the midnight drive [short film] —Using my ADHD to create inter-disciplinary opportunities and refine skills :D

“Hey Dylan, can you make a quick iPhone video of you talking about your piece for our audience?"

"Nope! But- I will spend a week waking up at 5am every morning to make a short film introducing the piece."

And when I say I spent a week doing this… it’s because I only had a week to do it, lol. Sometimes an idea pops into your head and you just gotta run with it! Was this the smartest move? In terms of time and energy, maybe not! But hey, we’re artists and we make things. The fact that this was something that, as a proper commission, would actually be seen by people served as the motivation I had been seeking to push my videography to the next level. I had filmed videos for work and for fun, but wanted to try something more cinematic. Part of the ADHD brain is struggling with motivation and taking action— so even when the opportunity is a bit contrived (i.e. taking advantage of a musical commission to practice my videography), I try to make it work! I think even “neurotypical” artists would agree that the promise of work being seen can be more motivating for producing the effort required to create something, even as an exercise.

Ultimately, I’m glad I did it. I got to know my camera (and video fundamentals in general) on a much deeper level through the daily and varied shooting required for this challenge, I learned a lot about narrative structure in this format, and I even learned more about the music I composed. Of course, the final product feels flawed in many ways to me, but I improved so much over that week and I discovered so many new things to work on. I feel like this is the meat of any craft: the DOING! Not the perfectionism, nor the over-rumination, but just going out and DOING! And this is coming from a chronic planner…

So here it is, a brief introduction to my piece, the midnight drive to wake with family on christmas morning, a post-minimalist mediation on the internal holiday journey, commissioned by Palisades Virtuosi.

directed/written/shot/starring/scored by Dylan Trần
clarinet and flute in the soundtrack by https://www.fiverr.com/mateusz_sax
fire by Zandra Zemmels (at the Zemmels home)
filmed on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k
used a bunch of vintage and kit lenses from eBay

I don’t have a recording of the music, except what is featured in the short film, but I'll give you a brief synopsis of the piece:

• The first movement is minimalist, it takes place in my car as I drive the 4hrs from Nola to my hometown on Christmas eve (usually around midnight, since I sing Christmas eve services at a church in Nola). A bit nervous thinking of how I'm going to handle my family, but trying to remain positive and thinking of all the ways the weekend can go right. 
  

• The second movement takes place at home. It is combative, trying to get along with my family while some family members (the piano in this case), use manipulative tactics and incessant thematic material to abuse and gaslight.
  

• The third movement is another minimalist drive, this time back to Nola, as I'm reeling from the exertions of the weekend. Such altercations with family hurt not only our adult selves but also our inner children who were victims of those same abuses early on. The last movement is almost twice as long as the previous movements because healing is often a longer journey than the events that necessitate it.