Pirates' Gold - (Original)

Pirates' Gold was conceived from an assignment from my production class, a vague and simple scenario. I had the creative freedom to do whatever I wanted with it as long as I got the gist across.

Naturally, I was panicking, trying to figure out what I could do with this scenario:

Tanner comes around corner. After he has walked a few paces Kaidy, a black chunk of swift body, comes sailing out of the shadows and attacks him.

Hoey comes into foreground, sees something off, and stops, startled.

A long shot from where Hoey stands of the two struggling figures. 

We see Tanner fall as result of blow with blackjack or some other instrument and Kaidy bending over him.

Hoey races toward the two figures. When he gets half way to them, Kaidy, who is bending over Tanner, turns, sees him and, rising quickly, exits around corner. Hoey reaches Tanner and starts to bend down over him. 

Foreground by prostrate Tanner as Hoey bends over him. Tanner is not "out" but seems in a bad way. Hoey runs his fingers over Tanner's head feeling for fracture, and then with hands under Tanner's arm-pits drags him against wall or other prop in a sitting position. 

Foreground Hoey as he rises, puts two fingers in his mouth and whistles shrilly for help.

What I love about this scenario is the obvious relationship I could make with Hoey and Tanner. So the story I came up with ties with my M.O. of realism, humanism and drama.

I decided to do a story about two brothers and a secret that almost tears them apart. I do not condone not am I against homosexuality, but it is one of the biggest issues that people face today. I thought I'd get out of my comfort zone and try something a bit raw.

One of the best parts of this shoot was that it was done in four hours, with three actors I randomly put together. It was fun because everyone really wanted to be a part of it, and no one was complaining. It makes a big difference when your collborators WANT to be a part of your stuff.

The biggest challenge was creating a tie from the story to the title I was given: Pirates' Gold. It had NOTHING to do with the scenario at all, so I made it all relevant.

Pirates' Gold was something the two brothers shared as kids. I imagined that they got the coins out of a cereal box or sometime when they were exploring a playground.

Writing the script was hard, because I have not personally been through a beating, or have had a sense of identity crisis, but I have been a victim of circumstance and peer pressure. I don't like to write things without putting myself in them so this has been an emotional ride.

This has been one of my favorite shoots because I've had to step out of my comfort zone with a lot of things. I loved working with Richard, Matt, Ismael and Amy on this shoot and I've wanted to do a raw drama like this for a while. I loved every minute of it.

 Enjoy!