watch The Unusual (calling of) Charlie Christmas

[OutsidersProductions]

I am looking for some feedback.... Outsiders Productions is getting ready to release a feature length film called:

"The Unusual (calling of) Charlie Christmas."

It is the story of a socially awkward, thirty-two year old high school janitor who is inspired to become a costumed vigilante in his small Oklahoma town.

Bullied and overlooked his entire life, Charlie receives his "higher calling" even as his tender friendship with his neighbor, a meek and mysterious woman named Gracie, begins to develop into something more powerful.

We made this movie with virtually no budget - less than $15,000 - No professional actors etc... Even still we think it is solid. We wanted try and tell a “superhero origins” story but in the most realistic way possible. Our hero doesn’t have millions of dollars to fund his quest. He doesn’t have superpowers. He’s just an average guy (if only slightly delusional) trying to make a difference in his small corner of the world.

My question is: Does anyone care? Many people say they use movies for an escape from reality. If so is there any point in trying to tell a story like this in a realistic manner?

Here is a link to one of our teaser trailers: http://www.charliechristmas.com/#!media/vstc5=videos

There are a couple other videos in this section of our site including another version of the teaser and an interview "featurette" with the cast and crew.

We are currently cutting an actual promo trailer and should have it up in a week or so....

Let us know what you think!

Thanks,

 

[Murdock]

So, were you inspired by Boondock Saints??

 

[OutsidersProductions]

Good question... The film was written and directed by Adam Hampton and although he has never mentioned "Boondock" (that I can think of) in the context of Charlie I can see where it, among others, probably influenced various themes in his writing. Charlie's "calling" is not carried out in as ruthless a manner as the brothers Mcmanus'..... He doesn't kill anyone. Without giving away too much, you could say that Charlie is a little more innocent in his approach and that his enemies are more bully than mob boss.

 

[Murdock]

Good question... The film was written and directed by Adam Hampton and although he has never mentioned "Boondock" (that I can think of) in the context of Charlie I can see where it, among others, probably influenced various themes in his writing. Charlie's "calling" is not carried out in as ruthless a manner as the brothers Mcmanus'..... He doesn't kill anyone. Without giving away too much, you could say that Charlie is a little more innocent in his approach and that his enemies are more bully than mob boss.

Cool. Thanks for the reply.

 

[ThatGuyFromThatPlace]

So, from the looks of the trailer, it looked like you were going with a much darker approach to costumed vigilantes than films like Super or Kick-Ass, but you say he doesn't kill anyone? I'm looking forward to seeing the full film, but the trailer at two distinct points implies that he's going to kill someone - both with the guy comparing him to Charles Bronson and saying "______ by day, kills by night", and at the final shot where the dark music is playing and he's very physically close to the unconscious guy on the floor (who I thought was dead until you said he doesn't kill anyone).

Definitely looks interesting though, just with a tad misleading trailer - it may not seem like much, but when it comes to distinguishing the villains from the heroes it generally comes down to whether they kill the people they fight or not. The Dark Knight's plot was all based around the Joker trying to get Batman to break his one rule of no killing, and that mob-boss fears the Joker more than the Batman by distinctly saying this to him after being pushed off a building:

Noone's going to tell you nothing. They're wise to your act. You've got rules. The Joker? He's got no rules. Nobody's going to cross him for you.

For fans of super hero films, it's a very important factor, so misleading your audience with a trailer isn't the best of ideas.

And a question, is the entire film in the documentary style that the trailer is in, or is that specifically done for the trailer?

 

[OutsidersProductions]

Great questions... The aim of the film was to approach the genre with little or no satire. It has some very basic comedic elements but we tried to keep clear of any "shtick" if you will. It could be called a "darker approach" but I think it is more realistic that way. Although Charlie never actually kills anyone he certainly runs that risk and does seriously wound a few.

The central question of using violence to fight violence plays heavily in the film and there are significant plot points that address this. Keep in mind that this is set in a small Oklahoma town and the “Bad Guys” he is fighting, although they are dangerous, are more of the thug / bully type rather than ruthless killers themselves. Whereas Batman killing the Joker would be well within many people’s acceptable level of moral behavior Charlie killing a guy for robbing an old lady would probably seem over the top.

This “trailer” was meant to be more of a teaser (we are cutting an actual promo trailer now) and we did weigh the factors you mention. We didn’t want to be too misleading but we also wanted to make the point that Charlie is dealing with serious situations and that he may or may not cross the line.

Hopefully by using the opposing views of the “man on the street” interviews it give people the sense of what it might actually be like if this were to happen in their own town. The film is not shot in Doc style but does make use of it in a few places.

As always, there is a twist at the end that sums up Charlie’s motives for becoming a crime fighter in an unexpected way…. That is the hope at least.

Thanks for the interest!
Chad

 

[ThatGuyFromThatPlace]

You used a bad link to the Batman then:

Batman killing the Joker would be well within many people's acceptable level of moral behaviour

Well, not really - in the comic "finale" The Dark Knight Returns, he chases and cripples the Joker in a fairground, where the Joker then gets the last laugh and kills himself, but the police assume it was Batman who did it. From that point on, everyone hated the Batman and the president hired Superman to kill him. In the film The Dark Knight, the story ends with Batman again being hunted by the police, but this time for killing Two-Face and several civilians (despite it being Two-Face that did it). Admittedly the villains get portrayed as the good guys to save Gotham's future in the film, but the comic of the Batman doesn't. [/rant]

Cheers for answering the questions though! I'll definitely look forward to watching this, looks like a good take on the superhero genre.