February 2010
February 25, 2010Day of Ruin
- By Fredrick
- No TrackBacks
Seriously, life was rad. My petty responsibilities at Taco Bell allowed me plenty of time to enjoy the beautiful summer days with beautiful people. Of course there was always a date circled in red on the calendar in my brain that marked the day I was finally leaving Corning, New York for what I had only assumed were greener pastures: Purchase College. How likely that, during the most wonderful summer of my life, I'd pack my shit and leave for a place that would host, hands down, the worst year of my adult life. But still, if nothing else, I got out of Corning, NY and if I died tomorrow at least people would know I didn't die in Corning.
But, at the time, when I looked towards the future I didn't see the dark clouds that would eventually obscure my blue skies, I just saw a vast and empty plain in which anything could be waiting. It was an infinite opportunity, and I was happy to welcome the change. I was packing my life away and leaving my home with my best friend for something that promised a better life down the road. Not wanting to leave without having something to show for my golden summer, a few of my friends and I put our heads together to produce something grand. Kyle Atkinson, who was a prized member of my extended family, is an aspiring film maker and was more than happy to hold a camera and tell us what to do. I guess they call that directing.
Anyways, we had an idea about a guy who has a really shitty day, and essentially that's all we had - which accounts for maybe the first 3 minutes of the movie, which we aptly titled 'Day of Ruin'. I played a schmuck who loses his job and gets stuck on an incredible journey of bad luck. Along the way he gets involved with his no-good cousin Ronnie, a character played by Elijah Kull. He easily stole the show with his fresh-out-of-prison attitude and his hostages and whatnot. Once my character was expelled from Ronnie's car, we had exhausted our scripted material, but felt that the story hadn't been told in it's entirety. The day hadn't been exceptionally bad, and Ronnie hadn't been used to the best of his potential. But where else could we go with it?
Well, Kyle followed me around with a camera until the sun went down, and we pretty much got one more scene out of the day. I seem to recall something about Elijah bearing down on me with his car in the tunnel on the bike path, but maybe I'm making that up. Anyways, our filming schedule was segmented by my whirlwind Popfest journey (and a haircut, but you can barely tell), and when I got back our take on the movie was entirely different. We felt as if we had taken the 'bad day' motif as far as it was going to go, and let the movie film itself organically. We grabbed a handful of a friends and enlisted their help for one marathon day of filming at a park near Chazland.
Adrian LaDelia was recruited to play an adversary to Ronnie. During the shooting we were calling him a gremlin, which helped shape his actions and mannerisms, but when all was said and done, he turned out to just be an old friend who had borrowed a watch for, perhaps, too long. I think my best acting is the scene with Corey Mattison, which was all done in one take and completely unrehearsed. That, or the look on my face when Ronnie snaps Miranda's neck. Ironically she had a broken back at the time. I think we were blessed to have had access to a bunch of nerds who wear full camo and kevlar vests to shoot at each other with airsoft rifles. That sequence with the guns is one of my favorites.
I can never really tell if this movie is funny, though, to anyone who wasn't directly involved. The boss, Mr. Fett, is one of the most brilliant inventions of our generation. To speak only in Boba Fett quotes from Star Wars, subtitled with what he truly means to say, or the fact that he breaks the rule to call the protagonist a douchebag kills me. The final scene where he absconds with Corey's severed hand in his empty briefcase (save for a solitary paper clip) was mean to play after the credits. Kyle always does the best credits. There is no good explanation for that scene, but even Alex Straight, who was the stand-in for Mr. Fett at the end, couldn't keep from laughing during the filming.
Though the film seems abandoned, it is all a representation of how time creates and destroys. We had to premiere the film before we left for Purchase, and that time came faster than we expected. The audio was meant to be overdubbed during the car scene and adjusted during the chase scene. While only two scenes were soundtracked, it was meant to prominently feature Seal's Kiss From a Rose at some point. The exposure for a lot of the day shots were too bright, and the plot didn't exactly gel like we expected. But still, this is something I revisit ever-so-often and every time I do, I'm overwhelmed with pride and a longing to surround myself with all the lovely people who made this possible. Hopefully it translates well to something other people can enjoy, without being a part of it.
By the way, you can enjoy some behind the scenes photos here!
February 9, 2010
PXL: Everyplace to See and Everything to Know about New York City
- By Fredrick
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I guess I was most excited about getting back to Williamsburg. I was dreaming of stuffing myself full of arepas and then buying tons of records at Academy. When I showed up the following morning it was more of a let down than anything. All the gaudy developments that were still under construction are now glistening eye-sores. There are countless shiny new store fronts and the freelancers are all gone. Williamsburg operates now as just another Manhattan extension off the L train. I didn't walk over to South Second, I didn't want to know if it's still little Puerto Rico. If the Potato Cafe was gone, I didn't wan't to see.
