Boy Wizard on Studio 10

 Derek Dubois sat down for an interview with NBC10's Rosie Woods on Studio10 a few weeks ago. They discussed his latest project, Boy Wizard, and his approach to filmmaking in Rhode Island.

Breakneck Hill selected for 2018 Shawna Shea Film Festival

Breakneck Hill has been named an Official Selection of the 2018 Shawna Shea Memorial Film Festival.

The festival will take place from October 4th through the 6th this year. When scheduling has been locked, this page will update with more specific showtimes.

Breakneck Hill

Derek Dubois' latest short film Breakneck Hill has just been named an Official Selection of the 2017 Oasis Short Film Festival.

The film concerns David Allan Hugh is a lonely, middle-aged man on disability who loses his cat one day. The journey to find his lost pet takes an unexpected turn and changes the course of his life.

It is the shortest film Dubois has made to date, featuring a predominantly wordless performance from frequent collaborator Robert Casey, Jr and a great score from Flexotracks, LLC.

Derek Dubois Interviewed on DoubleFeature

This week, RI PBS's show doubleFEATURE will have an interview with Derek Dubois. The show, a 60 min. weekly series, is television magazine showcase for the art of film and the artists who create them.

Friday at 8 PM - 9 PM on RI PBS.

Episode description: This week on doubleFEATURE: our short films include “Jitensha” directed by Dean Yamada, from the United States; and “Chronicles of Courage,” by director, Ernest Mills from the United Kingdom. Plus, George Marshall interviews director, Derek Dubois.

Sinners on Saturday Night Shorts

The fabulous podcast, Saturday Night Shorts, focuses on Sinners as its most recent film of the week. SNS is a podcast devoted to the craft of short filmmaking; led by two very engaged commentators who spend significant time carefully reviewing and dissecting short films.

Their comments on Sinners are appropriate and inspiring.  Both hosts lauded the film's sound-design and compositional choices.  They also highlight key areas of opportunity in relation to unnecessary insert shots and some disagreements with character motivation.  All in all, the conversation is stimulating and insightful.

In fact, the podcast led Derek to revisit the film for the first time in two years.  Looking at what had been the final edit with fresh eyes, a new director's cut has emerged which shaves a full minute off of running time!

See the updated Sinners below.  Check out the Podcast HERE.

Derek Dubois to be Featured in Peer-Reviewed Film Journal

This fall, Derek Dubois will once again appear in print in the peer-reviewed film journal SHORT FILM STUDIES which is published by Intellect LTD.  You can find more information on this wonderful journal at the following link:

http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=191/

Derek's essay, entitled "Cruel Summer: Decoding Subtext through Shot Design in The Beach" argues that filmmaker Dorthe Scheffmann's filmic style, specifically shot design via mise-en-scene and cinematography, adds additional layers of meaning to the story of two intimate friends in a startling dramatic conflict. 

Watch for publication this fall.  In the meantime, enjoy an excerpt from Sheffmann's short film which served as the basis for Dubois' analysis.

Sinners at BIFF 2015

Sinners has been named an official selection of the 2015 Boston International Film Festival.  The festival runs from April 16th through the 21st

For more information, please visit http://www.bostoniff.org/

Sinners - first trailer

Cinema Crazed Review of FALLOUT

The great folks over at Cinema Crazed have reviewed Fallout, noting:

“Fallout” is a wonderful character study and depiction of the family dynamic, and how it breaks down like every social structure once civilization has drawn to a close. “Fallout” become[s] a horrific, and tense experience. [The film] is a truly remarkable short film and I look forward to more from director Derek Dubois and the cast in the future. 

Read the full review HERE

Sinners - a short film

It's that time of year again and Derek Dubois is gearing up to shoot a brand new short film.  The film, Sinners, will be a tense 15-minute character study of an alcoholic priest confronting a crisis of faith in a community ripped apart by crime.

Film is a collaborative medium but it's also a medium with very high overhead costs.  We can't make a polished, mature film without your help.

