The script is relatively finished. Of course we will be working on it up until the day of the shoot probably, but below is a link to version 1.1.

[download "Teal Optical" v1.1] pdf

Also, below is a list of people involved that I have already talked to and their roles:

CREW

Clay Hardwick – Director / Producer / Director of Photography / Editor
Morgan Welch – Assistant Director
Winsor Yuan – Director of Acting, Script Supervisor
Josh Hailey – Assistant Director of Photography / Key Grip
___?____ – Gaffer – need a gaffer…
Courtney Maxson – Make Up Artist
Kimberly Moore – Costumes / Assistant to Make Up Artist
Lee Morgan Gunn – Assistant to the Directors
Daniel Guaqueta – Music, Foley Artist
Johnny Bertram – Production Assistant, Music
Drew Davis – Cook, Production Assistant
Cheryl – 2nd unit cook
Austin – Production Assistant Director (Art Creation)
Paul Fish – Production Assistant (Art Creation, Production Etcetera)
Lorene Dodd – Production Assistant (Art Creation)
Allen Lyle – Production Assistant (Art Creation)
Luke Bertram – Production Assistant (Art Creation, Production Etcetera)

There are also lots of others that I haven’t talked to yet. I’ll put a new post up when we get more.

Below I have posted the basic story summary for those interested. I’m putting the cast and crew together now, so I will create a working page with all of this information on it as it is developed where anyone can check in on it. Please let me know your ideas, comments, or questions about the story I have developed so far.

I am hoping to get over two dozen, highly creative people (artists) involved with the making of this film. The budget is currently set around $2000. Let me know if you want to be a part of this! This is a collaborative effort of great minds.

“Teal Optical”
written by Clay Hardwick

ACT I

Teal, a young college-aged girl (naturally beautiful) is wondering around city. She looks confused but not frantic, walking the streets but with no real destination. Eventually comes up to a young man at a bus stop, waiting. They look at each other as if familiar.

Cut to:

Two professional mother’s in a coffee shop, planning a birthday party. Both are stressed out about the right caterer and a particular donkey.

Cut to:

One of the mothers is walking on the sidewalk from the shop, talking on the phone about the caterer, stressed out. Track to reveal Teal, sitting on the sidewalk in front of a grocery store. Stop on Teal and wait, until eventually Teal’s friend comes out of the store and they walk home together. Their conversation is VO while we show cars, traffic, busy-ness. We hear a car screech and kill someone. Come back to reveal Teal with dead friend.

Cut to:

Teal and her mother are together in their kitchen. The mother is pestering Teal about funeral particulars… something Teal does not want to hear right now. She runs off to her bedroom and cries. She is in a fragile state. Mother comes to door and knocks…. Continuing to pester her. Gradually more and more knocks come and we can hear more voices, asking or pestering her…. Being bitches in general. Teal runs out of her room to reveal dozens of pestering people that she has to push out of the way to get out of the house.

She runs and runs through the streets. It is dusk.

ACT II

Eventually it gets dark and she does not know where she is. She sees some weird light/shape/color-things, and then a figure approaches. He is unusual. They begin to talk and eventually two more figures approach. She is curious yet frightened. She wants to know where she is, who they are, what’s going on. They say they will show her, and tell her to follow them. She hesitates, but eventually follows. (Important decision)

As she follows, she continually sees unusual things around her and in their space. (ie animated, abstract paper forms dancing in a corner, floating shapes, sparkling ferry-like forms, distorted animals wearing straitjackets, etcetera…) There are many things she encounters, and questions the leading creatures about their nature. They name it and give a brief description (ie. “Oh that’s Spenderbee, he’s quite cranky when its damp. Don’t mind him if he goo’s on your shoes”… maybe less ‘kids movie’ sounding, though). She still follows them throughout this creative, colorful exploration through a dense, woodsy-like jungle of surreal shapes, creatures, and natural life..

