The Argus sat down with senior Gabe Fries to talk about his upcoming film, “One Missed Call.” Fries was hesitant to describe the plot of the film, but did divulge that it will be a musical juxtaposing romance with the dullness of reality.
Bennett Wilson: Tell me a little bit about your project.
Gabe Fries: It’s a digital short, so it’s a film thesis. It’s a musical. It’s basically a love story that takes place over the course of 12 minutes, but I don’t really want to give away the ending.
BW: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
GF: It was actually based on my friend Joe Newman, who actually was a composer of the film. He had a fling over the summer. I was inspired by this romance that my friend had and decided to turn it into a movie.
BW: Did you write the script as well?
GF: Yeah, I also wrote the script last summer. I just kind of went over a few drafts of it. It’s basically a process where you meet with one of the film professors and revise it.
BW: As a film studies major, do you have to write a film?
GF: No, you don’t. I had taken a class on musicals last spring and I’ve always just really liked musicals and thought it would be fun. I thought it would be something a little bit different and a little more challenging, but also really fun for me to make and for audiences to see.
BW: How do you think it turned out?
GF: I’m pretty happy with it. It’s not perfect but it’s entertaining. My artistic intent basically comes across, I think.
BW: When you were thinking about cinematography, was there something that you were thinking about particularly?
GF: Definitely, every movie I have ever seen probably have influenced me a little bit. The songs themselves are inspired by the music of Stephen Sondheim. In terms of the visual and musical style and some of the ideas, the film is about the drabness of reality and then the joyousness of these musical numbers that kind of interrupt the reality.
BW: What was the most difficult part of the project?
GF: I actually think that writing the script was the hardest for me. I am better at translating my ideas into something visual than onto a page. The film cannot be longer than 12 minutes. It is hard to figure out how long it is going to be. I had to keep cutting out details, which was hard for me.
BW: Who do you think the main supporters of you and the film were?
GF: I definitely think my composer Joe was really helpful. In addition to composing the music, we live in the same house. I would always talk to him about the latest decisions I had made. Jeanine Basinger is somebody who I would occasionally talk to. I have taken a lot of classes with her. Her view of film in general and how directors work and the knowledge she’s passed on to me has definitely formed my view of how film works. And also, I showed my film to her.
BW: What do you think you have learned from doing this thesis?
GF: The director typically does more work than they should be doing. I was doing a lot of work figuring out food and things like that. I should have done more prior planning. I definitely got better at organizing a crew and working with actors. I definitely learned a lot about Final Cut, the [computer] program I used.
BW: What do you think the viewers will get out of the movie?
GF: Ideally, I hope that they are entertained by it and I hope that they understand the message I was going for. The ending is unexpected and I hope that people would think a little bit about why that is.
BW: How does it feel to be done?
GF: Good. When I first turned it in, I thought, ‘Oh, there’s this thing I could have changed.’ It’s this feeling of uneasiness. There are always second thought and regrets. I am happy with how it turned out.
BW: Are you going to send it to festivals?
GF: Most people do. I would like to send it to some big ones. If your film is shown at one of those, you could potentially make a deal with someone. I have to talk to professors this week to get their comments. I want to get their feedback to see if there is anything I need to change before sending it to the festivals.
BW: What do you think you are going to do after you graduate?
GF: Currently, I don’t have a completely set plan. I would be happy to do something else like work out in the woods for a little bit. My big thing is whether I want to go to New York or L.A. I definitely want to keep doing film in some regard. Also, I do a lot of theater on campus so I would want to do some combination of acting and directing but we’ll see where that takes me.
BW: Any final thoughts?
GF: It was definitely a cool process. A lot of people want this to be their magnum opus, but we’re seniors in college. We don’t have to make our masterpiece yet. We have these grand visions, but not all of them end up in your final film. As long as you end up with a film that works, you should be proud of it.
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