Notes on "Second Star"

I don't want to give away too much info or clues because I want the story within the film to remain open to interpretation.

Reactions have been mixed towards this project. Not many people have seen it yet (under 100? as of this writing) but I know that some people have enjoyed it, "got" it, and some people it's not making a good impression on.

Fair enough.

It was meant to be the film equivalent of a punk song--not something polished, lovely, and sugary. The ragged edges, for this project, I think make sense. The film came out feeling the way it was supposed to.

"Second Star" is an ugly little film and it was created to be as such. I value the fact that viewers (some friends, some not) have been honest when it comes to praising it or saying "Ugh! No!" to it.

The story.

More than anything, people have asked about the story. "Second Star" is full of references and allusions (both painfully obvious, obscure, and some double-meanings). If you want to go full-out "Di Vinci Code" with this ragged, little indie short, you could have a field day in that respect. The symbols and allusions are very much there and this film, when it boils down to it, is much, much darker than some viewers may initally realize. What exactly does the film mean? And what happens it in?
If you like the film or you're about to watch it or you want to watch it again, consider these questions:

Does The Girl actually have an encounter with the supernatural or is she just hallucinating? Is it a bad drug trip? Or, maybe, was she just dreaming? Or, maybe, a mixed up combination of all the above?

The Boy......is he actually a real character in the story? Or is he just a memory or amalgamation of past lovers; an idealized synthesis of long-lost boyfriends? Is he an interactive flesh-and-blood person or is he just a symbol? Is The Girl just imagining that he's there with her? Was he ever there at all?

The fairies....or demons....or figments of the imagination.....or people that The Girl knew in the past who reminded her of storybook characters from her childhood, who now, have morphed into confusing outside entities?

"Second Star" is lost in a narrative haze. What do you see in the fog?

What happens to The Girl? Does she freeze to death, alone, in an alley in the middle of winter, in the middle of the night? Is it all nihilism, doom, and gloom? Is her life over? Or are the bells chiming to wake her up--to strip away the past--to move on? Is a period of her life over?

And what is the film about? Aging? Fighting emotional demons? Regret? Drugs? Lost innocence? Lost potential? The cruelty of nature? Of occurance? Of history? The supernatural?

Is it all metaphor? Or should the scenes be taken literally? A mix of both?

I can definitely tell you this but I won't constrict the storyline into my own interpretation:

"Second Star" is about endings. Endings also lead to new beginnings as they always have and always will. A huge inspiration for the project, I've come to realize, is The Velvet Underground song, "All Tomarrow's Parties". The film is not about a party, but about the end of a party. Or the end of many parties. It's about disasters of conciousness and fallouts of the human heart.

The gradual, ugly decay of a personal civilization--an internalized Fall of Rome.

The film created itself. A muse came to me, punched me in the face, and said "Hey! I want you to make a short film, using Peter Pan as the basis, and have it be about......". I needed to make this film, to tell this story. It's actually helped me deal with some things that happened to people that I knew, some things that have happened to me, people that I had in my life, people who changed, things that I've felt or feared and things that others close to me have felt or feared. When an idea comes on that strong, and that clear, the right thing to do is to honor it and aid it into creation, whether it's nice, sweet, polished, and filled with story hooks OR if it's gritty, weird, awkward, a bit mean, a bit silly, with a multifaceted narrative ax to grind.

Sometimes you have to do what you're told. And now there's the short film, "Second Star", out there for you to see and for you to see in it what you will. The story doesn't belong to me or my friends or J.M. Barrie or to Greek mythology. The story in "Second Star", this ugly little modern fable, now belongs to you for you to tell it to yourself in whatever way makes the most sense to you.

"Second Star" press release

All information and photography below can be used freely by journalists, bloggers, periodicals, websites, etc. for the purpose of promotion, mention, or critique of the Addovolt Productions short film "Second Star" by director Derek Quint.

The film, on Youtube, is right HERE.

.........

Chicago indie film house Addovolt Productions has released their new project online for free viewing. "Second Star", a 10-minute short film, is a dark tale that takes place on New Year's Eve. Inspired by J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan", the film tells the story of a troubled young woman who is unable to differentiate between reality, memory, and fantasy.  The film is now online to watch on Youtube.

