The train had left the station, and our production's puzzle pieces were being individually crafted. The element to each practice in a film: Location, writing, lighting, dialogue, color, set design, sound. All of it makes up a whole new level of identity, like ants forming a bridge, or people building a city filled with expansive infrastructure. Alas, the Coronavirus ultimately was the nuclear-weapon equal to our micro-city of character and design. Though there were delays in our process due to school and other mishaps of life, we realized that things would need to start from scratch. However difficult communication became with my team and how hard it was to develop as a team due to the quarantine and conflicting agendas, I took a hold of a new brainstorming for a script after I scouted for new concepts and explored Florida's now vacant landscapes for eminent ideas. Abandoned areas, prisons, and forests amazed me. They were the source of adventure and unease, the perfect spawn for a film.
I wrote the concept behind "Sciolism" - A Mazz Runner / Indiana Jones / Get Out style movie. Due to the lack of actors, especially the time to train anyone in their rolls, that told me I had to bring my focus to the writing of a story that didn't solely rely most on a dialogue exchange. So instead of a beginning conversation between two characters or a group (especially with the lack of people), I looked to bring more emphasis to other aspects like color, set, and sound. I wanted to create something in the environment that lived on its own in the soul of the scene. I wanted to let the characters excitingly express themselves - Show, don't tell.
After writing on Friday, March 3rd, that Saturday Emil and I scouted the forest areas just beyond Manatee Bay Elementary that were about half a mile from the barren roads. Working with him to see how we would execute the set construction and design of the scene extraordinarily helped us visualize the idea. Once we were on the same page, we discussed ideas for music and got everyone up to speed on the plans: Alyssa, Emil, and his girlfriend Nadya.
The weather began to look nasty when I checked that night. We were going to need at least 3-4 hours to collect all the content we needed, including audio and all the shots we had butchered together with sticky notes on the side of the script. The rush was unreal and more reckless than I had ever set up a scene before, but hey, when you had as little time as I did I'm proud we got through it. Rain looked like it would fall around 1pm on Sunday, so last minute I shifted it all back to 8am, my place sharp. Even though Alyssa was late, everything else was moving well on time and we shot the whole production together like machines. We implemented the attractive parts to the area into our shots to bring something out of the Markham park looking scenery. There was no one out there, how on Earth has no one seen this place before? The hustle dragged on with our greatest efforts until 12:20 that day. I was about to pass out from exhaustion and dehydration. Even with the moped helping me lug equipment back to our car I was shot on the inside. Thankfully it wasn't too hot out there. I got home, and from that Saturday to today I had been editing and piecing together it all together in harmony, it's beautiful, and I can't wait for you to see it all. Even after all the exhausting frustration with trying to communicate with the team, I was happy to say that I could bring the project back to life under my name with my work and efforts. Its paid off greatly.
It's something that implements an adventurous and horror style to it. I hope you enjoy it soon. We'll upload the segment onto Youtube and embed it into the blog.
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