Super Indie Project: The Sinful South | Day 01

ONE DAY DOWN

What am I getting myself into? The answer to that is quite simple. And only I and those like me can answer it. The reason, for us, for me, is because we have to. We've got to. And we asked for it.

My name's Silas James Rowland. I consider myself to be a film director, screenwriter, and over all American badass. No, I don't direct porn. No, I will never shoot porn. (Unless poncho's are supplied.) Even then, no, that's not what I do or what I am associated with in any way whatsoever. It's always the punch line when I establish that I make movies. "What kind of movies," they ask. Not those of course. That applies to the majority of filmmakers alike I can imagine. I'm not special. There's nothing that sets me aside from any of the others out there in the cold, frail world, attempting to make it in the film industry.

Looking for a break through, we aimlessly fight for a chance to be seen. There's millions of you's and me's. Or maybe there's not. I like to think that I have the chemical imbalance that allows me to tread forward and continue through thick marshes despite the likeliness of impossibilities. A dreamer remains idle in action and is ignorant to hardships and the impracticality of success. I was a dreamer for a while. Although I dream often still, my follow up to the process of imagination is that of action.

I remain ignorant to my chances in regards to "making it big". I acknowledge it time to time. It has to be understood. And is. It has to start with "making some movies". So let's have some fucking fun creating a fucking movie. And that's what I'm about to do because I've about fucking had it with waiting.

Who's with me? Then let's fucking go.

Back at it... What am I getting myself into? 

Months ago, The Sinful South started as a thriller that would stick true to the genre. After months of working on a script that didn't seem to work, it struck me that I needed to take it in a completely different direction. Instead of playing with dark tones that progressively got worse, I decided to stick to my roots; exaggerating scenarios, tons of humor, and bullet proof duct-tape. With that, I like to incorporate an, "oh shit, we're human and this could be really bad for us all," momentum within my stories.

Now the script does have some high intense, dark moments, but more than anything it's shrouded with hi-jinx that the protagonist brings upon those around him giving it more of Pulp Fiction/Ferris Buellers Day Off feel. It's extremely over the top and that's what I personally like to see and do. It's a movie. I'm not saying make it utterly unreal to the point of no return but do play with that line of actuality and maybe sort of kind of. A movie is made to take us somewhere else. Show us something else. 

The Sinful South follows Kyle, a heir to a criminal empire, who brings chaos to the worlds of those left behind by his imprisoned father. Told from various perspectives, we get to see the many things that could happen in the dirty south, and what it would be like if they went down in the worst way possible. Jumping around on a time line, we start in the heat of all that is going on without really knowing why. Through flashbacks and jumps forward, we use the element of confusion intentionally to sway the audience deep in thought on the premise of - who's fucking who and who's fucking who?

JULY 25?! How the hell am I to do that?!

Two weeks before June is when I really started to get the idea that I was going to go through with this. I've only shot one scene and you're telling me it's June 6?! Holy shit. I better get off of here and go film now or the only thing I'm going to be premiering on my 21st Birthday is a black screen. 

THE GOAL

Make a feature film during the month of June whilst editing as I go and then premiere that said film on July 25, 2017 at the Camelot Cinemas in Greenville, SC.

PROMISES OR PROMISE

I will succeed. More than a promise, it is a mentality. 

Let's break this puppy down with the process as to how I plan on achieving such a feat:

1. SHOOT 8 DAYS (7 Days Now) - 10 TO 12 PAGES A DAY
2. EDIT BETWEEN PRODUCTION DATES
3. PROMOTE THE PREMIERE NOW AND THEN WITH TRAILERS TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO THE SHOWING
4. SHOW THE FUCKING MOVIE ON JULY 25

That's about as complex as I'd like to keep it. There's much more to it. I'll cover that over the course of kicking this movies ass. Stay positive Silas. 

Lesson's Learned From Day 01: 

1. Don't forget to shotlist no matter how well you think you know what you want. The sun will consume you. 
2. Don't let the sun consume you. You will become disgruntled in front of cast and crew. This was the first time that this happened to me in a long time or even ever. I was yelling at myself out loud. I've never been so damn hot in my life and luckily everyone was willing to ride it out because they were being consumed just the same.  It got ugly.
3. If you think deeper about what you want, you'll get what you want. 
4. Don't compromise (too much). 
5. Don't forget to shotlist no matter how well you think you know what you want. The sun will consume you. Yes, again.

The next shoot date isn't set in stone but the general idea of when it will all take place is floating somewhere. Let me get the hell out of here and take care of that. I've got a goal to conquer.