Writer-director Derek Quint says, "The film is somewhat based on people I knew and it's kind of a warning fable; not so much about drugs in particular, though it does touch upon that, but more about how hard it is to keep control of one's self, how difficult it can be to let things go, and how quickly time passes. More than anything, it's a story about time, selfishness, possessiveness, and cruelty. The script seemed to write itself and, clearly, there are story aspects of 'Peter Pan' that are incorporated throughout 'Second Star'. I've always thought that 'Peter Pan' had some deeply sinister, subversive elements to it. This project gave me a chance to play with a classic story while also creating a unique film that has depth and emotional resonance to it."

poster image by Derek Quint

Stephanie Sylvester as The Girl in "Second Star" short film.  photo by Derek Quint

Stephanie Sylvester as The Girl and Troy Zitzelberger as The Boy.  photo by Derek Quint

Andrew Bochniak as Peter.  photo by Derek Quint

Brittany Collins as Bell.  photo by Derek Quint

"Salome" press release

The film can be viewed HERE.

All information and photography below can be used freely by journalists, bloggers, periodicals, websites, etc. for the purpose of promotion, mention, or critique of the Addovolt Productions short film "Salome" by director Derek Quint.

.............

Even after all these years, Salome still dances for the head of John the Baptist.

Adapted from the 1891 play of the same name by Oscar Wilde, this experimental art film takes creative ques from a number of sources--Babylonian wall reliefs to Flemish Renaissance paintings to Robert Mapplethorpe photographs--in order to create a bizarre and hallucinagenic viewing experience.

Chicago indie director Derek Quint says, "'Salome' is an old story that's been told innumberable times through different mediums. I saw the story differently because of the Oscar Wilde play and I wanted to express these characters in a way that is rarely done. My goal was to emphasize the isolation of the title character and how emotional experience lead her to do what she does to the holy man. Salome is always portrayed as this fire-breathing femme fatale but, in the Wilde play, she's shown in a completely different light. I wanted to stick close to the spirit of how she and the John the Baptist character were envisioned by Oscar Wilde. I love this story and it was great to be able to do a short film adaptation that can be viewed by anyone anywhere. That's what makes the internet so great. The names and story associated with 'Salome' are kind of stuck in the back of the mind of pop culture but not everyone is familiar with how they all piece together or what exactly happens in the story. Now they can watch my short film and see a quick adaptation that keeps all the major details. The film is pretty weird which suits the surreal mood that's established within the play."

The "Salome" short film is now online to be freely viewed. Visit the Addovolt production blog at Addovolt.blogspot.com or simply Google "salome short film addovolt".

"Second Star" short film

Watch the film HERE. The press release for this project is HERE. Director's notes about the project are HERE.

"Second Star" was first screened at Chicago's Space 2941 in December 2010.  It has been featured on The Critic's Word, Queeramblings, Buzz Magazine, Tube Tide, Big Gay Horror Fan, and Fangs, Wands, and Fairy Dust.

"Darkly enticing, 'Second Star' brings urban fantasy to the Peter Pan story. In the seedy, forgotten depths of Chicago, youths commingle for a mysterious party. Derek Quint's film spookily meanders through reality and fantasy, leaving the viewer with a chill and hunger for more."
--K. Kriesel, Queeramblings

"....the director, Derek Quint, follows a guerilla film style for a very realistic opening. For someone living in Chicago, it’s something you witness nearly every day, but are rarely a part of the way it is shown to us here. Once the party begins I liked how drastically the tone and atmosphere changed. This noticeable difference takes us in to a surreal cycle of events--we can’t be completely sure what’s real and what’s not, much like our protagonist, who is scared and lost in the world she finds herself in.

The bending of fiction and reality is among my favorite themes that can be explored through film. It’s the perfect medium to do so.....'Second Star' takes advantage of this exploration and experiments with the characters' psyches.

The director writes that he isn’t completely sure what happens, how it ends, or what is reality and what is fiction, which emphasizes the importance of the experience relating to 'Second Star'; it really doesn’t matter what happens because the story since it's about something much larger. It’s up to you to decide what that is."

--Kelsey Zukowski, The Critic's Word

"Intriguing, Ambitious"

--Zach Zimmerman, Buzz Magazine

"How many times has Big Gay Horror Fan hoped to stumble upon a forbidden warehouse on New Year’s Eve and find some cutely smooth stud, waiting within, to seduce me? Well, honestly, never. But the thought did cross my mind after watching Derek Quint’s beguiling short, Second Star.

