Balls

Balls

Theo Buckwald 

Balls is a pretty interesting video in my opinion. I usually like to sit down and think about what makes a short film "good." I think all short films need to be quick, exciting, and simple. As well as short. ( I cannot stress this last part enough.) 

Anyway, I got the idea by challenging myself to center a short film on one subject, the subject being the basketball itself. Then came the idea of centering it around player's anxiety, which was a way to connect myself to the short. 

"Balls" is actually not even the finished product. This is a beta test of an idea I hope to accomplish in the future.  I wrote a 5 minute script for a version that would be essentially the same short, but take the thesis in a completely different direction. The whole idea of doing a beta test came to be from my interest in how musicians release material. I love the concept of recording a demo of a song, releasing it on an EP, and then releasing the single and album. I want to experiment with that formula with short films, and Balls is my way of doing so. 

It was quite organic how this idea came to be as well. One day I was walking through the campus of my university after a 24 hour study bender. It was midterms week so I was "dazed and confused" as the kids say. I wondered through the campus and came across this basketball court. It was like a sign from heaven that I grab my camera, go the local sports authority, and convince one of my roommates to act for 40 minutes. 

The whole experience really inspired me to take the risk and make a project without really thinking. I think ego and spending too much time on a project can really affect the overall quality of a piece. And while "Balls" may not be perfect in any sense, Im proud of what I did in the 24 hours that it took to shoot and edit. 

Personal Story

Personal Story written by Theodore M. Buckwald

As a child, I would often a visit a local grocery store located at the Gateway-Shopping plaza in Woodland Hills, California. While entering and exiting the store, I often saw a large, bearded seemingly homeless man playing the flute. I would walk past and request a song. He would look at me and scratch the top of his head in a comedic manner, as if he was unable to play. After a brief moment of encouragement, the musician would begin to play the song flawlessly from note to note.

However, as my mother held my hand and directed me back to the car, I would often wonder who that homeless musician was. Did he have a family? Does anybody love him? Twelve years later, with the help of a driver's license, a late curfew, a Canon 60D, and a lot of Red Bull, I found some answers to my questions.

Initially, I did not know what I was getting into. I just decided one day that I wanted to use my summer to document the life of this homeless man. I approached other homeless inhabitants of the shopping center and asked for his whereabouts. "Oh! You're looking for Edmund Richards. He lives nearby. If you want to talk to him, you have to go to the Starbucks next to the Right Aide. He's always there."

I followed the advice and sure enough Edmund Richards showed up.

He often sat in the outside patio, drinking a tall coffee while browsing the internet on his old Dell Laptop. I approached him very politely and asked if I could have an interview. "Let me ask you this. What could you possibly want to talk about with me?" asked Edmund in a jovial manner. As I explained my ongoing interest with his persona, Edmund agreed to be the subject of my documentary.

Every night around 11:00 PM, we would meet on the exact same patio where we first met. I started with some simple questions to break the ice. But to my surprise Edmund often elaborated on his responses. He revealed that he was not homeless, and that he lived in an apartment nearby. Edmund told me

that after graduating college, he enlisted in the army; however, while serving during the Afghanistan War, he was shot twice in the head, resulting in permanent brain damage.

"I'm not homeless. I live on welfare. I'm sick. I'm lost. It's different."

After several weeks of interviewing, I found that I had developed a friendship with Edmund. Our conversations became more personal. However, throughout the entire summer, Edmund would often bring up one subject that he would leave open-ended. "Hardest job I've ever had? Being a father." Edmund looked down to his feet. "Yeah, I really screwed that one up."

As the end of summer approached, I bid my farewell to Edmund. I had over 15 hours of useful footage that I could later skim through and arrange into a documentary. However, to Edmund's request, he suggested that I hold off on completing the movie until the winter months come around. "This place has a very different feel when it's cold. I'm not a huge fan of sequels, so you should just make this movie a long one."

I could not argue with that. I packed up my camera into my car and gave Edmund one last handshake goodbye. As I made a right exiting the shopping center, I saw a large shadowy figure descend into the darkness right through my rear view mirror.

Every person has a million stories to tell. My documentary exposed me to the complex, hierarchical world of the homeless that I never knew existed. Taking the time to listen and document these stories through film broadened my horizons and changed the way I look at the average human being. Even the ones we ignore while carrying our groceries.

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Old Tricks Reflection

  Old Tricks written by Theodore M. Buckwald 

https://vimeo.com/115381495

It began as an idea in the shower. A naive robber who falls victim to an old escape artist. This idea from the shower soon drew itself on paper. More and more adjectives began appearing in my head as the short story unraveled into script form. Each Adjective began to develop a voice as the dialogue on the paper was spoken for the first time around a small coffee table. It wasn’t long before the camera was rolling on my first short film: “Old Tricks.”

My actors brought emotions to the characters; emotions that I had never prophesied. Using method acting techniques, Joe Spano, the actor portraying the old man, used physical evidence to portray that he was struggling with the harshness of a terminal illness.  Although this was not my intention for the character’s portrayal, I was soon enamored with the decision he made, following the collaborative discussion between director and actor.

