“MIDDLE GROUND”
Producer(s) : Tushar Kejriwal and Yuin Cheung
Logline
An undertaker’s outlook towards life is challenged when he meets a young (deceased) woman.
Our Take
Inspired by HBO’s ‘Six Feet Under’, this short film was conceived as a Thesis Film for the undergraduate Film Production program at Chapman University. Written by Screenwriting major Richie Debiase and directed by Tushar Kejriwal, the script showcased a maturity, depth and wry sense of humour that felt almost surreal, especially coming from two twenty-year olds. This film was made entirely with Chapman University’s resources, faculty and students, while filming took place over six days in various part of the college town of Orange, including the university premises, our friends’ homes and an old neighborhood chapel. The film was shot on sticks or on a dolly, as an attempt to use the visual language of classically-lensed films - films that feel familiar, and ones we’ve admired growing up. Careful, deliberate camera movements, a la David Fincher, also served as a major inspiration here, lending the dense subject matter a visual style that we found fitting.
An undertaker’s outlook towards life is challenged when he meets a young (deceased) woman.
Our Take
Inspired by HBO’s ‘Six Feet Under’, this short film was conceived as a Thesis Film for the undergraduate Film Production program at Chapman University. Written by Screenwriting major Richie Debiase and directed by Tushar Kejriwal, the script showcased a maturity, depth and wry sense of humour that felt almost surreal, especially coming from two twenty-year olds. This film was made entirely with Chapman University’s resources, faculty and students, while filming took place over six days in various part of the college town of Orange, including the university premises, our friends’ homes and an old neighborhood chapel. The film was shot on sticks or on a dolly, as an attempt to use the visual language of classically-lensed films - films that feel familiar, and ones we’ve admired growing up. Careful, deliberate camera movements, a la David Fincher, also served as a major inspiration here, lending the dense subject matter a visual style that we found fitting.