'The Senior Send-off"

As my senior year of high school comes to a close, and the production of my third film this school year begins, the need to make it FOUR finished films grows bigger by the second. After attending the Princeton Film Festival a few weeks ago with my father and producer, John Mosca, I studied a few of the entries to the festival, erecting the idea of having my last film of high school be a sweet, reminiscent piece; a reflection of my four years at Warren Hills Regional High School. Something that is like my grand slam out of high school, having the same punch as the final montage in Damien Chazelle's Babylon ('23), sparking bright colors and clips, serving as a homage to classic and modern-day cinema. But what I'm reminiscing isn't necessarily just cinema, it's what I once was, and soon became, once I found cinema. As many of you know, I was never a "cinephile" or an aspiring filmmaker-- I hated movies, and the idea of going to a theater made me feel sick. However, as mentioned before, my film teacher, in my sophomore year, had opened that door for me, as I peered in to a life of expression.

On the grounds of the first draft, which, at this point, I've written 9 pages of, it's been a balancing act so chaotic and confusing, it fits the description given by Kubrick-- "Like writing war and piece in a bumper car in an amusement park." I usually start writing my films by getting out one of my spiral notebooks, bulleting some basic information about the plot, characters, and general theme-- essential stuff. As for this film, which I've assigned the working title of Goodbye, Stranger (erected from corresponding title of '79 Supertramp song), I kinda dove straight in, taking no notes, but just off the head-high of entering the summer, and diving out of high school-- like Benjamin in The Graduate, from the pool onto Mrs. Robinson's body. I also began sampling music from Rex Orange County, who has established his sound as sort of a hybrid between soul, love/RNB, and jazz; which could be an artist who helps add depth to the aesthetic of the final days of the place that made you feel invincible for so long. From what I've written so far, I've subconsciously taken consideration and inspiration from Hughes' The Breakfast Club and Alexander Pane's The Holdovers-- forming my own "Bender" character, and establishing the alone aesthetic present in the snowy hills of Dartmouth.

Where the real trouble lay isn't necessarily in writing the movie, but fitting my 25 page limit, with roughly a month left of school to shoot the entire thing. Oh yeah, and don't forget fitting the dynamic and indicating continuity and change of the characters into the page limit/cutoff! Hence, the source of the tremendous pressure and stress. As I write, going through some mental barriers of my own, I presume the outcome of some of these stressors. In example, I can subconsciously hear Mrs. P, my film teacher, telling me something along the lines of, 'you know you only have a month to shoot this, right?' or 'I just don't want you to freak yourself out over this.' I love 'ya, Mrs. P, but really, I NEED to get this done.

The plan is to write up to the turning point in Bryan's (my "Bender") character tomorrow, then go from there. Maybe I'm better off writing past the 25 page-limit, then trimming accordingly after.

And don't forget-- I'm also working on putting together my third film, which has yet to reach the halfway marker in shooting.

Oh boy.

-Joey