In Second Star, two transient youths, fighting their way to warmer climes, run into a mysterious benefactress of sorts on a subway tunnel. Accepting an invitation to spend the evening with her, they soon find themselves locked into a willowy game of seduction and intrigue.

Writer-director Quint creates a moody dreamscape, here, with seemingly no budget. Images of fairy tales, elusive realities and those creepy party scenes from Rosemary’s Baby and Midnight Cowboy enter one’s mind upon viewing. Most importantly, Quint makes you wonder what really goes on in the dream world of those forced onto the streets for survival, making Second Star a sociological statement as well as an artistic one.

Featuring a solid cast, with BGHF favorite Heather Dorff (What They Say, Afraid of Sunrise, Mother’s Blood) and the truly delicious Andrew Bochniak making indelible appearances as a pair of glittery masked wraiths, Second Star also features some story driven boy on boy action – a true holiday gift to the guys like me and the girls who love them, everywhere!"

--Brian Kirst, Big Gay Horror Fan

"Inspired by J. M. Barrie’s 'Peter Pan', this dark tale definitely has a weird, confusing, ominous vibe and I honestly had no idea what was going on the entire time but I knew (from experience) that my reactions were normal and it was supposed to be unusual for a reason. It's not for everybody but what film is really?"

--Julie Harber, Tube Tide
.....................

"Second Star" created itself very quickly. I just organized the project so that it happened. It won't be everyone's favorite film of mine but I feel that most adults will be able to relate, in some capacity, to the themes within the film.

The story takes place on New Year's Eve in which a troubled young woman is unable to distinguish between reality, dream, and hallucination. J. M. Barrie's book, "Peter Pan", informed and inspired the project along with an old English ghost story and modern, urban myth and nonfiction.

I'm not really sure what happens in the film--I've never had that occur with any other project that I've done before. I have no idea what actions take place in it or how it actually, truly ends. If you're not able to tell what is reality and dream within it, that's fine because I don't know either.

I feel that this is the darkest film that I've ever made and I leave it up to the viewers to decide for themselves how they feel about it and what actually happens within the story.

It was (understandably) a relatively strange project to shoot. Thanks to the actors for doing such a beautiful job and thanks, especially, to the "party guests" who kept the mood upbeat and the shoot easy.
"Second Star", a short film by Derek Quint

Stephanie Sylvester as The Girl

Troy Zitzelsberger as The Boy

Brittany Collins as Bell

Andrew Bochniak as Peter

Heather Dorff as The Siren

Talia Borgia, Jamie Dounou, Emily Gajek, Maura Hearrin, Valerie Lyvers, Monica Okoniewski, and Adam Roker as Bell's Guests

Special Thanks to: Ben, James, Matt, Sarah, and Johann Sebastian

"Second Star" was first screened for Dark Room no. 1 at Space 2939 in Chicago on December 17th, 2010.

The Long "Danse"....

I have a secret:

For a moment, right before we were about to shoot "Danse Macabre", I thought about doing a feature-length version of the story instead of having it be a short film.

It would have involved Count Dracula, The Blue Bride, The Red Bride, and The Gold Bride staying at some presidential suite in a hotel while they're in town for the masquerade ball and for Dracula's business meeting. Was it a business meeting that he was actually going to or was he trying not to worry the girls and actually about to sign a secret truce with the Vatican in a neutral city?

Was the whole kidnapping/assassination attempt a way of the Vatican trying to avoid the meeting and simply eliminating their enemy altogether?

Hmmm....

Maybe so;)

In the longer version, we would have learned much more about the fiasco that the characters endure.

I know that we definitely would have seen much more of the over-the-top decadent undeathstyle of the vampires (their rooms, multiple costume changes, their thoughts, intents, regrets, and how you spend your freetime when you're 800 years old)......

Maybe....there would have been a situation in which the young nun tries to ransom Dracula's release in exchange for turing her into a vampire and having him all to herself.....

.....maybe we would have seen the bits of chaos that break out in the hotel when the Transylvanians have some hotel employee snacks before the Halloween party.....

....maybe we would have learned about the contention between the 3 vampiresses.....

....maybe (certainly) we would have learned more about the Vatican agents, the cruelty of the main priest, and how deeply unprepared they were for their mission......

