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LOCAL SHORT FILM - SPIN (JAMIN WINANS)
In a deserted alley within the depths of downtown
Denver, a DJ angel by the name of Scratch (played
by Hayze II) drops from the sky along with his
gear and an assignment: to reverse a series of
events and right the wrongs.
Using his turntable and knobs, Scratch views
the area of the commons where a variety of people
are going through the motions of their everyday
lives. The street performer break dances for dollars,
some boys from Federal are getting machismo and
territorial, a man is breaking out some bills
for a quick fix from a drug dealer, and a mother
walking out of the store with her daughter drops
a basketball from her recently purchased bag of
toys.
Scratch sees how this basket ball has caused
havoc as a bicycle messenger avoids it, only to
go headfirst into an oncoming car. Reversing time
through the backspin of the turntable and with
a slight twist on the deck, Scratch sends the
ball in another direction the second time around.
Where the wit and humor come in is with the frustration
of seeing his second attempt have a worse outcome
than the original space in time, like a screaming
old lady on a wheelchair going into the car instead
of the bicylist (well, I thought it was funny).
Each time he thinks all is well and packs up his
gear, only to find out that the situation gets
worse every time.
With eyes glaring Scratch finally gets it right,
finely tuning his gear and orchestrating the sequences
and people to all live in harmony. The drug dealer
ends up throwing his bills into the street performer’s
kitty, the east side boys decide to confront each
other another day, and the old lady stands to
dance with her aging husband (that last part was
kind of corny).
As Scratch starts to walk away content, the little
girl’s doll loses her head. With a heavy
sigh he quickly reverses the outcome one last
time, and with that, you can almost hear him say,
“That’s it. I’m getting the
hell out of here,” as he literally runs
away and the scene darkens to a close.
The short, seven minute film is rich in content
but free from dialogue with a complete focus on
the people. The concept of turning back time to
change the outcome of events is not a new one,
but how the characters are protrayed, how different
people connect or confront each other based on
biased thinking or racial prejudice makes you
think. Using a DJ and a turntable as a time machine
is also unique and interesting, coming from the
mind of director Jamin Winans of Double Edge Films
in Denver.
“It made me wonder what would happen if
just a touch of mystery was thrown on the turntables
and everyday people, places and evens could be
influenced by the flow, speed and direction of
a record,” Winans explains. The young director
has been at this whole filmmaking thing since
he was 14, launching his film company with Joe
Sekiya in 1998.
Filmed in two weekends in the Riverfront area
this past June, 35 hours were editing and produced
down to what you see now. If you viewed any postings
on MySpace for a car, a bike and two of the characters
in the film, it was for Spin.
The drug dealer in the short film is played by
Raymond Andrew Baily, who is also the lead actor
in their full length film, 11:59, which has been
accepted by the Montreal Film Festival that takes
place at the beginning of September. 11:59 is
of a jaded news journalist who breaks a huge story,
only to wake up in a deserted field with no memory
of what has transpired in the last 24 hours or
how he got there. As the movie unfolds the suspense
and mystery gets more complex as he tries to unravel
his own story, using his journalistic skills and
self analysis into his own life.
11:59 got three screening times in Montreal,
and then the crew is off to the Kansas International
Film Festival, which takes place September 9 –
15.
To view Spin, go to:
http://www.doubleedgefilms.com/spin/player.html
To view the trailer for 11:59 go to:
http://www.doubleedgefilms.com
-Kim Owens, August 19, 2005
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