蓝莓视频

Building character

By Katy Nesbitt

A friendship born on the set of an 蓝莓视频 theatre production led to alumni collaborating on a movie to be filmed against the backdrop of northeastern Oregon鈥檚 stunning vistas.

J.J. Hill, 鈥�11, and Liberty O鈥橠ell鈥檚, 鈥�11, movie, titled 鈥淥ut of Character,鈥� features not only EOU alumni writing, producing and directing, but 75 percent of the cast and crew are graduates.

With a small grant, some out-of-pocket expenditure and a lot of volunteer support, the film’s pre-production began in November 2019. Filming is set to begin in 2021. Hill and O’Dell said they hope to have at least some scenes from the movie available to premier at the 2020 Eastern Oregon Film Festival in October.

The storyline for 鈥淥ut of Character鈥� follows six people involved in a live action role-play game in the woods, O鈥橠ell said. Live action role-playing, or 鈥渓arping,鈥� is like a game of Dungeons and Dragons come to life with players dressed in medieval costumes armed with swords, shields and helmets. The premise of the movie is the principal characters are to stay in their fantasy personas for several days as they journey through the wilds of Eastern Oregon.

鈥淭he purpose of the script is to create something in Eastern Oregon and to showcase the local talent,鈥� O鈥橠ell said.

Hill said the movie is staged like a documentary or reality show about a fictional event, but he came short of calling it a mockumentary. Larping has been portrayed in film as a legitimate and entertaining hobby, like sword-play at a Renaissance festival, while other treatments portray it in a mocking form.

鈥淥ur version is a celebration of imagination,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淭hink 鈥楤est in Show鈥� meets 鈥楲ord of the Rings.鈥欌��

The comedic undertones come largely from using the actors鈥� own personalities to heighten their characters, O鈥橠ell and Hill said. In February they had a read-through with the principal actors, going over their characters and reworking scene sequences.

鈥淲hen one actor was asked, 鈥榃ho do you think your character is?鈥� he responded, 鈥業 get to make that choice?鈥� I told him we can only write up to our ability,鈥� O鈥橠ell said. 鈥淭he actors are going to have a stronger understanding of who their character is and we respect their knowledge.鈥�

Hill and O鈥橠ell said they met on the set of EOU鈥檚 production of 鈥淥ne Flew Over the Cuckoo鈥檚 Nest,鈥� and became fast friends, spending time together playing Dungeons and Dragons, a role playing tabletop board game. Hill said he learned to play the game in high school and it helped him in the theater.

鈥淲hen I started acting I was nervous about being in character in front of other people, but Dungeons and Dragons got me over being someone else in a safe group of people,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淧laying the game is a cooperative imagination experience where you don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen next.鈥�

O鈥橠ell said he didn鈥檛 play the game until college, but agreed that one of the most important lessons any artist learns is how to portray a story.

鈥淭hrough games you step into character and explore different aspects of your personality, things you don鈥檛 do in daily life,鈥� O鈥橠ell said.

After graduating from EOU, O鈥橠ell studied and worked in New York for about five years. Hill did a short stint in New York as well, but both ended up back in Eastern Oregon 鈥� O鈥橠ell in La Grande and Hill in Pendleton. Both said they returned to the region for the sense of community and the scenery.

They got involved with the Eastern Oregon Film Festival and get together with a handful of other actors once a week to do improvisational theater 鈥� skills similar to larping and tabletop gaming, where characters are constantly working off of each other.

鈥淥ne of the things we started with is knowing collaboration is the strongest way to make art,鈥� O鈥橠ell said.