.....and maybe Dracula, himself, would reveal more of his motives. Has he really softened so much over the years or is he more ruthless than ever but just hiding behind a more pleasant form? Was he truly helpless within that chained-up box or was he using this absurd situation as an opportunity to test his three wives?
Maybe this film, as much of a ridiculous comedic romp as it is, contains a deeper, not-so-dark allegory wrapped in its stale candy shell?

Well, some of those things are hinted at with the 11 minutes and it gives the fans of this short film some thoughts to chew on while watching it so watch closely and you'll see glimmers of those submerged plot points.

Also, before we filmed, I thought to myself: "You know, this will have to stay a very quick short because we don't have the time or the money right now to do this as a feature-length."

And I was right. Because, yeah, we didn't have the time or money to expand the project. Too late now.

But.....it's fun to think about the larger story that was possibly maybe meant to be folded within the short film "Danse Macabre". So, the next time you want to see these goofey characters running around Chicago, try watching the film with these thoughts and possibilities in mind.

"Danse Macabre" short film/Halloween Special

Our short film, "Danse Macabre", is finally finished.

Click HERE to watch it. Feel free to rate and comment.

"Danse Macabre" premiered online November 2nd, 2010.  It has been featured on Obscuro!, Horror Cult Films (UK), Goth Triggers, Big Gay Horror Fan, Lucretia's Reflection, A Dream of Dracula, Fuck Yeah Cult And Indie Films, and Dark Matter Zine among others.

"A fun little piece of independent filmmaking"
 --Obscuro! Films

"Screen it at your Halloween bash."
--Dark Matter Zine

"I enjoyed this a lot."
--Fuck Yeah Cult And Indie Films

"Campy Halloween Fun"
--Lucretia's Reflection

"A beauteous wonder......with humor and screwball energy"
--Big Gay Horror Fan

Director's Notes:

This project was a pretty crazy shooting experience, kind of expensive, stressful, strange, cold-- a lot of a lot. But, OF COURSE, it was worth all the adventure!


The plot can be summed up, fully, in one sentence:

  Count Dracula and his 3 brides are on their way to a masquerade ball in an American city on Halloween when they run into some trouble with a vengeful troupe of Vatican agents sent to track them.

And there you have it.

The entire point of this project was so that I could be indulgent (what else is new....) and create my own Halloween Special in the spirit of so many of the ridiculous/amazing/irreverent yearly TV programs that I enjoyed when I was a kid--to do something that felt like it had been around forever, something that you can laugh with and at while also having a true bit of that darkly delicious Halloween magic to it. "Danse Macabre" is a short film inspired by a full range of different influences: "Hocus Pocus", "The Worst Witch", "Teen Witch", "Garfield's Halloween Special", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", and then "Adventures in Babysitting", "The Goonies" (c'mon, it's obvious), and so on.

"Mystery Science Theater 3000" was watched a lot before I started shooting as was Fellini's "Juliet of the Spirits" and "Casanova" as well a few 1960's Russian fantasy films (if you're not familiar with the film version of "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" from director Aleksandr Ptushko, for example, that film and its ilk are highly entertaining and very, very artistically inspiring). Emily Gajek's Gold Bride character, especially, was designed as an homage to the types of heroines and disenchanted princesses that traveled through those gaudy, vintage Russian fantasy epics.

But my film is just some goofey, little, short indie film--nothing as spectacular as its influences. But I still like the way it turned out and it's certainly a lot of fun to watch, the actors are terrific, and it came out the way that it was supposed to.

Of course, the classic Camille Saint-Saens composition initially inspired this whole project and I wanted to have my go at it in the sense that the film is a visual suite created to accompany the 7-minute 1872 "Danse Macabre" piece. Other suitable music pieces by Chopin, Beethoven, and Strauss helped flesh out the narrative. When the adventure kicks into gear, so does the centerpiece composition--Saint-Saen's "Danse Macabre". When that piece ends, so does the finale.

Visually, the film that we watch online has been degraded by multiple transfer generations in order to wear down the footage, fuck it up a bit, give it that "when was this made?" feeling--as in what dark corner of 1987 did they drag this out from? The colors and settings were adjusted repeatedly to give it that unhealthy, acid green tonality. The film succeeds in looking retro, strange, and worn-in and (yes!) seems indistinguishable from the kinds of strange cult shows that inspired it. I wanted this project to feel like you used to watch it all the time Back In The Day and that you found this footage on a VHS tape that's been hiding under your basement couch for a decade or two.

