Filmmaking: Yes, Chan Is Missing, I’ll give you that.
A couple of days ago I mentioned that I went to a screenwriting workshop taught by Terrel Seltzer who worked on the screenplay for Chan Is Missing. I was thinking about it. I dig this film. I like it because it is shot Dinosaur! style, and I like everything shot Dinosaur! style.
I think it’s an inspiration to all of us what you can do with a single camera and a good-looking city for a backdrop. Forget permits, just move to a city long enough to know how to get away with it.
With this film, and because it is low budget, you get to see real 1982 San Francisco. No closed off streets, no one is holding the crowd back during shooting, none of that, just a small group of people with a camera trying not to get noticed in a larger group of people.
Also, the film has some significance for me. I first saw it on a 30 inch flat-screen monitor, when I thought 30 inch flat-screen monitors were unbelievable large. I had just moved to the Bay Area and I was living in a closet in San Mateo, and it was the first Indie San Francisco type film that I saw.
The film was made by this guy.
-J Roland Kelly
Tags: Film, Filmmaking, Indie, San Francisco, Screenwriting, Terrel Seltzer, workshop
