Very Late Update

I've completely forgotten to post blog updates, and with the reminder from my producer, I am now continuing.  Generally, progress has been very different from other films in this class, because there is so much pre-planning involved.  First of all, our production has started before a single camera is picked up, with the writing and recording of the track for our film, "Midnight Radio".  Progress has been a bit mixed - at first, there were tracks being made every few days, but none of them felt like the right song to use in the film.  Some were too sad, some were too sweet, some were too 90's boom-bap.  Ultimately, after nearly a month, what it took was a bit of an accidental moment where we stumbled upon just the right sounds to create an appropriately noir hip hop track, featuring both older sampling techniques and modern programming and production.  Kevin has since laid down a saxophone, and Sam Askew will be bringing piano to the track within the week.

Pre-production for the film has now kicked into high gear.  We are nailing down locations, finishing finding the last couple actors, securing equipment, and will soon be starting rehearsals.  I intend to workshop with the actors before shooting day, to make sure that they are prepared to show up and know how to approach their characters.  Not having scripts means that running through the parts will be almost necessary before shooting.

We've moved all shooting to the 23rd, 24th and 25th, so we'll be filming fairly soon.  It's time to move into high gear.

Midnight Radio Script

I only wrote the script for the first few minutes of the film, as the rest of the film is intended to be more experimental and spontaneous.  I included brief outlines for the remainder of the film in my outline post.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/86551689/Midnight%20Radio%20script.pdf

Midnight Radio Outline

Midnight Radio Outline

Opening Narrative Sequence (4 of 15 minutes, also scripted)

• The communications officer, Sebastian, is found hanging in his control room.
• Darren Parker, another crew member, is tasked with manning the “night shift” in com.
  • He and his friend Davis discuss Sebastian's death.
• Darren is told to report his findings to the captain.
• Darren is scanning through frequencies and finds some sort of sound through the static.
  • Tries to hone in on it: It's a saxophone playing a slow dirge
• A specter of a saxophone player stands behind Darren, playing the song.
  • Darren runs out of the room, finds entire crew dead (Korean thriller style).
  • Disembodied voice proclaims that they have “skipped ahead” of script, says to proceed with unknown thing.
  • Entire band of specter musicians appear and play doom jazz amongst the bodies, providing the score for the film.
• Darren runs back into the communications room. He turns around and finds himself no longer in space or on a ship, but in a park on a stormy day.
• SEQUENCE OF VISIONS (rest of film)
  • Darren is directed to murder a couple which represent the memories of his own parents.
    • Ghostly masked director and film crew capturing events
    • Band still “scoring” the scenes
  • Darren sees visions of his wife as she is directed towards a different man and a different life
    • Director separates Darren from wife
    • Band still “scoring”.
    • Darren tries to attack the director, but he runs into a nearby building. Darren chases him.
  • The building is a club. On stage are the band and director. The director removes his mask and is revealed to be the image of Davis.
    • The director/Davis offers Darren a razor blade. Darren picks it up and it is a microphone.
    • The entire band breaks out into the final song to “score” Darren's demise. Darren sings with the group, becomes a part of them.
• When the song ends, Darren falls over. He is seen in his chair in the communications room, his throat cut open.

Darren Character Bio

Darren: A member of the research team sent out for a five year run in deep space. His parents died when he was younger, and he currently has a wife at home. After being away for so long, he gets worried about if he's been left behind by the he loves.  

Midnight Radio treatment

The year is 2246. Humanity has invested more into space exploration. There are crews who fly on several year long tours, sent out to explore and research findings determined to be worth investigation beyond simple probe research.

The crew of the ship Pilgrim has been out for five years, searching for bizarre frequencies found in an unexplored region of space, collecting as much data as possible. Their enlistment ends in one week, at which point they will enter cryo-sleep and begin their two year trip home.

After the unexpected suicide of the primary communications officer, maintenance crew member Darren Briggs is commanded to monitor frequency scanners for the next week. Around midnight, Darren picks up a frequency which sends him into a series of bizarre visions defined by trauma and insecurity.

Following Darren throughout his visions are a collective of ghastly musicians and a film crew who all act as though they are directing and scoring his visions.

He sees images of his mother and father's death, as though it were by his own hands. He sees images of his wife slowly slipping away from him. His life, his passions, his desires, are all presented to him and then stripped from him.

As the visions progress, the film introduces more and more musical elements, until by the end of the film it has turned into a complete musical.