopelessness of his character was encapsulated perfectly; he responded well to my direction and even gave me tips.

Nathan's performance, along with Lily's, helped boost my interest again in "Our Story" when it had sunken under the weight of finals, my job, and various other stressors. If it was this good behind closed doors, I can't wait to see him "come to life" again, but this time on camera.

I just realized how gross that sounded. Oh dear.

-JD

Sheer Lunacy / High Hopes.

Well damn.

Whenever we were working on Stalin and Hitler, it was always exciting to watch the fan count go up. It expanded from just our friends, to their friends, to friends of their friends, to a ton of people from other countries who we didn't even know (are we the only entertainment in Portugal?)

But even they didn't come in this fast. Yes, many of these are people mass invited from my friends list. Some of them I do not know; some of them were presumably not even invited, and I wonder how they found the film's page in the first place. Some of them went to high school with me (apparently), some of them are complete strangers. Even on a scale this small, that's absolutely crazy.

I know it won't always balloon at this insane rate of 52 people per day, but it's still awesome to see that, even if they just accepted the invite for no real reason or because they thought it was just so cute that Jonathan was making a movie, that they know what this is. As the updates pour in on their feed, as more is posted, and as the project begins to materialize, they'll see more.

And this is just the beginning; school isn't even in session yet. Word spread about Stalin and Hitler like wildfire at ASU thanks to our trailer being shown before the $1 movies on campus, to the point where random people recognized us while we were filming. "Our Story," thanks to our connections, is probably going to get the same treatment. I'm hoping Apps (our student programming body) will, with much suggesting and sexual favors begging will even hook us up with a private screening...but alas, I'm thinking ahead.

I suppose the entire point of this post is to thank everyone reading this, keeping track of updates, or even blindly supporting No Budget in its latest endeavor, even if you have no idea what the hell "Our Story" is.

And sorry, the only thing you guys will get in return is more begging. And maybe a cool movie later...?

Seacrest out,
-JD

P.S. If your fan relationship is not yet Facebook official, you should totally make it so at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/Our-Story/71786468641?ref=nf

Meet Our Girl: Lily Watson.

If I were asked to sum up Lily in one word, I would shrug, and instead sum her up with a tagline: a curious, insufferably cute ball of wacky sunshine. She is very energetic, has a great sense of humor, and is full of enthusiasm for seemingly everything (of course, I've never seen her watch paint dry.) These are some of the many reasons why I'm thrilled to have her on board as our nameless Girl in "Our Story."

She came upon the role by chance, mostly. I had known Lily as an acquaintance due to a course we had together, but had no idea she was interested in acting at all. Several months after the course ended, she saw an ad I placed on Facebook for the role of the Girl, and responded with interest. We did a script readthrough and I was sold; she did perfectly, and her voice, mannerisms, and overall style added dimensions to the character I had never imagined before.

Lily, like just about everyone involved in the film, is a student at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Like myself, she is a Communications Major with a concentration in Advertising. Like none of us, she has an Art minor.

















Lily has been acting for her entire life. She has worked with a theater troupe in her hometown of Mebane for some time now, and has been involved in school theater, church theater, and the renowned "theater of the hey-read-this-monologue-for-me" for much longer. She has never been in front of the camera before; however, I doubt claustrophobia will kick in despite her vitality only being confined to a single frame. Lily takes an escapist method-style approach to acting which I think will bring a very raw, authentic feel to her character.

And believe me, I think Lily understands her character very well. She mentioned something to me during our readthroughs when I expressed a fear of mine to her: that "Our Story," due to its portrayal of unrequited love from a male perspective, could be considered as anti-feminist. She understood my concerns very well, but pointed something out to me: the girl isn't the vulnerable character in this story, really. In all honesty, our Guy is a lot weaker than she is. Rather, the Girl is just confused and immature...which is exactly the sort of character dynamic I wanted to portray.

Needless to say, she gets it.






















Of course, as any casting director will tell you (trust me, I know them and have lots of experience...totally not lying or anything) simply understanding a character and being able to pull that character off isn't all that matters in such an intensely visual medium. The thing that I really love about Lily is that she looks the part too.

Aesthetically, Lily brings a sort of interesting duality to the table. She is obviously a girl about to leave her teens, but her appearance has a youthfulness, almost innocence about it. Underneath that bubbly exterior there's a sort of healthy melancholy, a blue behind a cloud of yellow (come on, just look at those oh-so-rebellious streaks of red in her hair!) Like her character's insecurity, her appearance and aura is a contradiction that is subtle, yet hard to miss.

