ORIGIN:
Barkhoff wrote the script for this film in 2019 when heavily depressed and made it an objective to be happy by the time the script was finished. He never finished the script, but, nearly six months later, decided to approach the project again. This was due to the COVID pandemic putting the world on a lock down, and Barkhoff wanting to work on his third film. His original idea for a third film was roughly one third filmed before COVID delayed it’s production – it ended up being released as a short film in October 2020. Due to this, this film is primarily a solo attempt from Barkhoff. It was originally scheduled to be released in November 2020, but Barkhoff didn’t like what he was editing and so he made it into a short film.
Structure:
The film was conceived after Barkhoff saw the trailer for the 2019 “Joker” film. Barkhoff didn’t want the film to feel like a regularly structured film because it was primarily solo, even in it’s early stages. He has compared it to a Stanley Kubrick or Ari Aster film, having an unsettling feeling that something is “off”.
The Definitive Cut:
Barkhoff decided, after watching “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” cut, that he had a complete film unedited because he wasn’t willing to tinker with it a bit. This lead to Barkhoff reformatting the film he’d scrapped about six months earlier in November of 2020 and trying to add segments to it to make it feel more “complete”. Barkhoff was happy with the end result in April of 2021 and set it for release the following month, giving Jarrod Van Hauen’s debut film “Death, My Darling” it’s own time to shine. Unlike the previous two films, Barkhoff didn’t develop a full soundtrack for the film, but he did make three songs that are used in the film.
cast:
Mike Barkhoff, Conner Paulsen, Skyler Neher
DIRECTOR, WRITER &EDITOR:
Mike Barkhoff
PRODUCER:
Zach Delfs and Conner Paulsen
LIGHTING & AUDIO:
Mike Barkhoff
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