He's fighting crime, one disco day at a time!
PLOT: D.W. Shrift (David Alan Scott Jr.) is a '70's-type TV action cop who sets out to save a young female photographer (Amelia Harnas) from the an evil kingpin (David Hoke). With the help of a smooth-talking pimp (Brian J. Newark), Shrift fights for truth, justice, and disco freshness!
END CREDITS:
CAST (in order of intrusion):
MAN WITH PAPER- Mark Bettinger
MAN WITHOUT PAPER- Jamie Kirby
MUGGED WOMAN- Sarah Bong
MUGGER- Vince Ambrosone
D.W. SHRIFT- David Alan Scott Jr.
CHIEF KETCHUM- Dave Clouden
HEIDI GOSEAK- Amelia Harnas
GIRL CATCHER- Kevin Hurley
FILM SNATCHER- Dan Birnbaum
COOKIE CROOK- Adam Lindquist
PARK HENCHMAN- Clay O'Dell
COOKIE PUSS- Brian J. Newark
HUNNY PIE- Amelia Giacumo
FROOTY LIPS- Julia Lynn Meyer
SPITTING THUG- Greg Kennard
GREY THUG- Gregg Ordon
RED THUG- Tom Lang
GREEN THUG- Dylan Bennett
MANNY WALKEN- David Hoke
STAND-INS:
* Laura Barnes (for Sarah Bong)
* Mike McDonald (for David Scott)
* Gregg Ordon (for Tom and Dylan)
CAMERA PERSONS:
* David Alan Scott Jr.
* David Scott Sr.
* Thomasine Lubertowicz
* Jamie Kirby
* Julia Lynn Meyer
* Brian J. Newark
* Dan Birnbaum
* Kevin Hurley
* Adam Lindquist
* Amelia Harnas
* Gregg Ordon
* David Hoke
* Megan Becker
* Sarah Martin
* Rich Gaffney
* Will Marcotte (who appears in the last outtake)
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
* David Sr. & Nancy Scott (for lending their camera)
* Eve Metheny & Little Eva's (for costumes)
* Soul Full Cup
* SUNY College at Fredonia
* The Hurley family (for use of their house)
* Chris Benton (for support)
* Heather Kam (for lending her houseplant)
* The city of Corning, NY
* The city of Elmira, NY
* The village of Fredonia, NY
* Tim and Jill Scott (for lending their camera)
* Mary Jane Eckel and the Elmira City School District (for lending out a hat)
* Adrien Rozelle and The Leader (for publicity)
* WNYF-TV (for broadcasting it)
* and many more
SONGS:
* "Funkytown"- performed by Lipps Inc. (featured twice)
* "Just an Illusion"- performed by Hurricane #1 (featured thrice)
* "A Love for You"- performed by Paul McCartney (featured twice)
* "Love Hangover"- performed by Diana Ross
* "Devil's Haircut"- performed by Beck
* "Your Lucky Day in Hell"- performed by eels
* "Buzzsaw"- performed by the Turtles (featured twice in 1998 version)
* "Nothing's Gonna Stop the Flow" (original remix)- performed by Folk Implosion
* "Hey Bulldog"- performed by the Beatles, remixed by Nasty Little Dog
* "The Rockefeller Skank"- performed by Fatboy Slim
* "Where It's At" (single edit)- performed by Beck
* "1979"- performed by Smashing Pumpkins
* "Night Out"- performed by Wings
NOTE: A nonexistant Puff Daddy song, "I'm Gonna Steal Parts of All These Songs and Use Them on My Next Album", was listed in the credits for the 1998 version.
THE END, MAN
c. 1998, 2005 DASJr Productions
All Rights Reversed
LOCATIONS/DATES FILMED:
* Corning, playground and etc.: October 18-19, and 22, 1997
* Corning, Market Street alley: August 2, 1998
* Fredonia, downtown: November 15, 1998
* Beaver Dams, Kevin's house and etc.: November 25, 1998
* Fredonia, campus TV studio: December 5, 1998
* Fredonia, four different buildings and outdoors: December 12-14, 1998
(NOTE: "etc." = transportation shots, Elmira to and/or from Corning)
DATES EDITED:
* VERSION 1 (VHS) - December 15-18, 1998
* VERSION 2 (DVD) - February 12-25, 2005
HISTORY:
I wrote this film during my last year (and last semester) as a student at CCC. If this film had been completed when I first intended it to be (Fall 1997), it would have had Heidi Hilligoss as the female lead, Eric Grover as the head bad guy, Tom Primerano as the police cheif, Shawna Struble as Honey Pie the hooker, and Lou Binetti or Matthew Samuelson as Cookie Puss the pimp. All of these people to have been in the cast were current friends, semi-friends, or CCC students at that time.
On October 1997, I began serious work for the film by taping a Monkees-style chase sequence between me and Clay O' Dell. Camera work for this one-hour session (filmed at a public park high in the hills of Corning) was done by Thomasine Lubertowicz, my girlfriend from September 1997 to January 1998.