So this is Lily. I'm stoked that she's playing this part, and can't wait to see her on camera! Now let's hope that horribly screwed-up character doesn't rub off on her.

Cheers!
-JD

Welcome / Wall of Text.

Hello, and welcome to the production diary for No Budget Productions' "Our Story." My name's Jonathan, I'm a very nervous first-time director, and here I hope to bear my heart and various other organs to you. Don't worry, I'll keep it clean.

I've been writing since I was 11 years old, but I didn't really pick up a camera until my junior year of high school, and even then I didn't really know what I was doing. A friend and I plunged into a project with a 4:3 Digital8 camcorder, an iMac, and a script that reeked of Zach Braff and neophyte funk. It was a great idea, but as a young writer I didn't really know how to hold a project like that together. From where I sit, I can see the Hi8 tape with all the original footage on it. It was called "Bloom."

Despite the project failing due to a number of factors, it is still very near and dear to my heart. Perhaps some of it is nostalgia: I still remember how exciting it was for us, how I watched the first three minutes on repeat (the only part we ever edited) and bubbled with joy. I remember people in school actually telling me they watched it and liked it! It was crazy.

However, the real reason for the project's special spot is how personal it was. I had written all kinds of stuff before: fantasy, fantasy, and even a bit of fantasy. This was the first time I had ever tackled something real: a love story. More importantly, it was a story and a concept that I feel I understood very well. "Bloom" was about unrequited love, separation, loneliness, and how they intertwine for one boy...perhaps just a bit autobiographical given my situation at the time. I didn't even try to hide it, really.

However, there was a problem with "Bloom" and the message I sought to depict: it was too "cute" for the subject matter. I'm not one to linger on doom and gloom, but at that time in my life I was hurting. A lot. I was a good kid, but I was also unfortunately overanalytical and perhaps delusional. "Bloom," while it was a reflection of that struggle, was tuned to be more of a romantic comedy. The script was solid, the characters were well-developed, and the dialogue was okay...but it was missing something.

That something was bite.

Years later, I grew up. College happened. I changed. To this day I'm not sure about exactly what sort of switch flipped in me when I moved to my lovely little school in the mountains: I got some confidence, gained some perspective, and seriously mellowed out (for the most part.) I had written two full-length scripts since then, both of which were pretty dark, and also worked on a great deal of comedy after hooking up with the Student Filmmakers' Organization at ASU. Finally, my creativity had found a raw faucet from which to flow from.

Eventually, me and the fellow Organization members started to work on stuff outside of the club, namely our "Stalin and Hitler" shorts about the eponymous dictators as post-war college students. Chances are, many of you reading this have seen those videos or our recent short film based on them. The series was great fun to work on, and taught us a lot about organization and teamwork.

However, we're not always goofballs, and this is where "Our Story" comes into the picture. The idea came to me in September 2008 while we were filming "Clocks," a short of ours, and it met with good reception from the cast and crew. However, it was just that: an idea, and we had bigger things to work on, namely the then-musical Stalin and Hitler film. So I stashed it under my belt, and with the rest of the team, went to work.

January comes around. Boone winters are harsh, and the weather is bitter, cold, and strangely beautiful. Perhaps this atmosphere is what persuaded me to finally pick up the project again. I remembered "Bloom" and, now older, finally realized what I wanted to do with this project. I was going to give the "Bloom" concept what it needed: edge.

Wordsworth, of whom I'm not a fan, once said something I do like: "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of emotion...recollected in tranquility." In many ways, "Our Story" was very painful to write. It is just that: a young man's insecurity, fear, and depression remembered later, after I'd grown up a bit, gotten my thoughts together, and prepared myself to finally bleed it onto the paper. Like a few years of maturity, writing "Our Story" was therapeutic and gave me perspective on a person I used to be and, to a degree, how people worked.

So that's it: "Our Story" is a film about unrequited love in what is hopefully the most realistic, unflinching way possible. Hopefully, that's what it will shape up to be as production progresses. But regardless of the final product, "Our Story" will always be a gem for me because, quite frankly, it is my story, my teenage years, and my hurt...recollected in tranquility.

However, it's not just my story. This one also belongs to the rest of the production team: my No Budget brethren, the Broumvirate, and my two fabulous actors Lily and Nathan. They're going to all help me bring this'n to life, and hopefully make it good...and I hope you all will stick around too as the diary is updated!

As production progresses, I'll be revealing some story details, production stills, and details about the shoot. I'll talk about the actors, my fellow production crew, and muse on the project and its progress.

"Our Story" is scheduled to shoot in late August and early September this fall, and will premiere somehow (haven't quite figured that out yet) before Christmas.

Thanks for the support!

-JD