Killers
Killers
Killers
Killers
Killers
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
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Killers
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
Two lovers, one room, and a couple of bullets.
The Story
Killers is a modern day short noir film about suspicion. It’s really centered entirely on these two characters – an older woman and a younger man. Sylvia has no children, no real attachments, but she’s always wanted to make something of herself. She’s been walked out on and treated like nothing by the men in her life and to make matters worse she’s married to an abusive husband. This has really brought her to the edge of insanity. Jim gets caught in Sylvia’s web quite easily. He doesn’t know what he wants in his life, just like so many young men and women. He travels endlessly until he meets her. Sylvia tries to get Jim to kill her husband off for her, but he fails – and he thinks he’s being following. My film is centered on the moment before judgment day. Sylvia’s faith towards men is turned to mush. And both of them suspect one another of going to the cops. This loss of faith and increase in suspicion drives them to put each other at gunpoint as the police close in on Jim’s apartment.
Why You Should Donate
I know it’s a lot to ask friends and family to pour their hearts out and give a little something to student projects. But here’s why you should think about donating…
If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of noir films. In fact, I’m just a huge cinéphile in general. I guess my passion for noir really began with films like White Heat and In A Lonely Place. I see so much potential in noir for the exploration of human character and just how far we’re willing to go to make a point about ourselves. I feel so much determination and so much passion in characters such as Norma Desmond and Harry Fabian and I think that such feelings are universal, in even the best and the worst of us. The world of noir is an incredibly narcissistic one, but the outpouring of emotion is just overwhelming and I’ve always respected the world of shadows for being able to teeter people on the edge and bring them to their limits. I also the respect the genre for telling stories in the dark, making the audience a more active participant in its viewing.
Killers will be set in modern day and our art director, Loies Kim, is hard at work giving what people know as noir a run for its money. Killers will have a contemporary look in both production design and costuming.
The most important thing to me as a director is to give my actors something they can bite their teeth into and my idea calls for a feeling of claustrophobia – they have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Killers will be shot entirely in one apartment as one scene where shadows will take form and everything that happens there, stays there.
And unlike many junior projects at Tisch, Killers will be shot in black and white on brand new HD equipment – the Sony FS100 to be exact – by our wonderful cinematographer Alex Schaefer. I always believed that black and white brought out the extremes in people, the very beautiful and the very bad. Yeah. That was my The Bad and Beautiful reference.
I hope to make Killers a thrilling look into the souls of two characters who have been pushed to their limits, and a fun and experienced production focused on a genre I love and admire. And with your help, it can happen.
Sincerely,
Tess Kramer
Where Does The Money Go?
Donations will go to the production of Killers. Filmmaking is an expensive business, one of the most expensive in the world actually! But for good reason. There are a lot of hard-working people who are putting their time into making Killers the best film it can be. Here’s where your money will go to make this production work…
Food: $650 - A healthy and happy crew means a better production environment and product. We need a lean, mean, world-dominanting machine of a crew!
Transportation: $340 - We will be transporting art department and film equipment to our location in Brooklyn, NY. More goods means more $$$!
Stunts: $100 - To make the violence in my script as realistic and un-film school as possible, we are hiring a stunt cooridinator to keep it cool on set and make sure we don't run any safety risks.
Hard Drives: $142 - To back up footage and sound!
Art Department/Props/Make Up/Costuming: $445 - Because this film is restricted to one room, we want that room to speak as much about the characters as anything else in the script. We also want to make this noir distinctively modern. Prop guns used are from certified prop houses!
Grip and Light Expendables: $150 - We want to make sure we don't cut any corners. Expendables are important to getting those little extra things that'll make all the difference in the world once we're on set.
What You Can Do To Help AND What You'll Get!
If you can't donate, that's OK! There are other ways to help! What you can do for us is spread the word about our film. Post a link to this page on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, or tell your friends and family! We know it takes a lot to donate to student projects or any project for that matter, especially in this day and age - but if you can put any amount down for us, you will be thanked. Check out our PERKS on the right! ----->>>
And Finally...The Crew!
Writer/Director/Editor: Tess Kramer - Tess grew up in an artistic family with cinéphiles for parents. Needless to say, she is also a cinéphile and probably spends way too much time watching TCM. Her father Kramer, the musician and producer of such 90s indie performers as Galaxie 500 and singer/songwriter Daniel Johnston, brought her up on sometimes two or three movies a day. Tess has always known that she wanted to work in the movies, and her passion for directing came after she saw The 400 Blows by François Truffaut. At the age of 10, she had the good fortune to practically live in the theater for months while her father produced the music for the Broadway play Fortune's Fool directed by Arthur Penn and starring Alan Bates and Frank Langella. In 11th grade, she was invited to intern at the creative advertising production company Wondros in Los Angeles where she worked on music video treatments, assistant edited, and did graphic design. The next summer she went back to Wondros, this time assistant managing a video project for the opening of the 2010 Women's Conference hosted by Maria Shriver. Tess is a freelance editor, having done independent music videos, a drummer, and a photographer. In 2010, she was accepted to NYU where she studied abroad for one year in Paris, France and then returned to NYC to start her academic career at Tisch's Film/TV Program. She is graduating a year early, this May 2013, and plans to move back out to Los Angeles to start her professional career.
Producers: Diana Lampiasi and Lauren Levine - Diana and Lauren are one hell of a producing team and each semester at Tisch they produce countless numbers of student projects, spreading their expertise and love everywhere they go. We are very glad to have them on board to make Killers a super production.
Director of Photography: Alex Schaefer - Alex is an incredibly talented DP here at Tisch and very excited to be working on Killers this semester. He has a fantastic reel which can be seen at his website www.alex-schaefer.com and is out practically every weekend on student shoots getting experience not just as a DP but elsewhere in the camera department.
Assitant Director: Jen Hubbard - Jen is a good friend of all of ours and a hard worker on set. She is also on countless sets every semester here at Tisch and won't take no for an answer. She keeps things moving so the film keeps on rollin'!
Art Director: Loies Kim - Loies is also a fan of noir films and is very excited to be bringing a modern aspect to our story. Her creativity and hand in the production will give Killers a look that will be unique and particular to our story.
Stunt Coordinator: Corey Pierno - Teaches combat classes at the Acting department here at Tisch and supervises many student projects each semester.
Hair and Make-Up: Lain Kienzle
Sound Mixer: Jose Frias
Script Supervisor: Tien Chi Fu