Unfortunately, due to lack of interest from fellow drama club members (whom I had tried to get involved with the film), problems with the family camera (sent out for repairs during the crucial taping period), time constraints caused by being in ELT's "Funny Girl" play, and the disruptive and sudden winter weather, "Retro Man"--planned as a cross between Mike Myers's "Austin Powers" movie and the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" music video--could not be completed.
A further nail in the coffin was that unlike my "Gay Cops" film the previous semester, "Retro Man" couldn't be done as a class project, because my Broadcasting class (which used to be a film-making class) had become a writing-only course on the very semester that I started taking it. It was an ironic situation, considering that the only reason I took that class (and stayed a third year at CCC to take it) was so that I could make another film.
But since Clay was only needed for the one scene that we'd already shot together, and since I still had all my props and costumes, there was a chance that I would be able to complete the film someday.
Then, in July 1998, I revised the script. In August, I filmed a newly-written scene (in which Shrift stops a mugger) in downtown Corning. I taped it with the intention to finish the rest of the film in SUNY Fredonia, where I moved to in late August.
In November, I taped more scenes and shots for the film, with the help of my roommate, hallmates, friends, and classmates. Additional scenes were shot back in Corning during Thanksgiving break.
Edited together over a mostly-sleepless four-day period, a copy of the entire flick was handed in (exactly one year and two months after I began taping footage for it) as a project for my Video Field Production class. The movie got me an "A".
The music featured in the movie consisted of songs that I'd chosen for it since Fall '97. The Paul McCartney numbers were otherwise-unreleased songs from his aborted 1980 "Cold Cuts" album (although "A Love For You" was later remixed for use on the 2003 theatrical "In-Laws" remake). "Hey Bulldog" is an unofficial "trance" mix that appeared on "Day Tripping: Magical Mystery Tour Remixed", a CD that I bought in Scotland during a 1997 college theater trip.
The following semester, it was given a public showing on April 15, 1999. It was held in one of the lecture halls, and had a decent attendance of about 20-30 people (at least ten of whom I can recall individually). The showing was given a heavy amount of publicity, thanks to a preview article that appeared, earlier that week, in the campus newspaper.
Then, in Fall 1999, "Retro Man" was broadcast nightly (from September to November at 10 p.m.) on the campus TV station, so even more students could see it. Its continued exposure inspired me to create a comic strip using the same characters. The ten-part weekly strip was published in the campus newspaper that same Fall. (You can see the Retro Man comics by going to my Artwork Archive page.)
Retro Man's final appearance occurred in Spring 2000, when my campus Improv Society put on their third show, which I hosted while wearing my D.W. Shrift costume. The performance was taped and edited for use in the fourth episode of "My Show", which was broadcast on campus TV throughout the following year.
Five years later, I used the raw VHS tapes to create a new, all-digital edit of "Retro Man". Made to improve on the comparitively amateur quality of the original VHS master, the 2005 version boasts tight edits, crisp video, and clear sound.
Altogether, completing the "Retro Man" movie had become a long journey, but the end result left positive effects that would be felt for just as long (at least). Right on!
REVIEWS:
"It was a lot of fun, with my friends. I had to beat myself up, and that sucked. But aside from that, it was great. I loved that guy who told us to put the girl in the car [Clay O Dell]. [I like] anything with Amelia [in it], [because] shes so talented. The other henchmen [Tom Lang, Dylan Bennett, and Gregg Ordon], I mean I really think that [Kevin, Dan, and I] did a much better job. All they did was get beat up. [Its] like, when [David] is chasing [Clay] around the playground forever-and-ever-and-ever, it was like, Okay, I get the point, lets move on. I dont know who [Dave Clouden] was, but he made a good chief. Amelia thinks [David Hoke] was really good, but he was just a guy with a [eyepatch] thing. I could have done that. There were a lot of good one-liners [in the film], [and] a lot of good Cookie Puss lines. Retro Man is a much better film than Gay Cops. Its much more entertaining." -Adam Lindquist, 1-12-1999
PHOTOS:
* Shrift gets the 4-1-1 from Cookie Puss (Halloween photo)
* Cookie with his "employees", Frooty Lips & Hunny Pie (taping session, downtown Fredonia)
* Heidi gets kidnapped (taping session, Kevin's house)
* Shrift & Heidi prepare for action (taping session, Kevin's house)
* Shrift gets captured (taping session, Fredonia TV studio)
* Manny and Shrift, face to face (taping session, Fredonia TV studio)
* Cheif Ketchum and Shrift (taping session, McGinnies Hall rec room, Fredonia)
* DASJr with Retro Man poster and cut-out (Christmas Eve, Corning)
-The poster (done at a printing place) was from DASSr, and the cut-out (made by Adam & Kevin) was from Adam.
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