Short Film Showcase: A Darker Shade of Gray

A black and white movie about the gray areas of personal morality, duty and what happens when you can’t seem to work it all out.  A Darker Shade of Gray’s direction at the hands of newcomer Daniel Etheridge greatly outshines its narrative with a very fine eye for detail when it comes to the editing process.  There is not a wasted moment or shot in this short film-noir styled tale.  Revolving around the archetypal “fallen angel” police officer, the audience follows him through the darkest night of his life.

Foregoing any real mystery, Gray spends its time developing the character. This scripting decision proves to be the film’s biggest flaw. So much time is spent presenting us with the emotional state of the titular character that the story, as well as any action, goes right out the window.   On top of all this, the character of Gray doesn’t prove very interesting, as his problems are derivative of noir so far beyond the point of homage that it feels stale.  Within the context of a larger film with a decent plot, scenes like these generally serve to enlighten the audience on the mental state of the character.  Standing alone, at least in the case of Gray, this device proves too weak to hold any interest.

The positive side of the script being riddled with clichés is that they go hand-in-hand with setting up a tightly edited film where every shot, no matter how short, is never simply fluff.  This may seem to be a symptom of the film’s short-form, but in any type of filmmaking it is easy to waste time with crap editing dragging scenes on for too long or including scenes that simply aren’t necessary.   There are also nice little touches here and there (such as the little time jumps in the pill popping scene) that show the direction at work without being too transparent.  Some of the actors can be caught sleepwalking through this one, but Nicodemus Hammil is not one of them. As Detective Milton Gray, Hammil seems to be reveling in the fact that he gets to portray a Noir-ish detective. He plays his role very naturally, and always believable despite the script’s shortcomings.

While it isn’t an innovative film by any means, A Darker Shade of Gray is an acceptable effort from Etheridge and crew.

-Jojevis

Interview with Daniel Etheridge, director of A Darker Shade of Gray (and, as always, all responses are sic and never edited):

Seeking Distribution (SD)-How long did it take you to make A Darker Shade of Gray and how did you fund the project?

Daniel Etheridge (DE) – Well, I’m 22 years old, I’d say about 22 years.  Well, maybe not that long, but “Gray” has been in my system for a very long time.  I still don’t think it’s completely out of me.  Technically speaking, the project was made while I was a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), so I operated under the school’s three-quarter system, which allotted 10 weeks for pre-production, 10 weeks for production, and 10 weeks for post-production.  Within that time, we shot principle photography in 7 days, with another 2 days of pick-up shots.

That may sound like a lot of time, but you start out with nothing and work your way up.  The way the SCAD Film/TV department operates is that every student can specialize in the field of their choice.  Editors edit, Cinematographers shoot, Producers produce, etc. Everybody works on multiple projects, with the exception of Directors, who focus on their own projects. If you want to make your own movie, you do it.  That’s something I’m really happy SCAD does: it allows you the freedom to do what you want.  Unfortunately that means you have the freedom to fall flat on your face.

As far as funding, SCAD gives you access to a huge supply of film equipment, yet you have to go through a lot of time-management and scheduling as you have to share that same equipment with hundreds of other students, all of which are shooting their own projects.  And equipment is just about the only thing that the school gives you.  Everything else you have to come up with yourself.

I managed to keep my project very cheap, a fact that I’m proud of, although I did have to dip into some of my student loans to cover it all.  Now excuse me while I warm up my daily ration of ramen noodles.

SD-What lessons did you learn in the process of making this film and how did you come to learn them?

DE-  I learned so much on this set.  I had worked on a few productions in the past, but none of them were longer than four day shoots.  We worked on this for over a week.  The main thing that I learned was that you cannot hope to be successful if you let the stress get to you.  There were times that I was really pressured.  I remember just wanting to scream out and tear people’s heads off, but you have to realize that won’t solve anything.  You’ve always got to keep your cool, especially on the set.  My good friend Zak Ettlinger, who was the cinematographer on this project, had a really great way of putting it:  “The first person to lose their temper is the first one to lose respect.” You can’t make a scene when you’re working on a scene.

Thankfully, the stress never got too bad, because I had such a great group of people on the crew.  I don’t know how it happened, but I got one of the best crews that year.  We had a great chemistry.  There were no egos or fights, it was just a real fun set.  Guys kept coming to me saying that they really enjoyed working on “Gray.” The right group of people can make all the difference in the world.

SD-  How long have you been involved in film production and what kind of future do you see yourself in it?

DE-  I’ve wanted to make movies ever since I saw Jurassic Park in the theater for the 7^th or 8^th time.  I hate to admit that, because it’s so cliché, but JP did it.  We never had a video recorder at home, so I didn’t really start getting behind the camera until high school.  We had a video production class and I really came into my own there.  I wasn’t exactly a popular or out-going kid in school, but I found that when I made a little movie, people liked it and then they started liking me in the process.  Making little movies is what really got me out of my shell.

