Film 1, July 7 – 13: Deimos
Here is my first of seven films: Deimos.
It was an incredibly rewarding and fun experience. Working with Caitlin was pure joy; her attitude and open-mindedness is a filmmaker’s dream come true.
And meeting poet Aaron Belz with an opportunity to use his poem was an incredible blessing as well.
Enjoy!
I liked it as well. Great film. Takes us on a journey, like it’s two acts….. Haunting, glad I listened to it with headphones on. Sound is awesome. Great poem too! Oh, and love that opening shot where the door takes up half the screen and half behind the chair
Very interesting!! I like your creativity and I can understand what kind of director/producer you will be in the future. Maybe like executive producer Roy Lee and writer Stephen Susco, with your creativity you can easily compose a movie like The Grudge, The Ring or Shutter. Keep it coming!
Thank you for the comments, Mona, Miguel and Nancy! Hope you enjoy the rest of the films…
Wow Chris what a great film! You captured all the emotion and inner conflict of the character so well. Great work.
Mona
The spoken poetry is also on the poetry of the shots and editing. Bunnies, bunnies….
So good.
Thank you, Thom! Quite the compliment – much appreciated… Yes, much of the audio/sound FX were manipulated. It’s very interesting that you sensed a bit of discomfort along with comfort, since that was not intentional beyond the opening montage. I’m glad you pointed that out, since it helps me realize that I instinctively like to add a bit of discomfort in all that I do – not sure why?
Beautiful and haunting depiction of that inner critic that most of us are way too familiar with. Caitlin did an awesome job!
Once again, thank you for the comments – they have been incredibly encouraging! :)
Love it! I am so excited to shoot ours now!!
Chris,
I am impressed that you were able to so clearly and effectively introduce a character and show her struggle in such a short time. 7 Films, 7 Weeks, Excellent.
Pax
nice :)
I watched this as it ought to be: on a pair of headphones. Nice sound! Loved it.
I actually considered placing a title card at the start of the film requesting folks to watch (listen) to the film in a quiet environment or with headphones! There definitely are a lot of subtleties that can be missed otherwise…
And, speaking of sound, thank you again for lending me your mic; I used it throughout this shoot…
@Dan – re “had an idea… here we are, talking about your most recent film!”
Agreed! I’m always telling Chris & other friends that (in Steve Jobs words) “real artists ship.” That’s what you’re best at Chris, shipping ideas.
Keep encouraging us!!
PS – Film was great too. I really find all your films captivating, whatever the content.
Love the quote: “Real artists ship”! It’s perfect, since it reminds one of the need to combine artfulness with industriousness; it’s not just about mushy feelings and nice ideas, but responsibility, professionalism, and integrity as well. Love it…
Congratulations on getting film #1 in the can (and up on the screen for us to view). It will be fun to see them as they evolve. Thanks for taking us on the journey with you, Christopher.
Oh my GOD. Christopher, this made me get goosebumps — you are SO talented! Carry on, can’t wait to see the coming films!
Thank you all so much for the incredibly encouraging comments. Though I say I don’t care what people think, well, hey, I’m human, right? So it’s always amazing to be affirmed so generously.
I promise to work just as hard on the next one and can’t wait to share it with you :)
- Christopher
Beautiful film. I was very moved by it. Must say the actor is superb in addition to the director!
that caitlin rose williams. love her.
Can’t wait to see more! You captured something very human here! Stunning!
Good stuff Chris. Great job.
Great work, Chris. Very captivating. Can’t wait to see the next ones.
Really amazing Chris! Loved it!!!
Wow!!!!!! Great work! love love loved it! I loved the poem as well!
I have huge admiration for what you’re doing here!
You had an idea, wanted to create more work, and here we are, talking about your most recent film! How brilliant. The film was awesome too, but that doesn’t matter so much. I applaud you as a film-maker, and am pretty excited about the weeks that follow.
thank you for your blog.
Great point, Dan: talking, then actually making! It’s so darn hard to do that with film! There simply are so many complexities involved. That is exactly why I have decided to put production value on the shelf and just make some freakin’ movies! Let’s be honest: DEIMOS is not the most visually stunning, expensive film, but who cares in light of my goal, which is to cultivate my directorial craft and voice!
I just really feel a lot of filmmakers are stuck and do not work on their craft because they are thinking way too far outside the box, versus embracing their limitations and thinking within them – I call it thinking outside the box, INSIDE the box! LOL
Chris:
The direction was creative, artistic and provocative. The film was interesting and well-observed.
Great work. :-)
Michael
Christopher,
Just love this piece – verily great work. Could you please let us in on your development process. How did you go from a greek god to a poem to the final film?
Keep up the good work
Anders
Hello, Anders. Good to hear from you again. You know, when the project is finished, I’ll most likely post a breakdown of how I went about creating the films. I’m certain they will all be different experiences, however, I am definitely following a methodology at the start of each film. I’ll definitely share my process and much more.
Thank you for your interest and encouragement!
cB
The use of the words shit, shitty, etc in e beginning distract from the artistic merits of this short film. This is not a moral comment, but one about aesthetics. Use of the terms did not add to the film in any way and should have been edited so as not to mar, as they do, the significance of the creative expereince being portrayed.
Thank you for the honest comment, Don. Truthfully, I did not critically consider the inclusion of shit and its forms thereof. It’s probably because I instinctively felt that it naturally fit into the negative and ugly place in the character’s mind. Not sure about you, but I say some pretty ugly things in my mind, which I felt ought to be included in this film if I am to be authentic. So, I feel the word “adds” to the ugliness of the character’s situation, though I completely respect and appreciate your perspective.
Hope to hear from you again :)
This is a beautiful and engaging piece. You have encouraged me to persevere with my own dream. I am looking forward to the next six!
Wow, Thom, I sure hope you do persevere as you say and please share as you do!
Chris. Recent ranting about all the unjustified (and often unspoken) rules we impose upon ourselves…while I impose my own all the time. A big one being “cuts only.” Not sure where that one came from…too many pals with the “Video Toaster” in the ’90s? DEIMOS shattered that dumb rule almost immediately with a poetic use of dissolves (visual and audio) that played like so many drafts…thinking and rethinking and over-thinking and overruling. Also…inundated with story-phobic “tone-poems” of late. (Or is the proper cineaste’s term mumblecore?) So exciting to see her wake up and know…SOMETHING is about to HAPPEN. I don’t mean that as feint praise. Just makes me happy when I realize that a filmmaker is using gorgeous technique to take me somewhere. As such, the film landed just right for me…and as the title cards appeared, I felt a sense of regret (re: admiration) because I wanted it to keep going and knew that it couldn’t. Cheers! What an excellent film. Looking forward to #2!
Great points, Chris. Like you, I’m not a big fan of silly rules like “cuts only.” The use of cross-dissolves and voice-over overlap came to me organically; that’s what I “saw” and “heard” while working on the film. The danger lies in trying to make something “cool,” a la video in the 90s, as you perfectly pointed out. People back then didn’t use their newly developed tools genuinely, rather, they exploited them and ended up with artificiality.
Honestly, that reminds me of the current use of 35MM adapters and DSLR videos. People have gone berserk with shallow depth-of-field and rather than use it intentionally and effectively, they do it because they now can…
Thank you for the encouragement; much, much appreciated…
Awesome! Can’t wait to see more!
This is really good Christopher. Really really good. Going back to my work, and going at it harder because of this.
Oh sir, YOU are good. Really. Good.
Captivating. Love it completely. Great work everyone!!!