Every shot felt like a painting. The room was my canvas and every piece of set decoration was the paint. The camera was my brush, capturing the emotions and intensity of the room; transferring it to an electronic medium.

Every day following production, I added different layers to the story through sound and editing. Subtle yet powerful imagery and references began to fill the background dimensions of the story.

With a tap of the finger, a rough cut of “Old Tricks” was broadcast to a small group of peers in the backseat of a car. With a click of the mouse, it was being shown to the entire world.

            As the creative leader of Old Tricks, I found that leading the production from conceptualization to final touch ups allowed me to collaborate and compromise certain demands, all while consistently keeping an artistic touch.

What is Considerate-Man

      What is Considerate-Man written by Theodore M. Buckwald

In the fourth grade, I was assigned to create a small scene demonstrating what it means to be a considerate citizen. The scene was to be presented in front of the entire student body and faculty of my elementary school. As a scrawny nine year old, I knew gaining the attention of my audience would be difficult, so I took it upon myself to create a scene that would go above and beyond my peers’ expectations.

            I drew up a character on scraps of homework paper, knowing I needed some sort of mascot to leverage the meaning of my scene to the audience.  I presented a small conceptual drawing of my character to my teacher. “His name is Considerate-

Man. He wears a cape and a mask and he flies around the city, instructing kids on how to be considerate.”

            The scene was a success and my character became an instant hit. After several additional performances, I culminated from the fourth grade, hanging up my considerate cape for good. This classroom character caused me to gain an interest in creating stories that would be presented to mass audiences.

Shortly after the retirement of Considerate-Man, my father introduced me to YouTube.  After browsing through many videos on the website, I created my very first channel, “Considerate-Man.”

With the help of a flip camera, I labeled myself as director and led my friends to the world of online video making. What began as a fun thing to do with friends evolved into an ongoing extracurricular activity. One day I got an email that I had received my first subscriber.  What soon followed were numerous emails informing me that my subscriber base was slowly growing. At the end of elementary school, I had an average of 500 views per video, a base of over 200 subscribers, and was featured on the front page of YouTube for several weeks.

But it was not until the age of 15 that I discovered a more mature approach to the way I wanted to create my own art. In the winter of my freshman year, I had the opportunity to visit Liverpool, England, the hometown of the Beatles. In Liverpool, my family and I went on an exclusive tour that took us through all of the famous historical locations of the band’s upbringing. Near the end of the tour, our guide brought us to a dark and cold church cemetery. Making our way through the sea of tombstones, we arrived at our destination: the gravestone of Eleanor Rigby. It was at this moment that I came to understand how the songwriters Paul McCartney and John Lennon used this graveyard as a basis of their inspiration for the song “Eleanor Rigby.”

This experience showed me first-hand how an artist is able to draw inspiration from his or her surroundings and convey a story through their respective art. Soon after my trip to Liverpool, I began analyzing my surroundings in hopes of finding material from which I would be able to develop a story.

Hoping to find my own inspiration, I began spending time in the lobby of a local Marriott hotel whenever I wanted to write. I was not trying to seclude myself or get rid of any distractions, but rather immerse myself in an environment filled with various character types who would come and go throughout the evening.

It was not long before I expanded outside of the Marriott, bringing my laptop to parks, malls, and stores. I even brought my laptop across a 23 state road trip, using all of the states as an individual canvas for my creations. With a blank word document at the ready, I would wait for something to strike a creative nerve. By observing my surroundings, I was able to become more aware of the seemingly small and meaningless things around me. I started to pay close attention to the ideas, characters, motives, themes and symbols that flourished in the places I least expected.

My winter in Liverpool helped teach me how to create my own art. However, as I grew older, I started to question my purpose as a filmmaker. When my mother found out she was pregnant for the first time she was told that her pregnancy terminated and that she would never have a child of her own. After building her strength and morale, she was finally able to get pregnant again. Unfortunately, my mother continued with the disappointment of eight more miscarriages until finally, I was born. You could say it was advanced genetic sciences that allow me to be alive, but I believe that I am here on this earth for a reason.  That reason is to share my stories with the world through film. I want my work to change the way people view themselves. I want it to challenge their perspectives and the way they perceive life. My stories are layered -- there are a million different messages and references within each one. Because of this, my films will be able to resonate with almost anyone in some way. My intention as a filmmaker is for every person to walk out of my movie having gone through a different experience.

I often find myself asking not who is Considerate-Man but what is Considerate-Man? Considerate-Man is the genesis of my creative talent. Considerate-Man is about being the superhero of your own art. By day, I am Theo Buckwald: a tall, quirky, loving teenager. But by night, I am Considerate-Man: a man determined to touch and entertain all through mass media. I continue to find enjoyment in being Considerate-Man. However, today, being Considerate-Man is not about the cape and mask. It is about being the founder of my own internet-based production company: Considerate-Man Productions.