Twenties Noir

My film experience on Lightning Run kind of reminds me of Camp Nichols in that there were again a lot of firsts. Lightning Run was written, executive produced and directed by McKay Muhan. It's about a jilted, young man, desperate to set things right, who is approached by mysterious stranger with a dangerous solution. The entire film itself is set in the 1920's during prohibition. When I was approached about this film, I was really excited about it: 1. being a period piece, and 2. finding cost effective ways to create a 1920's environment. I was also a little nervous about finding time specific props and wardrobe. Through this film, I was able to build my first prop gun out of foam, design prop money and rent costumes from UA's theatre and dance department.

The prop gun was one of things that peaked my initial excitement aside from it being set in the 1920s. Before this, I never had a reason to make one which is kind of a bad excuse now that I think about it. I tend to like making things harder on myself like when I chose my concentration because it was something I found interesting but knew nothing about. It's made mostly of foam, rubber cement, hot glue, a wooden dowel, 2 ballpoint pen springs, paint, and a little cardboard. Thank you to Punish Props, William Jakespeare, and Magicalamazing for the inspiration their YouTube videos gave me. After this, can definitely see where I can improve on my technique in using a box cutter and the type of materials I chose for the trigger guard.

The most stressful concept can often have the easiest solutions. The wardrobe ended up being the easiest thing for us to get. Before last year, I never knew that it was possible to rent costumes from the theatre and dance department. They charge rental fees for costumes for things like student films. The prices ended up being pretty reasonable with hats costing $5 a piece. They also charge a replacement fee if anything happens to the clothes, so always keep what you borrow in good condition.

Thank you, McKay, for writing and directing such a great film. Also, thank you everyone on cast & crew for such a great experience. Thanks also goes to UA's theatre and dance department for some of the most incredible costumes.

To learn more about this film check out the Lightning Run Facebook page and for inspiration check out my Pinterest board that I created for the film.