Eventually they come upon some unusual looking musical instruments in a particular area. Teal asks about those and one of the figures picks it up and begins playing with it. Song breaks out and over the course of the song, all the creatures congregate and sing and dance. Teal is happy and amazed… she eventually starts dancing and joining in with everyone. As more characters come into to the song/dance, the scene is illuminated and illuminated.

The three main creatures stand up while playing the song and start marching. Teal follows and they march through the woods/place, dancing. It is very illuminated. Eventually they begin passing building-like forms that resemble the city, but made out of found objects. Gradually, with illumination, Teal marches on and each character becomes more and more illuminated, as if glowing white, the happier it gets. We only see white at this point.

Transition from this white light to the city where Teal finds herself on the streets.

ACT III

She wonders around, confused but still dazzled. She walks about and then sees a man waiting at the bus stop (see scene 1). This is a real-life version of one of the characters previously. She semi-freaks and begs the guy to take her back to that world. He explains that this world and that one are the same thing. You (she) gets to decide everything and anything. (This is for the dumb folk who don’t ‘get’ the philosophical point behind it all at this stage)

Cut to:

ENDING 1:
Teal is approaches her mother who begins pestering and worrying about unimportant plans and material issues. Teal performs some random act of kindness type of thing. The mother is confused. The mother’s outlook changes and they somehow, now, are nice to each other with an improved relationship.

ENDING 2:
Teal approaches her mother who begins pestering and worrying about unimportant plans and material issues. Teal just smiles and shows to her mother that all of what her mother is talking about is unimportant. Then Teal says, “Come with me somewhere please.” The mother looks confused but follows. Cut to: Teal and mother are walking in the woods of Act II.

ENDING 3:
Teal approaches her mother who begins pestering and worrying about unimportant plans and material issues. As the mother goes on and on, Teal looks around the room and sees an element from a painting pop out and fly across the room to become part of another painting. Teal smiles.

in the meantime:
http://www.echomech.com/clients/thecode/webbanner1.swf

The past few weeks, I have been working with Morgan Welch on a short film titled “Writer’s Block.” We shot it in the very last few days of December 2007, here in Jackson, MS at my house. Blair Bingham starred as the main character who basically faces the challenges associated with writer’s block, procrastination, and distractions. She is a young writer who has a deadline coming up, and struggles to find the story. In the end (SPOILER!) she actually writes the story that has just been viewed (of all the obstacles involved with writer’s block that she experienced leading up the her realization.)

Morgan wrote the script, both of us directed it, and I produced it. Jack Whitley operated as our gaffer and sound man. We shot and edited in HDV 1080i in Premier Pro. The running length is 6:00 minutes exactly with music by TTOCCS REKARP (Daniel Guaqueta).

In early April, we hope to premier the short at Crossroads Film Festival 2008. Until then, though, you can look at the web version below.

Please comment if you liked it, hated it, saw a mistake, have a question, or need to ramble to the world.Thanks for everyone who was a part of this. Morgan and I are planning on shooting another short before the summer that involves lots of people and some brilliant ideas.

Using watercolors and ink, I have been creating lots of these abstracted mutilations of nature/man, chaos/structure, etc. I now want to figure out a way to take these (or rather new ones I will do in the future) and animate them in video. This will mainly used in a series of videos I have to create for Adv.Studio art class at Millsaps. I dream of combing video in narrative film format with an actor that discovers/experiences a new world full of colorful, organic, lovely things, which will be the composition of the animation of these watercolor/ink pieces. If you have any ideas, please comment!

My plan at the moment is to scan in the watercolors, one color at a time, scan in the lines, one line at a time… them arrange them in a composition on the computer in many layers instead of doing the whole thing in one flat piece on paper. … I don’t know… we’ll see.

I am a visual artist in Jackson, Mississippi that is in college as a Digital Arts major, Film concentrate… constantly working, creating, and moving forward.