DVC23 - The Storyteller - Adam Snow

[Adam Snow]

Originally Posted by Toni Dolce

I was a little confused as to the mystery theme tie-in. Also, what was your original idea that you had to scrap?

In regards to the theme, mystery is prevalent in several areas. Below is the script and hopefully that will clear things up for you.

First, the writer's monolog takes us on a journey though the storytelling process. The writer is the "weaver of wonder", someone who creates a story in which there are unknowns that the viewer wants to have answered (they are curious about). [Really every story has mystery, that's why we watch a film or read a book... it's not nearly as satisfying if we already know the ending -- we yearn for the unknown].

"Layer by layer I pull you deeper into my web until my words consumes you. The bread crumbs I place ─ the clues to find your way out. They entice and torment you like the drip from a faucet slowly seeping into your mind. The hunger begins to overwhelm you. And as you sit in the darkness trying to make sense of the light the labyrinth grows around you."
I'm not sure I can be much more poetic about what the storyteller of a mystery does.

Mystery is also present in the surface level narrative as well. You have a guy bound to a chair with tape over his mouth. Who is he? Why is he being hit? Who is hitting him? And so on.
Unanswered questions that the audience wasn't to have answered are the underlying elements of any mystery.

Anyway, hopefully that helped clear things up a bit.
It was certainly my goal to not simply make a typical mystery -- as Lorinda said in her theme post: "[mystery], it’s the theme, not a genre" -- but to make the heart of the film about the theme of mystery while also using it as a loose genre.

And as to what I had to scrap, I had to trash my whole ending and twist. It was going to build and add characters he'd created whom would populate the room behind him... growing and growing until he reached for the camera and pulled to towards him. But basically sometimes actors can be a bit flaky and a couple didn't show up (without letting me know they weren't going to be there) so I had to make one of those on-set quick decisions.

Cheers,
Adam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPOKEN DIALOGUE IN THE FILM

The first line is always the hardest.

Admittedly, that one... was kind of weak.

Everyone's a critic.

I could do this all day.

So who am I? Am I a lead character? Supporting cast? Am I a hero? A villain? A stooge? A spy?

I'll tell you who I am? I am the weaver of wonder. My ink has the power to create cities or destroy worlds. I intertwine truth with lies. Questions with answers. Fact with fiction. Layer by layer I pull you deeper into my web until my words consumes you.
The bread crumbs I place ─ the clues to find your way out. They entice and torment you like the drip from a faucet slowly seeping into your mind. The hunger begins to overwhelm you. And as you sit in the darkness trying to make sense of the light the labyrinth grows around you.

It can be a struggle sometime this creative consumption. A battle that rages like clashing titans through the night. But you just roll with the [punches].

Poor choice of words.

But in the end my friend, I will prevail. I will bait you and tease you before I give you resolve. I've always been a fan of twists myself.

And just when you think you've figured it out; when the answers are within your grasp and your hand begins to close... that when the real game begins.

I am the storyteller. My world has no limits. No rules. No boundaries. I build these walls and I tear them down. Mystery. Suspense. These are my weapons of choice. I'll have you clinging to the edge of your seat as your heart pumps bullets through your veins like a drum inside your chest about to burst into a thousand burning embers. And then I'll bring you back.

And then in an instant it all becomes clear. Every twist. Every turn. Every piece finally fits. Checkmate ─ in this battle of wits.

[Sean Clancy]

Can't say anything that hasn't already been said. Great work very well executed.

[Lorinda Norton]

You had to do the camera push at the line, "...and then I'll bring you back." We would have felt really cheated, otherwise! It was very satisfying. :)

This piece took me back to creative writing classes in school, so I had to fight the night-before-the-paper-is-due reaching-for-strings-of-descriptors flashbacks. From a cinematic standpoint it is flawless, and the editing...oh, the editing...how I would love to possess even a fraction of your titling skill.

Thank you for joining us this round, Adam, with an intriguing and bar-raising entry. I sure look forward to seeing more of your work, and hope you can enter the DVC/UWOL Charity Challenge in December!