Chonnie
Black&White and Color 16mm film (5'30")
With Joshua Timmons, Jamie Acres, Benjamin Shore, BQT and Lauren Rottman
Directed by Jeremy Warner in Bloomington (Indiana, USA) in November 1997
Camera: Joel Machiela - Editing: BQT - Production: Adam Braun
Titles open.
The following is black and white. Opens up on empty, desolate room, with few decorations. Fades to black. Next shot is of a newspaper with headline "Abused Boy Takes His Own Life." Fades to black. A series of ten to twelve photos slowly come up on the screen. In these photos, we start to see the images of a boy, and his life. Fades to black. Next we see a boy singing into a wooden spoon.
The shot changes to colour, and the boy is on stage, singing into a microphone.
Suddenly, the boy is jerked, back into black and white, and the mother is dragging the boy by his ear. She points out to his messy room, and tells him to clean it up. The boy enters the room, and we see a close-up of his crying eye. Fades to black.
Nexy we see a shot through a window of one of the boy's friend. He's asking the boy if he wants to come outside and play. The camera pans over to the mother who is shaking her head no, and tells him to get back to work. The film changes to colour, and we see a beautiful girl in a robe, who is winking at the camera. The boy turns around to the band guitar player and he shakes his head no.
Suddenly, the boy is jerked back into black and white and the mother is once again dragging the boy out to his room. She points at it and yells. The boy runs in his room and closes the door. We see a shot of the boy curled up in the fetus position crying for help. Then, once again, we see a close-up of his crying eye. Fades to black.
A close-up of a suitcase on a bed in black and white. We then see the suitcase from a different angle, but now it is in colour and on a nice hotel room bed.
In colour, we see a shot of a hotel room, and the boy is walking out, with his suitcase in hand. The camera tracks along, and the boy passes a girl. The girl follows the boy, and then starts to rip the boy's shirt off. The boy struggles to get away.
The film changes over to black and white, and the mother is dragging the boy to his room. We see him yelling something like "Let me go!" The mother then beats the boy with a paddle. The boy kneels at the foot of his bed and cries. Once again, we see a close-up of his crying eye. He is also mouthing the words "Help me".
We see a long shot of the boy getting a pen and paper. He starts to write a letter. We see a close-up of the letter, and the words that he is writing. The film changes to colour, and we now are reading the letter in colour.
The film is back to black and white, and we see the boy lying on the floor bleeding. Next we see a series of shots. One is of the bruises on his body. Another shot is of the mother crying. The film changes to colour, and we see a candle, and flowers. We also see some signs that say "We love you Chonnie". Fades to black.
The film changes back to black and white. We see the opening shot of the bed. FAdes, and comes up on the newspaper, and then fades. Once again the film sees the series of photos, and fades. The End.
Joshua Timmons (Chonnie) is a junior art student at Indiana University. He majors in Philosophy. He acted in a few productions before and assisted director Jeremy Warner on Anxie.
Jamie Acres (the mother) is a continuing study student at IU.
Benjamin Shore (the friend/guitar player) is a junior art student at Indiana University.
Lauren Rottman (the dream girl) is really sort of a mysterious dream girl... Was last seen in Bloomington in November 1997...
Jeremy Warner is a senior student whose majors are Theatre and Drama at Indiana University. He directed several short films and plays.
Joel Machiela is a music student at IU. He is part of a rock band as well.
Adam Braun is a senior student at IU. He majors in Psychology and English.
© BQT - May 1998