For this project, we've turned to INDIE-GO-GO for help in crowd-sourcing funds.  The Sinners production is looking to raise $2000.00.  Please help if you can and spread the word!

Visit the campaign HERE

Fallout - Film Threat Review

 

The review site Film Threat has recently published a write-up of Fallout. The critic specifically calls out the role of sound design and cinematography and notes:

Fallout never seeks to explain away its mystery, only to find the emotions in the scenario and run them through their paces. The result is an overall uneasiness and confusion, but one that is acceptable and fitting concerning the stressful experience.

Read the full review HERE

Lucid - A Short Film

Filament Pictures is proud to present the premiere of Lucid.  Be sure to like the film's Facebook page (here)  and also like and comment on the film's Vimeo page (here).

2012 Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival

It is my pleasure to announce that Fallout has been named an OFFICIAL SELECTION of the 2012 Rhode Island International Film Festival.  The film will screen Saturday, August 11th at 6:00pm at the Bell Street Chapel Theater in Providence, Rhode Island.

The screening is expected to sell out.  If you're interested in attending please book tickets in advance.


Please visit the link below.  You'll be taken to the official RIIFF page with further information about the Fallout screening.

http://riff.festivalgenius.com/2012/films/fallout_riff2012_riff2012

An Analysis of Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier

Hotel Chevalier, the magnificent short-film that prologues Wes Anderson’s 2006 film The Darjeeling Limited, is an exercise in pure filmmaking. The 12 minute narrative-short utilizes all aspects of film form expertly to tell the story of Jack Whitman (unnamed in the film; played by Jason Schwartzman) in a desperate attempt to escape his past by hiding-out in the über-posh Parisian hotel of the film’s title. Once his ex-girlfriend (also unnamed; played by Natalie Portman) tracks him down, Anderson parlays their rendezvous from mere sexual escapade to a grander statement on the necessity of human connection and the healing powers of shared experience. Through the film Anderson plays subversively with the presentation of traditional western gender roles only to ultimately re-affirm the traditional stance by film’s end.

Hotel Chevalier's screenplay excels at telling us the real story visually, often revealing information that the principal characters leave unsaid (or, further, betrays what they've said). This separation between the film’s surface level text and its underlying subtext makes for a richer viewing experience forcing active viewing, rather than passive entertainment, as the viewer reads the layers of text searching for meaning in the story.

The film opens with a series of images that present the setting of the Hotel in all of its luxury. Jack is introduced lounging on his massively lush hotel bed in a sumptuous robe attempting (and failing desperately) to order a grilled cheese from room service in sub-par French. Instantly, through Anderson’s mastery of mise-en-scene and the comedic introduction of the character we can already surmise that he is a man on a mission of escapism. Jack wants nothing more than to belong to this world of pampered luxury, to feel important, but his inability to adequately perform the simplest of tasks immediately clues the viewer that he is not of this world.  He is an outsider.

The mise-en-scene of the scene cradles Jack in an aura of femininity. Everything from Jack’s lounging in a robe, his passivity, his long shaggy hair, and his pampering are images and symbols that signify associations with the feminine. The excessive yellow of the robe bleeds into the yellow of the bedding which further bleeds into the yellow of the walls and room thus dissolving the surroundings into one large womb-like environment that comforts Jack.  Anderson enjoys the use of the wide angle lens, subjects center framed, and very little movement in the beginning of this film. His camera contains Jack Whitman. Is Jack escaping through this hotel or is he now a prisoner of the fantasy he’s constructed in delusion for himself?

The phone rings, a catalyst for the story, and it’s his unnamed ex-girlfriend. Jack’s stammering again clues us into the idea that she, if not the sole reason for his elaborate fantasy, is part of the general world that he’s running away from. After she announces that she’s in the lobby and will be forcing her way to his room Jack begins playing the role of the 50’s housewife and dutifully scours the suite to perfection. Without yet seeing Portman’s character it is clear she is the aggressor in their relationship. He cleans, changes, prepares the perfect pop song serenade on his Ipod, and prepares himself - and the hotel suite - as a tableau of sorts for Portman’s character. Everything he is working towards is an outward presentation for her; a manifestation of the physical, something tangible. And then, in one glorious static shot that subjugates Schwartzman in a powerless low place in a largely empty frame, Anderson forces us and his protagonist to wait interminably as we hear Portman’s slow approach: elevator bell, footsteps, finally a knock at the door.

