The following article appeared in the April 12, 1999 issue of SUNY Fredonia's college newspaper, The Crier. It combines my written press release (which I had anonymously given, with photos, to the paper's staff) with an over-the-phone interview that the writer had with me. The article included two photos (with a third one used on the front page), and was the lead story for the Arts section. The article publicized the public showing of my movie, "Retro Man", which was attended by about thirty people.
Some people feel there just aren't enough '70's era movies to go around.
David Scott, a junior communications major, is trying to fix this problem with the creation of Retro Man, his third and most recent movie, which he wrote, directed and produced entirely on his own.
"Creating a parody of a '70's cop movie seemed like a cool thing to do and, I hadn't seen too many movie set around that era," said Scott, who 50-minute film is based on a TV cop who goes after an evil crime boss.
Scott plays Retro Man, the cop. Other characters include a frustrated police cheif, a fast-talking pimp and his employees, and several evil henchmen.
Scott originally created Retro Man for a class at another college before he transferred to Fredonia. He finished the assignment at his previous school but felt it wasn't complete because he didn't have enough cast members to make it the kind of film that he wanted.
With the assistance and support of communication professor Chris Benton, Scott was able to finish his movie with cast members from Fredonia.
Friends, fellow students and even Scott's roommate were involved in the creation of the movie, as well as students recommended by Benton.
Retro Man took over one year to make and was shot in Corning, Elmira, Fredonia and Beaver Dams. Scott said, "It was weird that it took over a year to make, but it was interesting to try to splice it all together and make the scenes seem like they were shot in the same place around the same time."
Inspiration for the movie came from many different things, and Scott referred to his film as a combination of Starsky and Hutch meets Shaft. Other influences came from the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" video, as well as the Three Stooges and the Monkees.
The similarities between Retro Man and the international man of mystery, Austin Powers, seem very prevalent. Scott admits that his movie was "inspired by Austin Powers in concepts, although I never actually saw it until after my movie was finished."
Scott is very excited about the popularity of Retro Man among his peers and professors.
"The people I've shown it to love it and are even quoting lines from it. I think you can measure a movie by the number of quotes that people take from it. The fact that people are quoting my movie really puts a smile on my face."
Professor Benton was particularly impressed by Scott's film and encouraged him to present it at a public showing. With Benton's support, Scott agreed and is thrilled that his creation will soon be viewed by the public.
A sequel entitled, Retro Man: the Next Decade, is already in the works. It will be set in the 1980's and have a Miami Vice style to it.
Retro Man will be shown at 9 p.m. on April 15 in McEwen Hall 209 and is free to the public. It will be followed by a Question and Answer session with Scott and the rest of the cast. Groovy Baby!
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