Chase Thompson, A Film by Chase Thompson
“Let me ask you. What’s more exciting than a surprise zombie attack?” This movie. Director Vincent Lin did something really unique with his short CHASE THOMPSON, A FILM BY CHASE THOMPSON, and that is to show how every person involved in making a great movie is important to the overall outcome of the big picture. It shows that you certainly can make a movie on your own, but that there is something really special that happens when people come together to support one person’s dream. This is a film about trusting yourself and the people around you. It shows that even the heroes in a movie need their supporting characters to truly be great.
Chase Thompson wants to make the best zombie movie ever made. But he is also an insecure and controlling filmmaker who’s fired his entire crew, is forced to star in and take on every role, and whose script and financing just got pulled from production. At first, he tries to finish his movie on his own, to retail full control over everything, mostly because he’s afraid to ask for help. But at the behest of his female lead, he reaches out to various people and soon he has professional sound, and then extras, then grips, a cinematographer, lighting crews, etc. until his film is complete, and so is his vision.
This film makes use of some great acting on the part of the two leads, Jason Winfield and Patricia Frost (who looks a lot like Shannon Elizabeth in the film) and also excels technically as well using Super 16mm film, RED One, and Panasonic HVX100B cameras to show the different stages of development in the scenes, as well as letting the audience know when we’re watching the movie within a movie. It’s shot, lit, and sounds wonderful regardless of what is put up on screen, even when the scenes are SUPPOSED to look messed up, it just looks like a cliched version of a low-budget indie film.
Vincent Lin shows that ego can get in the way of success, and truly rewarding experiences for many people, not just the person whose dream is being realized. He shows that film is a collaborative effort, and also that relationships are what make films happen, not money and superficial connections, and certainly not the studios. CHASE THOMPSON, A FILM BY CHASE THOMPSON is a short film, but a short film with a profound message.