When the door opens and Portman’s character is finally revealed the image of a gender reversal is completed. She, the aggressor (so typically masculine) has arrived bearing flowers for her sweetheart. Her hair is cropped shorter than his. Her outfit, one of cool and neutral grays under a trench coat, is reminiscent of the 50’s husband returning home from work. She doesn’t greet Schwartzman with warmth but rather critiques his choice of music and then parades around his suite silently judging the various objects his character has collected in this escapade. The moment culminates with her march into the bathroom where she uses his toothbrush without permission. Once again the visuals are entirely telling the story here. Her actions reflect both a past intimacy (a willingness to share a used toothbrush) but also the aggression of just taking what she wants.

The two characters engage in a conversation that provides viewers with the exposition needed to connect the dots of the story. Here it becomes more clear that Jack has indeed severed all connections to his previous life. Still, rather than what’s being said it’s imperative to look at how Anderson is telling the story. The two characters are spaced apart dramatically far across the suite. When Jack is questioned about his motives in staying at the hotel, he begins a poor attempt to masquerade for dominance in the relationship. The moment begins visually with his debonair and careless chucking of the candy wrapper to the bed. In this hilarious moment one can virtually see the desperation in Jack as he tries to claw out of the hole that he’s dug.

Portman's character is the one to falter first in this game of dominance. She sidles over to him on the bed. The two lie down, space between them; yet edging closer every moment.  Suddenly, they are momentarily interrupted by the room service Jack had ordered at the start of the film. The back-and-forth aggression continues when Portman's character orders Jack to ask the waiter for a Bloody Mary; obviously she could have asked for it herself. The relationship is seemingly returning to exactly the same doomed archetypes these characters inhabited before the story of the film began. When the waiter leaves they begin passionately kissing and make their way back to the bed.

Jack sits leaving Portman’s character powerfully standing over him in the frame. But here is where Anderson begins to slowly bring the Black and White clear-cut roles to more of a gray area. To balance out the power Jack strips her of her clothes revealing a wounded body covered in bruises. Is it not possible that her arrival at Hotel Chevalier is her escape from her own life as well? One where she’s clearly dominated, physically, into a world where she can once again dominate? More dialogue is exchanged but again, in a moment Robert McKee would be proud of, the silences of the subtext reveal far more information than the lies the characters spew to each other. Even through Jack’s last ditch desperate attempt to regain a rigid masculine booster shot by promising after sleeping with her that “he would never be her friend” it’s so clear that he wants nothing more than the comfort of a warm body to defrost his isolation in this lavish hotel.

Ultimately the two do not consummate the relationship but Anderson has moved these characters through the span of twelve minutes into a complete reversal of where they began. When Jack asks his ex if she’d like to see his view of Paris, Anderson cuts to an extremely slow-motion tracking shot that presents a very naked Portman arched in a gloriously beautiful tableau. The shot carries the connotations of the Odalisque and reaffirms traditional masculine/feminine order in the universe of this film. With one final act of male chivalry, Jack clothes the nude Portman in his yellow robe. She, now the beautiful object of the eye presented for the camera, and he all dressed in black swaddling her in the luxury he has cast off.

 They make their way to the balcony and look out over the beauty of Paris, city of love, to comfort each other from the pain and misery they’ve both run away from. Will this night and their reconnection officially sever the fantasy that Jack has constructed for himself or will the two hole-up in the Hotel Chevalier until every last cent has been squandered? That is not for us to know…but to hope for.

Fallout - Trailer

Here is our trailer for my new film Fallout. Hope you enjoy. We're taking a delay in posting this one on line as we try to submit to various festivals over the coming weeks and months.

And please BECOME A FAN OF FALLOUT