In the "Danse Macabre" short film, the Vatican agents speak in Italian and the Dracula family speaks in Romanian--as they would if they were meeting for a surprise showdown in an American city. Having them speak languages besides English (i.e. speaking their native languages instead) accentuates the other-ness of these foreign visitors and plays with the old film tradition of not-quite-there translations and questionable voice dubbing that many of us enjoy. The Italian clergy members, and their Eastern Bloc enemies, are NOT your nextdoor neighbors. These silly undead aristocrats, as well as their holy adversaries, are appropriately alien to American viewers and their language demands your heightened attention in order to understand their motives and emotions. So lean in closer because they are not like you and I.

All elements of the production, from the sound to the visuals, were adjusted and worn down in order to heighten the low-budget, funky, tin machine sensibility that I was going for. The cheesier, the better while also having a subtle sincerity regarding what the characters are experiencing. After all, this film is about a kidnapping followed by a slaughter--they're still real characters and it's not their fault that they are, and the situation that they're in is, preposterous. I was happy that I was able to get that queasy mix of complete ridiculousness with bits of genuine feeling--it makes people a bit uncomfortable which I enjoy. "Danse Macabre" is clearly a broad comedy but also has some heart to it.

Overall, I hope that you enjoy this corny little adventure and that you watch it every Halloween or whenever you like. And it's quite possible that there's more than meets the eye with this short film.....if you think so, read HERE.

To everyone who worked on this film, THANK YOU a million times over--I know that this wasn't the easiest or most simple project to dive into but you guys totally understood what I was going for for this and you knocked it out of the park. Amber Morrow, especially, thank you for doing double-duty; playing a role (perfectly) AND doing the gorgeous and subtle job on the actors' hair and makeup. When it comes to independent films, especially, the cooperation and talent of the small team that you work with is especially important--I'm very fortunate to have a strong group of frequent collaborators to share projects with.

"Danse Macabre", a short film by Derek Quint

Emmi Chen as The Blue Bride
Emily Gajek as The Gold Bride
Amber Morrow as The Red Bride
Lee Wolf as Count Dracula
T. Finerty as Priest #1
Jackie McKethen as Nun #1
David Chatham as Priest #2
Britany Collins as Nun #2
Adam Roker as Unit 77 Driver
and
Michael Marius Massett as The Vatican Spy

Music:
"Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint Saens
"Polonaise" by Frederic Chopin
"Egyptian March" by Johan Strauss

Romanian Translations by Mircea Granescu
Italian Translations by Scott Williams

Voice Talent:
Anca Barsan-Cayro
Stefanie Foresta
Mircea Granescu
Scott Williams

Production:
Stefani Foresta
Derek Quint

Music Performances:
Kevin MacLeod
Felipe Sarro

Hair and Makeup:
Amber Morrow

"Salome" short film

Lots of bells and whistles to it. Dream cast to portray these classic characters. I feel so, so grateful to have found the right actors for this project which is a tall order in that regard. I truly think that Emily Gajek was the perfect young woman to play Oscar Wilde's version of this character. Ryan Tiderington is to die for as Jokanaan (a character that is usually NEVER done right for some reason); Jay Disney's Herod is pitch-perfect and unique while Julie Neuberg LaBant is fabulously wicked as Queen Heroidas. The supporting characters brought the weird, sealed-off tomb of the world established in this film to life and stirred up the perfect amount of trouble, shifting the plot into gear. Actors are what make films good, not the director. Some may disagree, but oh well.

A difficult but rewarding and educational film to make. I wanted to nail the desolate, melancholic tone of Wilde's play to the best of my ability which is why this film was structured to feel and look like a performance on a stage as well as a kind of expressionist film.

Watch the film HERE.

Production notes are HERE.

Photos, done by the wonderful Anna Tzyna, are HERE and HERE.

The press release about the project is HERE.

"Salome" premiered online in September 2010.  It has been featured on Film Threat, The Gothic Imagination, The Gothic Society, IOBA, and The DePaulia.

"Salome" revisited

A new re-edited, leave-it-alone version of my short film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "Salome" is HERE.

It's been polished over in some ways, roughed up in other ways.

I like this version--it's a lot closer to what I had originally envisioned with this project but I know that a few people will still probably like the older version better.

This revamp is definitely a lot spookier and even a bit more uncomfortable than the past one.

Ratings and comments are very much appreciated.

If you enjoy this project, send the link to your friends:)