The Projectionist
In The Projectionist, writer/director Adam Knox tells his own semi-autobiographical tale of an introverted movie projectionist at the all-to-familiar crossroads between high school and college. I screened this first film from Intuition Pictures two weeks ago; and, I’ve been dragging my feet on writing the review ever since.			Image courtesy of Intuition Pictures
Why? Mostly, I stalled because I wanted to take my time developing constructive criticism instead of just giving the filmmakers my usual dose of sarcastic jabs. Besides, I wouldn’t be fair of me to rip on someone whose main goal was to use as many UNT people as possible on this project. So, keeping in mind that it was shot in 16 days with a shoestring budget somewhere in the ballpark of $16,000, I have to admit Knox’s film definitely shows promise. The basic story centers on Noah Nixon (Austin Wright) who can’t seem to catch a break in life and love because he’s got some self-esteem issues to shake. For the most part, Noah’s a pretty likeable guy stuck working in a local movie theater full of dysfunctional coworkers – especially the comedy tag team of Walt (Jeff McGee), who’s supposed poop allergy keeps him from cleaning the men’s bathroom, and Jimmy (Zach Beseda) who has a strange infatuation with finding used condoms on the theater floor.
Image courtesy of Intuition Pictures	Once the current projectionist gives his notice, Noah is quickly promoted to the lofty position which he uses to isolate himself and watch his fellow coworkers. In a way, Noah’s voyeurism is slightly reminiscent of Norman Bates watching Marion through the hole in the wall – without all of the knife-wielding, cross-dressing mother issues, of course.
Unfortunately for Noah, work can’t be all poop and no play; so, in walk a couple of evil managers from Denton, Paula (Ginger Parker) and Jason (Chad Coester), who both seem to be unaware they are in violation of just about every sexual harassment policy in the employee handbook. Woo-hoo! Let the fun begin…. First, Paula and Noah “date” – which basically only involves a couple of make-out sessions. When Paula dumps him and goes back to her psycho ex-boyfriend, Noah starts watching the new girl Angela (Morgan Fisher)…until he finds out she’s dating his nemesis Jason. One night, after Jason inadvertently burns a film reel, Noah channels Spiderman, climbs up to the projection booth from inside the theater, and rescues it in the nick of time. Naturally, his superhero act impresses Angela, they get some alone time, and…I’m not going to ruin the ending.
From a technical aspect, I’m not going to be too critical due to the fact that I was not able to see the film under the best of conditions. The guys encountered some audio difficulties during the Movie Tavern screening which forced them to show a laptop feed of the movie. Ah…the joys of technology gone awry.				Image courtesy of Intuition Pictures
First and foremost, The Projectionist can (and should) boast of having an impressive original score composed by Wolfgang Lackner. During the Q&A after the screening, the biggest positive audience response to the film was the music. Unfortunately for me, the constant audible background hiss from the laptop overly intensified the silence in the film, almost making it louder than the score at times. Times like these actually make me curse having the trained ear of a musician; and, one of these days, I’m going to have to watch a version that isn’t audio challenged. I’m sure that both Knox and Nevels are getting an earful about how to technically enhance the film from everyone at UNT; so, the only technical aspect of the film I’m going to address is the lighting. Maybe it was the screening conditions, but, the overall visual appearance of the entire movie seemed a little on the dark side. The most obvious example occurs during the scene in which Noah and Angela finally kiss. Yes, I know…they’re in a dark projection booth; but, an increase in blue background lighting here might help define the visible outline of the characters and make it a little easier for the audience to feel the emotion behind the kiss. What I thought enhanced the visual aspect of the film was how the color of Noah’s reality contrasted with his black and white visions flashbacks. This subtle color distinction helps the audience separate fantasy from reality, especially during the scene with Noah and his father. First, Knox shows the reality of their conversation in color. Then, he turns around and shows the same scene in black and white, with the conversation altered to fit Noah’s selective hearing, which effectively gives the audience insight into Noah’s self esteem issues without leaving us feel as if we were just spoon-fed a bunch of crap.
