The
short film “To Better Days” is comprised of 5 separate scenes. As
I wrote the scenes, I knew the brevity of scene, the vagueness of set
direction and the simple, if not tacit dialogue would appeal to the
filmmakers at
Rocket House Pictures.
Here, they would have a manageable script to work and endless
possibilities in the shoot. What I didn't realize at the time of
writing, February 2013, Portland, OR is that I would be directing
this film, I would be a filmmaker. These five scenes for me were an
experiment in writing of short screenplays and it was a sort of
catharsis for a younger time. I thought about all the missed
opportunities, lost loves, scary close calls and an uncertainty of
self that I knew at a much younger age.
Marion,
as a character came to me relatively quickly. I was walking to work,
in the rain, one night when I thought about her. I love to write
women. Women are the onion skins of possibility. One layer then the
next then the next then the next. Women can be heroic, subtle, tragic
and nearly godlike. Women can pull triggers of the guns of war and
women can birth the generations to come. I feel like the act of
writing women is just as dimensional as the women we all know. With
Marion, I really wrote three separate 'women' or in Marion's case,
three different times of her life. Initially, I saw a playful Marion
who can carry more weight than Atlas. If Atlas can hold the weight of
the world on his shoulders, I saw Marion able to hold Earth and Mars
and Venus. As I began to sketch the first scene, I saw a young woman
who balanced perfectly strength and vulnerability. I saw a woman who
was at once too wise beyond her years and as playful as a child. I
saw a character who was capable of love and kindness but also capable
of terrible, spiteful things.
Film
is a tedious process. The medium itself warrants this sort of tedium.
It can be no other way. To tell a story on film you want the biggest
impact from the script, from the actors, from the scene. It has to be
done again and again and again. The real magic, in all reality,
happens in the editing room. If you want to compare this process to a
piece of 'film' without this process, compare the best movie you've
seen this year with any fucking trite piece of shit reality TV that
goes on morning noon and night on nearly every channel on your TV.
Believe me, the tedium of setting up a shot, the shooting of a shot
and the editing of a shot is well worth the end product. I would
think the shooting of reality TV is probably pretty exciting and the
lack of art in it creates a tedium for the viewer. Anything you see
on reality TV you've seen over and over again since MTV's Real
World.
Rocket
House Pictures
is a small film and media company located in Denver. There are four
members on staff at Rocket
House Pictures.
There is no payroll department. The crew for “To Better Days” was
the above mention four member staff and four additional crew members.
The cast of the film is a startling five members.
We
spent four days shooting this five scene short film. Our locations: a
taxi, a outside bench, Kilgore Books, a patio and a hotel room. We
paid nothing for sets.
I
feel a certain level of commitment to the film itself. We've made
this movie from page to screen. Any film that gets made deserves an
audience if only to witness the miracle that a film can be completed.
I believe in Gio Toninelo as cinematographer, and I believe that he
has created a visually stunning movie. He and I have worked together
for years and, all willing, we will continue to work together for
many more.
I
feel a very resounding responsibility to the cast of this film. I
have every intention to further the careers of each and every one of
the actors of “To Better Days.” I think Andrew Katers is one of
the most talented and professional actors a director can find. He
worked tireless on character development, he choreographed the fight
scene, he helped rewrite bad parts of the script. Anyone who needs a
leading man, a handsome devil, dedicated worker, an insightful actor
and a martial arts fighter, give Andrew Katers a job. And Aeon Cruz.
Aeon Cruz is enigma. Aeon is a musician, actor, model, and artist.
Aeon is a quick study. She gains a quick master of character and
scene. She's the kind of person to simply “own it.” Aside from
all professional attributes I can give about Aeon, let me just say,
she's a joy to be around. She's funny, she's considerate and she's
quick to laughter. Of the other three actors: Alicia Barreti, Alfred
Ferraris and Mathias Leppistch, I hope to work with them again, and
in the meantime, I hope they find more work too.
Anthony ILacqua, writer/director of
“To Better Days”
