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The World's Worst Fisherman can only be
described as a happy accident. Every summer I go to the Lake of the Ozarks with
my wife to visit her family. Our cousin Derick (John "D-Rock" Dotson) had let me
know he was considering getting into filmmaking and I thought it would be nice
if we could maybe work together.
I got the idea in 2007 to grab my camera and take it down there with me. I told
Derick to come up with an idea and we would shoot a quick. short film during
vacation that year. Well, neither of us thought too hard about it and decided on
a quick idea Derick came up with. What if we focus on a guy who is the world's
worst fisherman. The guy can catch anything and everything except fish.
Cool.
I (Shawn) was cast as the fisherman and off we went. Johanna Lealos was the
cinematographer and Derick and I pretty much acted as co-directors, coming up
with the most messed up ideas for what I could catch and then having to figure
out how to shoot it. We cast family members and shot it in a couple of hours.
This was nothing more than a fun home movie exercise and a chance to Derick and
I to work together on something. But something strange happened when I got back
to Oklahoma. I slapped it on the computer and edited it together as a story.
It was funny.
This couldn't just be something we did to throw away, only to be seen at the
next years family gathering. I needed to find a way to make it something more
than it really was.
What I did was create an old fashioned silent movie. I had the idea when we were
shooting it and studied a lot of Buster Keaton films. I played with the picture,
eliminating the color, but leaving it a sepia tone. I added dust and scratches,
a few camera bumps here and there, and then played with the speed a little. Sure
enough, it came together with the classic silent film look.
A reaction I have started getting more and more lately is shock that my films
actually come out looking good. I guess I should take it as a compliment, but I
would like a little confidence in my during the shoot. The same thing happened
here. Derick was shocked it turned out so well. That's a good sign.
Derick is now hitting up some of his partners in Texas to add a soundtrack and
soon it will be online and ready for your viewing. Just a small wait longer, and
you will see our happy, little accident.
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