I really have no idea what will happen in the future.  I’ve got high hopes though.  I’m at that point where I love what I do, but I want to get paid to do it.  That’s the tricky part, and the state of the economy isn’t really helping things out.  I really just want the opportunity to make more films.  When I’m working on a script or on a set, I really feel that’s where I belong.

SD – Tell me about your relationship with film noir.  What made you want you want to emulate that genre in “Gray”?

DE – Noir is actually a really tricking little niche.  What exactly is “Film Noir”?  Is it a genre? Is it a technique?  There are some scholars that say that say that Film Noir ended in 1955, and that everything after that point in time is “Neo-Noir.” It’s not really your standard “genre” either, because it relies heavily on lighting technique and character-type, unlike Horror or Science-Fiction movies.  There are actually debates among scholars about the definition of film noir.

For me, Noir is a state of mind.  It’s that place you land up when the world has flushed you down the toilet.  It’s the time when everyone else has either run-away or died, someone else is standing strong and solitary.  It’s the dark and gritty corners of a character’s head that never see the light of day, but have a lot of interesting things to say.  It was the perfect way to tell Milton’s story.

Favorite Noise?

DE- Other than the sweet nothings whispered from your lover’s lips, I love the sound of quiet right as the lights of a movie theater dim.  Everyone is instantly set and primed.  It is similar to the calm before the storm.  You’re heartbeat slightly races, and you’re feeling the electricity of the room.  Anticipation is on everyone’s eyes.  Sometimes, during midnight premiers of heavily $uccessful films, the quiet is too much and the audience explodes in excited, yet quickly hushed, applause.

Monster?

This one is really hard.  I like villains and monsters.  They are some of the most interesting characters.  I’ve got so many in my head that it’s hard to tell.  I grew up watching the old Universal Monster Movies.  Bela Lugosi as Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf-Man, Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein Monster, and the Creaturefrom the Black Lagoon.  Plus I watched the old giant monster movies like King Kong, Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan.  I LOVED these guys, so it’s really hard for me to choose.

If it were a fight, I’d have to say Godzilla would take everyone out.  Dude’s freaking unstoppable.  Despite being incredibly cheesy, Godzilla movies, at their best, were cautionary tales of the “folly of man” (Just like in the Blue Oyster Cult song).  While a lot of his movies are really, really bad, the series is the longest running movie franchise in history.  He beats Freddy, Jason, and James Bond even if you don’t count the American movie.

Truism?

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

and

The Pen is mightier than the Sword.

SD – If you could change one scene in any film, what scene would it be and why?

Whoa, I don’t know.  I used to do this with T.V. shows when I was kid with my toys and action figures.  I’d make up the endings to episodes I didn’t like.  I made like two more seasons of the Spider-Man cartoon after it ended, but as a movie…I don’t know that’s hard.

There are bunch of new movies that I’d change, but if you want a huge movie then I’ll go with one of my favorite movies.  There is a scene in Jaws…I feel like I’m flirting with blasphemy…whatever.  I’d change a piece of the scene in the end of Jaws where the shark crashes onto the boat and Quint gets eaten.  While it’s one of the bloodier deaths in the film, I think Quint needed to put up more of a fight.  He’s a huge badass the whole movie, but when the “jaws” are coming down on him, he turns into a screaming mess.  In the book, Quint stabs the shark repeatedly and the two get tangled in the debris of the ship and die together.  He literally kills the two ton shark with nothing but a knife and the broken remains of his sinking ship.  In the movie, he only pokes the shark a few times with a machete.  I would have had him at least slice off the shark’s eye right after it “rolled over white”.

SD – Any upcoming projects to look out for?

I’m currently writing a script with my good friend Zack Cutler.  Zack is a huge fan of the old road movies of the 1970’s, and the story idea he shared with me really struck a chord.  It’s very similar to several road movies but it has a supernatural element that keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat.  While actual production on it is too far into the future to put a date on, at this time I’m looking to shoot it here in the south, so I’m looking in the area for equipment facilities.  But, as you can imagine, those are few and far between around here.  Anyone who would be interested in helping out, please get in contact with me.

SD – Where should we go to see the movie or contact you?

Anyone who wants to see the movie can contact me at daniel.f.etheridge@gmail.com and I can arrange for it to be viewable from imdb.  In a few months I’ll make it available to view on a few other sites, but, because of certain restrictions with certain Film Festivals, I’m keeping it offline for the moment.

SD – Any tips for those novice filmmakers out there?

DE- I still consider myself a novice, but I can pass along some of the things that have been taught to me.  This will sound corny, but NEVER GIVE UP.  If what you want is to make movies, never let anybody stop you.  If you want your job to be a filmmaker, then commit to it.  From here on out, that’s your job.  Every other place you go to make a check is simply that: a place to go to get a check.  When you get off the clock, you’re back to your real job: Making Movies.

If what you want is to be famous, or live the life of one of the characters from Entourage, then I can’t give any advice.

If you have a movie that you would like to be featured on Japanese Vacation, be it short or long form, contact us at ptkruz@jojevis.com.

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