I was a Bad Boy

I returned to Los Angeles for the premier party of "Cliff Lake" and to decorate the event. Up to this point I had only worked on "Cliff Lake" long distance sending props and story boards etc. from San Antonio. Needless to say I was eager to see the finished project, work with the production team and get some of the ideas that "Cliff Lake" had inspired out of my head and into the physical. It was my first opportunity to get knee deep in it - finally. I decided to use the world in which "Cliff Lake" is set and decorate with a story based interactive art installation that furthered the ambiance of the film and it's plot. For the premier I thought we should bring the world of cliff lake into the environment of the event space. to decorate the spaces as if they were an extension of what could have or might yet happen to the characters on the screen. And i wanted to use a lot of blood. I chose to decorate as though we were in what had been a safe place for survivors /refugees of some disaster, only after it's security had been breached and something brutal had happened to the survivors that had been there maybe only moments before. I used a lot of blood.The screening area was staged as the survivors/refugees personal communal space and was decorated for comfort while viewing "Cliff Lake" with things like tents, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, backpacks, footlockers, and suitcases (all packed with character driven costumes and props while some contained further clues to character and plot lines ). This area was "encompassed" with a reinforced barricade of found objects like pitch forks, shears, and other barbed things. I used a lot of blood.The food was served from a wrecked van staged as though it had driven through the fence and crushed a cyclist in the process. I used a lot of blood.In the enclosed garage space which served as a cocktail lounge was where "I Was a Bad Boy" played. I created an slapdash Head Quarters / safe room here. Character driven decor was installed in defined areas, and there was some blood. This was also an interactive installation where the audience was invited to explore and snoop through the arrangements where they may find clues, evidence and secret information on various characters or pieces of the plot's puzzle, and a lot of blood.Clues, story lines, character secrets, and integral plot information were in view and hidden through out the space and a lot of blood. A narrative thread could be derived by going through photographs, post cards, Top secret files and dossiers on central characters, maps with escape routes and restricted areas, specimen, medical and electronic experiments, survival guides, reference materials, literature classics as well as philosophy, evolution, and creationism theory, aliens, the Maya... I used a lot of blood. I knew that some live performances were scheduled and addressed the stage decoration. I decided that while en route to LA i would film as much movement and light patterns as I could thinking this would serve as an interesting light show and visual for a backdrop, especially for the acoustic performance by Stilwell and Cotton - which rocked despite it's lack of blood. Not only was this to be the first opportunity I had to roll my sleeves up and get to work on this project it was also the first time I got to see the final cut and hear the music in its ultimate recording.The music of "Cliff Lake" I discovered was more than just a soundtrack to this film but ironically becomes the voice to a film with virtually no dialogue."Cliff Lake" and "I was a Bad Boy " while both strong enough to stand alone when experienced together bring a more completed (though unnerving) picture of what is happening in this already brutal story. The music and the sounds so wickedly laced through out the piece by Cotton help create stronger visceral experience while still keeping this a cerebral horror and moral nightmare.Ultimately we put together in interesting night that seemed to really inspire Stilwell. For the next few days and nights we filmed the decorative installation along with a variety of images and various areas around LA. that we thought captured the mood and unsettling tension of both the film and the music. This footage Stilwell combined with the film I had collected on my train trip, some film he had previously shot, and footage from "Cliff Lake". This he then weaves together with the songs and sounds of "I was a Bad Boy" and gives us a compelling, disturbing, yet mesmerizing journey that not only retells the story of "CLIFF LAKE" but slowly drags the audience deeper into it's darkest shadows.