Best Short Film Winners receive our stunning 11 1/2″ 24K custom gold statuette which is manufactured by R.S. Owens, the same company that manufactured the Oscar for 30 years! All Winners can purchase the award via our online Awards Order Form HERE.
[tabslide]
Title: A Pointless Pencil
Runtime: 10 min
Country: USA
Director: Beecher Reuning
Placement: Best Actor (L. Derek Leonidoff) + Award of Excellence
Competition: December, 2015
Synopsis: A Pointless Pencil is a fantasy-comedy about an uncreative, blue-collar worker who must compete in a game of imagination to win a pencil he desperately longs to add to his collection.
OR: What was the inspiration for your film?
BR: Inspiration comes from a lot of places for me. Years ago I watched a pretty terrible movie (Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds). Afterward my friend and I were talking about what made the film so bad. I started throwing out ideas here and there and how I felt the basic premise of a ring that controlls imagination fits more in the comedy genre. Then I claimed that it would be much better if the protagonist had either the best or the worst imagination. Soon fixing for that movie ended up becoming the beginning of another one. This was where the idea started for A Pointless Pencil.
OR: When did you conceive the idea for your film and how long did it take before it was realized?
BR: I conceived this idea in 2012. It was driving a large truck full of production equipment for several hours and a friend of mine was in the passenger seat. We started talking about movies and the idea came out of our discussions. After that drive, I jotted the idea down and didn’t think too much else about it for years. Then 2+ years later, I was wanting to start a new project so I pulled out my notes of 20 ideas or so and for whatever reason, the idea for A Pointless Pencil grabbed my attention the most. Once I started really working on the script it wook about a year to finish. We finally finished the film August of 2015… So it took about 3 years from conception to realization.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of working in a short film format?
BR: One of the most challenging aspects of working in the short film format is the decision of how much of the story to tell. As a creative person, you build a world that has life and so many layers to it and you could write hours of content in it. But in the short film format you can’t do that. You have to look at this whole big world and say, “who’s the most interesting character and what 10 minutes of his life would be the best to tell?”. It’s something I still have a hard time doing.
OR: What was the most challenging aspect of your production?
BR: It’s funny because this is by far the biggest production I have directed, yet it was the smoothest. When you work with good people, the product turns out better and you can trust them to do a really good job. This let me focus on the directing and, really for the first time, I was able leave the other roles to other people, which was very nice. While overall it was smooth, there were still some really difficult parts. I would say the most difficult part was dealing with the sun. We were blessed to rent an entire empty office floor where we could shoot. We found the perfect conference room and had it all set-up, but I didn’t properly scout to see how the sun rose and set. This caused us having to take a production break on the last day for 3 hours to wait for the sun to move. This turned what should have been a smooth last day into a very stressful day that had an annoying 3 hour break in the middle of it.
OR: Do you have any advice for first-time filmmakers?
BR: Find a story you want to tell and then force yourself to find the best few moments of that story. Leave the audience wanting more instead of confusing an audience as you try to fit it all in. Write multiple drafts of the screenplay and don’t limit yourself on the first few drafts. I wrote 16 drafts of A Pointless Pencil and draft 8 looks like a different film compared to the final product. Find good people to give you advice on the script and really consider their feedback. Once you get a good screenplay, find reliable people that are passionate to help you make your vision and let them know how much their valued every step of the way. You can’t make a good film if you do everything on your own.