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Comic Gone?

I must confess to you, gentle reader, that ever since I have entered this crazy game of filmmaking, I have had but one goal. To win an Academy Award and make boatloads of money. However, recognizing that this goal is a tad to the lofty side, I have learned to settle for smaller, more realistic goals. One such goal is to have a film screen at the independent film festival at Comic-Con. You say that you have never heard of this....... how do you say, Comic-Con? Well, to put it in the simplest of terms, it is a very large comic book convention. To explain it using the terms of a comic book fan, it is nothing short of paradise, or so I am told. You see, I have never had the pleasure of attending Comic Con. Since I am being honest, and confessions seem to abound in this particular blog, part of my desire to participate in the Comic-Con independent film festival, is to have a semi adult reason to go to this giant playground. Only at Comic-Con could I truly let my inner geek go absolutely hog wild, and still be one of the most normal people in the room. It is the one place in the world where one could look at a life sized Spider-man statue, crouched and ready for action, say out loud "that is the coolest thing I have ever seen", and have those within ear shot nodding their heads in agreement, instead of shaking them in disgust. Over the years Comic-Con has grown from a few booths of people selling their old comics, to a full blown event. Now there are major celebrities who participate in the convention, to promote their latest films. It is a place where one can see classic comics, collectables, celebrities, get the latest news on upcoming films, hear the directors and actors talk about them, and so much more. Like I stated earlier, paradise.

Well, it was in the year of our Lord two thousand and four, that the great festival of geeks that is Comic-Con was brought to my attention. It came to my attention through my long time, childhood friend, Neal Barlow. Neal and I had both developed an interest in filmmaking and had been talking about working on a project together. We had discussed several different ideas, both original and fan based. In the end we decided that we would make a fan film based on the character of Nightwing. You say you're not sure who Nightwing is? Ah, gentle reader, you make me smile. I have so much to share with you. For those who don't know, Nightwing is the superhero alter ego of Dick Grayson, who was formerly Robin, of Batman and Robin. As the story goes, as Dick Grayson got older he felt a need to strike out on his own, and break free from the image of being a side kick. It was this story that Neal and I wanted to capture on film, or actually video in our case. Our goal was to make a film that resembled the comic book as closely as possible, and where better to show such a work of art to the world, but at the independent film festival at Comic-Con. So off we went, facing the unknown, learning as we went along, and dealing with drunk people who happened to wander into our alley shots crying "I want to be in the thing! I want to be in the thiiiiiinnng"!! Even the heat of the coming summer couldn't stop us, though it did nearly melt our lead actor who had to do actions scenes wearing a wet suit even as the mercury climbed well into the nineties. After much dreaming, planning, and hard work the film was finally finished, but the dream was crushed. You see, gentle reader, the year of our Lord two thousand and four was the first year that films depicting trademarked characters were not accepted into the festival. Comic-con had alluded me.

It was Neal again, who now, over five years later, put Comic-Con back on my radar. This time with an original screenplay that he had written and was directing. Zombies During Third Period... Again, was going to be my shot at being a part of the Comic-Con Independent Film Festival... Again. However, just between me and you, gentle reader, (and anyone else who has internet access and knows how to read), I'm beginning to fear that we may again miss the mark. We are halfway through the shooting schedule, having shot 15 of 30 days. I am confident that the footage we have shot will no doubt cut together and form a film worthy of Comic-Con. The real question is not one of quality, but one of time. Despite valiant effort by cast and crew alike, we have fallen three days behind, with Christmas right around the corner. The Comic-Con window for accepting submissions to the film festival opened yesterday, and will be firmly shut on March 15th. Will the film ever be completed? Without a doubt. Will it be in time to make Comic-Con 2010? I don't know. Will you keep reading this blog in order to find out? Well, that in and of itself, gentle reader, would be enough of a dream come true for me.

Comments

  1. Something to consider for next year:

    www.sjshortfest.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very, cool! Thanks for the tip. That looks like a pretty cool festival. Thanks again.

    PS - I hate backing up my data too.

    ReplyDelete

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