A parody within a parody within a parody…

Parody-time, although we mostly borrowed the concept of a hit movie (i.e. infiltrating dreams from Inception) to make our own statement about fandom. Indeed, this is our most serious movie, with only a few deliberate jokes. While it may not have the audience-pleasing power of a joke-a-minute Blood In The Halls, it was appealing to us to try something different, with a bit of heart.

A girl complains to her friends that her father won’t let her attend a science fiction convention. They decide it’s time for an inception. While reading his bible, the father falls asleep and suddenly finds himself in standing in line at a convention. He dismisses them as “loser weirdos” but overhears a conversation from others in the queue that makes them sound intelligent. But he must go deeper. He wakes again in the second level, a surreal panel. The agents burst in and tell him he’s trapped in a dream and must escape with them. People in the dream are becoming aware of them and beginning to fight back. An exciting shoot-out still disappoints the father, so he is taken to the third level. Dressed strangely, he is at the dance where he sees his daughter having a great time and being complimented for her costuming. He realizes that this is what makes her happy.

As the agents kick him back up the various levels of his dreamscape, he re-engages with each scenario, no matter how surreal, until he finally wakes up back in his chair, arranging to drive his daughter to the convention.

He is changed by the experience, however, as his reading material indicates…

Edward was keen to exploit the likeness between frequent contributor David Tackett and Fran Kranz who played Topher on Dollhouse. Ryan was dead-set against any Dollhouse references but a scene was shot and put at the end as a punchline to the movie. For better or for worse.

Cast

  • Daughter: Lori Hillard
  • Inception Agents: Dana Halfhill, Ron Lake, David Tackett
  • Father: Daniel Kaufman
  • Line person: Mike Reddig
  • Fighters: Anita Taylor, Liz Dahlstrom, Andrew Kinman
  • Fighting Jesus: Jim Moniz
  • Candleblowers: Helga

Crew

  • Produced by Edward Martin III, Brian D. Oberquell, Eric Morgret and Ryan K. Johnson.
  • Directed by Edward Martin III.
  • Photographed and edited by Ryan K. Johnson.
  • Sound by Edward Martin III.
  • Lighting: Lisa Sherman and Doug Staudt.
  • Costuming: Anita Taylor.
  • Intern: Heather Candelaria