Image courtesy of Intuition Pictures			OK, enough with the niceties…it’s time for me to turn into “the Enemy” and criticize the film’s narrative structure. So, Adam and Kevin, go ahead and double-bag your outer layer of thick skin, ‘cause this is gonna get ugly. Just kidding! The film does have some pretty noticeable continuity issues; but, I promise to only offer constructive criticism about them.
Overall, The Projectionist is a charming story with likeable characters. The storyline between Noah and Angela is nicely developed and even draws to a dramatic conclusion with a surprise twist at the end. Unfortunately, that storyline only covers the second half of the film leaving Knox to work out kinks in the remaining narrative. Confusing storyline number one: When compared to the development of the Noah/Angela relationship, the fragmentation in the earlier Noah/Paula storyline makes it difficult to believe these two characters were ever really “dating.” At first, I assumed the fragmentation of their “relationship” was supposed to reflect the instability of Paula’s character; but, during my phone conversation with producer Kevin Nevels the other day, he explained that Paula was only using Noah to make her boyfriend jealous. Whoops…totally missed that one. Apparently, the missing background info on Paula’s “real” boyfriend is the key to making the Noah/Paula connection plausible. Confusing storyline number two: Up until Noah has a meeting with one of his college professors, I had no idea Noah was even in school. The only reason I knew he was a film student is because I recognized the inside of the RTVF building at UNT where the scene was shot. A little spoon-feeding leading up to this scene wouldn’t have left the audience completely in the dark about Noah’s college issues. Dialogue. It’s always about the dialogue. Yes, I’m aware that the hardest part of screenwriting is trying to recreate “natural” dialogue; but, Knox is pretty much either hit or miss. For example, not long after we watch Jimmy obsess over the used condom, he ogles a girl walking past him and makes the declaration to Walt that he’s “gonna make her walk like John Wayne.” Instead of trying to come up with “funny” dialogue, Knox needs to get inside the character’s head (as deformed as it may be) and ask, “What would Jimmy say in this situation?” Because Knox has already established Jimmy’s immature and crass nature with the absurd condom obsession, he would have been better off going the Bad Santa route of having Jimmy emphatically declare, “she wouldn’t shit right for a week.” Well, maybe not that exact statement; but, I think you know where I’m headed…don’t be afraid to push the envelope.
As far as performances go, Wright’s portrayal of Noah carries the film. I have to admit I was impressed by his ability to bring a likeable quality to the character that makes you care about his plight – even the parts we can’t quite understand. My only suggestion for improvement is to have Noah be a little more insecure during his flashbacks.				Image courtesy of Intuition Pictures
Because he continues to ask Danielle out - despite being repeatedly shot down – his courage almost invalidates the very insecurity Knox is trying to create. Fisher’s performance as Angela is also noteworthy…except for the slap-and-run. What’s up with that? I also have to give Knox credit for tapping the unexpected comedy element of Jimmy and Walt’s odd relationship. One of the better Jimmy/Walt scenes is their Godzilla argument which Walt continues by himself long after Jimmy leaves the theater. By pulling the camera back to observe Walt acting out his Godzilla fantasy, I almost felt like I was watching a “Twilight Zone” episode on Animal Planet – the film geek in his natural habitat. All in all, The Projectionist is an admirable start for Knox and Nevels. Although, the duo definitely needs to clean up some narrative incontinuities (no, Walt…not with Depends), develop characters other than the protagonist and his love interest, and address a couple of technical issues, they’re off to a pretty good start. When I called Kevin Nevels the other day to verify some casting info, I was actually surprised to find him anxiously waiting for my review. My 2 minute fact check turned into a 30 minute conversation; and, by the time I hung up the phone, the extremely charismatic producer had me questioning my ability to become “the Enemy” while criticizing their work. Well boys, I hope I was successful in giving you some needed feedback without all of the venomous jabs I usually take at the crappy big studio productions.
image courtesy of Intuition Pictures		Damn! I went and did exactly what I wasn’t supposed to do – I went and made friends with the rock stars. Kevin, have you ever thought about working in PR if the producer gig doesn’t work out? Just wondering…. © Kelly Bartley 2006