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A Dream in a Thumbnail - Cyberspace Filmmaking Dawns
By Varda Hardy (writer/director of Runaway Stars)
(August 2008)
I sat before an illuminated screen in a room on a planet the size of a millet husk. The planet floated in outer space. I taped a white index card next to my desk. On the card, I had scrawled, "A film should be more like music than fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, that's what's behind the emotion; the meaning comes later." The ink on the card has already faded from the intensity of the late afternoon sun that rips across my keyboard, but Stanley Kubrick's advice stays with me.
My newest work, Runaway Stars, is a 16-part webisode series that delves into the emotional lives of an emerging band called Runaway Stars. Commissioned by Deepak Nayar and Sandy Grushow's Filmaka and produced by Patrick S. Bennett, Karen Lavender and William Swann, Runaway Stars is born of an evolutionary leap. The kind of leap powerfully demonstrated in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Remember when, in an extraordinary evolutionary moment, the "Ape Man" picks up a bone and, for the first time in mankind's history, uses a tool? Remember how in celebration he tosses the bone in the air, where it spins in contemplative slow motion? Well, when I received an e-mail from the Filmaka team asking me to submit ideas for a webisode series and a few weeks later received another e-mail asking me if I would like to make the series, I became part of a new evolutionary leap thrusting me forward out of the constraints of Hollywood into the infinite possibilities offered up by cyberspace. I threw my pencil in the air. It spun at 120 frames per second, then landed, obsolete, next to my keyboard. I typed in my response: "YES, THANK YOU."
The executives at Filmaka didn't know what kind of car I drive, who I know or don't know, or whether I drink my cappuccino wet or bone dry. I endured no pitch meetings, no story conferences, no skeptical appraisals of my slender build and playfully feminine personality. I sent them an idea: a series about the emotional lives of an emerging band. They liked the idea, and, with a few taps on my keyboard, the deal was struck. I would be creating media for Deepak Nayar, the producer behind international hits like "Bend it Like Beckham" and "The Buena Vista Social Club."
My belief that anything is possible in the face of impossibility combined with our extraordinary vehicle of global communication - the Internet - made this evolutionary leap possible. I am today's "Ape Man." By sheer coincidence, in the tenth episode of Runaway Stars, the band plays a song called "Great Ape Minds." Appropriately, the song first appears in the bandleader's dreams. Sung by his best friend and lead guitarist, Kubrick, the song delves into what it means to be a "Great Ape" today. The founding members of the band are obsessed with Stanley Kubrick, and the legendary filmmaker has a pop influence on how they see themselves in the world.
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During the Runaways Stars shoot, I would close my eyes and send out a request to Mr. Kubrick: "Free me from my concepts and ideas so that I can take advantage of this unique moment in time when creative freedom reigns." Because webisodes are a brand new form, there are no conventions defining how long each one should run, when and if there should be a turning point, what genre it needs to be, how many characters and locations it should average, etc. You can't peg down Runaway Stars. It is cross-genre, a guilty pleasure. It is drama, comedy, musical, magical realism, homage, coming-of-age. The content dictates length, and each webisode ranges from 2.5 minutes to 5 minutes.
This evolutionary democratization of film seeps into every aspect of our production. Emerging young actors like Melissa Leigh, Laura Ornelas, Nana Kagga, Oliver Goodwill, J.R. Nutt and Leon Fazzio seize this opportunity to engage wholeheartedly in defining this new form. The actors use their musical skills for the first time; they compose and perform the six original songs that appear in the webisode series. Thirteen-year-old Raven Bennett writes lyrics that are produced and performed only days later. It's a magical ride.
In a progression of moods and feelings, Runaway Stars uncovers the profound influence of desire on our everyday lives. Mr. Kubrick, you realized your dream in 70mm Cinerama glory, paving the way for me to wake up to the dawn of a new cyberspace age where, thanks to Filmaka, my dreams are coming true in a thumbnail. Thank you, sir. -MPM
Link to Runaway Stars's website within Filmaka.com (streaming begins August 28, 2008).
Runaway Stars is a 16-part webisode series presented by Filmaka in association with Ravensong and LiveTribe Productions. It was created by Varda Hardy, executive produced by Deepak Nayar and Patrick S. Bennett, produced by Karen Lavender and William Swann, written and directed by Varda Hardy. It stars Oliver Goodwill, J.R. Nutt, Leon Fazzio, Laura Ornelas, Melissa Leigh and Xander Cardinale.
Photos courtesy of Varda Hardy.
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