A few months ago we published a short promo for Teaser. Now the short film has been released online, revealing a rather avant garde short, which gives an impressionistic look at the journey of drug dependence for a young, gay man, based on the real-life experiences of its director, Adam Jones.
Adam has written a piece for us, talking about the imagery in the short. You can read that below, and the film itself is underneath that:
The cover art for the short film is a young girl watching a television special, a demonic hand shadows above her; the perfect fit for my project. The film opens with a burst of static, my videos always seem to lend to this type of thing. The opening really was a playful type of approach to the story. My story is wild, why not be hopping on a bed flipping my hair around? Well… it just fits. During the time I encountered my rock bottom I let a tweaker shave my hair off. I had a Britney moment, but I needed a drastic change in my appearance to figure out who I was. The next cut is driving to Woodside Apartments off of Fulton Ave in Sacramento, CA. I spent a good 9 months of tweaking at this complex. I revisited the apartment number, routes I would usually spend walking for hours. We shot it in a dream-like sequence, on 8mm filters. Definitely gave me chills being at this location. My worst times were spent here, I was so confused. After we shot some footage my boyfriend and I jumped in the heated pool.
The next cut was definitely in a darker direction. Over the last 3 months, I edited the short film in an odd fashion. Every 2 weeks I would edit a 2 minute segment. Going to a location and shooting some footage, then pulling a few missing pieces from stock footage.
Taking a break for a couple weeks and revisiting the footage when I had the vision again.
For this specific cut, “The Path to Destruction” I wanted to capture a path to darkness. I went in a montage route for this because I could say many things within 2 seconds.
The score was the most important part for the story, I researched so many composers. I love setting videos to orchestra… to me it’s my favorite part. This scene represents losing yourself to the devil; it’s my path to madness. Being consumed by other broken men like I once was.
So we made it to 05:25, running away from my issues. All the imagery really lends itself to the point of no return. The audio is a recording of a few treatment centers I attempted to contact in the past. No matter how bad it got I really thought that my life was better outside of treatment. The visuals I show really symbolically represent that life is horrible for me outside of a recovery center. The Amy Winehouse remix is a bit of a cliché.
The film begins to climax with a clip of a distraught mother. The black shadow under the young mans eyes really show the family dynamic happening here. My mom is searching for answers; I’ve reached my rock bottom. The “fun” is over; we think that we may have found an answer. The black and white theme fades; Napa, CA, the beautiful scenery, the vibrant colors of the hills. Driving to Azure Acres Treatment Center was such a beautiful & spiritual time for me. I spread my arms wide over a heaven-like CGI effect.
I’m free.
If you know a short film we ought to be posting, tell us by getting in touch via our contact page. And check out more gay short films and web series here.
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