Johnny Brento at The Carolina Theater of Durham.
You know that feeling you have after you have opened all your Christmas presents? Well, that’s kind of the vibe after Nevermore weekend. All of us film junkies longingly think of film festivals to come while reminiscing about this years Nevermore. Nevertheless, here’s the day #3 recap for ya, Mutants.
Well, the foam mattress at Duke Towers room 245 gave me fits all weekend. Apart from that the accommodations were swell. Once again I woke up very early, probably 4:30 or so and made a quick update to Mutantville.com
After some surfing and reading of a new photography book for about an hour, I decided to take a stroll around the grounds. The larger tower that was part of the original structure was open for exploring so explore I did. They had tons of pictures on each floor of children who worked at the old textile mill. More than a little creepy. The tower offered some nice views and I snapped a few shots with the new camera.Whilst packing the car, Robert W. Filion swung by on his way out and suggested a nearby International House of Pancakes for breakfast. We all liked that idea and finally checked out at precisely 10:54 with a deadline of 11:00. A few miles away we arrived at the restaurant which had people waiting outside. Nevertheless, Robert went in and put us on the list. About this time I realized that I had left my Nevermore lanyard on the closet door. No way I was leaving that little keepsake behind. So, we drove back over to Trinity Avenue to retrieve it. Todd was kind enough to charm the office lady into letting us back into the room. Soon as we back, waiting in line at the breakfast place. Once we finally got seated we all enjoyed some social interaction in the hour it took for our food to arrive. It was a Sunday morning so everyone adopted an, “It is what it is” attitude. The food was the best thing I’d eaten all weekend and frankly worth the wait. We did get back to Nevermore 10 minutes later than planned but I still managed to get in to see, “Found In Time” which turned out to be my favorite viewing experience of the weekend.
Duke Towers
After, “Found in Time,” Liam and I hung out with Todd in the secret lounge on the top floor. Never actually saw that room before this trip, but it’s much more comfortable than the Ball room. Next we viewed, “Leaving DC.” This film was very low budget and found footage style with primarily a single actor. I did not dig the ending but I must confess that the concept was a good one and it really captured my attention. The director was there but I didn’t have the time to chat with him as it was about time for our screening when that film ended.
I found a few moments to toy with the 60 D
Now I love watching short films as much as anyone, but by our block Sunday, I confess that I was feeling a little burned out. So after ours kicked off, I went out to the lobby to chat with Jim and some of the committee members for a little bit. I scored a few slick mini posters as well.
This year, like every year, Jim Carl and the fine folks at Nevermore continue to pull of a quality festival. If I had my way there’s be at least two of these every year. As it stands, even with record breaking attendance this year, we’ll be waiting another long 12 months until Nevermore time rolls around. I’m already calculating plans for my next entry and if you are a film maker, you should be to!
In closing, I just feel really very privileged to have had our film, “Take That,” with it’s meager $1,000 budget, shown along side so many excellent short films that were clearly working with a lot more resources. I have to say that all the Canadian films looked awesome! Whether that’s a level playing field for us guerilla film makers, working with our lunch money is another discussion for another day. For now, I’m just happy to have been in the room. Next year our entry will be bigger and better. Believe that, Players!
Brent with his final thoughts from Fletcher Hall.
You all know me. There is a video in the works, but I’m holding that for this week’s Johnny Brento’s JuJu. If I’m being honest, the new bumper is taking one frak of a long time to render and now that I’m shooting with the 60 D, all the video is HD, so again more render time. It’s all good and the energy bars are rising once again after being down to a single bar by Sunday evenings. I hope to get my JuJu and accompanying video up by tomorrow but that all depends on the price of tea in China. There’s a lot going and the game is afoot with Mad Monster Party screaming down the pipe! What’s that you say, you haven’t reserved your ticket and hotel room yet? Make it happen today! You don’t want to miss this one.
