One of the top young filmmakers working in Tucson, Nickolas Duarte of Crown Chimp Productions, is preparing to release his latest short film project, What You Need, a piece he calls the most personal he has ever done. Having seen a great deal of his other work such as Fade In:, Pretending, as well as his impressive resume of ad work (winner of a multitude of ADDY Awards), including his formidable collaborations with Brute, adidas, Clinch Gear, and many others top brands, Duarte continues to build the Crown Chimp brand and his own personal filmmaking style in a way to be proud of.
What You Need revolves around a little boy who is half monkey, half human, looking at his day to day life, culminating in his meeting of a homeless man dressed as a king. Looking at the film, it is clear that Duarte continues to improve his craft, raising the bar above his previous narrative efforts. He and his usual collaborators from Crown Chimp, Matthew King and Adam Ray, seem to have a great working relationship that shows on screen, as nothing is muddled or feels like it was not thought about beforehand in some fashion. I guess, a certain level of professionalism always shines through in their work, and its rises higher with each work they produce.
The Monkey-Boy, played perfectly by Rudolpho Duarte, clearly emerges as a metaphorical expression of an individual's inability to fit into the world. He feels alienated by his differences, and not just his outward appearance, perhaps feeling alienated by the way he sees the world as well. More deeply, this may be examining the role of the artist in this world hell bent on destroying everything artistic, focusing on output and money instead. Whatever is being spoken to in the film, it is clear that there is a philosophical view being explored in a mature, sensible, and creative way.
Duarte relies on a decidedly visual storytelling style that works perfectly with the strong emotive performances throughout the cast. Perhaps the King's tone was a bit too strong, but it was at least a choice that was made. The idea of the character, all the characters in fact, was clear, even before they uttered a word. This style of filmmaking, using film as the visual medium it is, seems to quickly be going out of the Hollywood and mainstream marketing machine. But it's true power is clear when filmmakers like Duarte employ it, showing that a glance, a look, a movement of the camera, the actor, or both, these all can convey more than mere words in most cases. However, within the limited dialogue there is in the film, there is always the sense that what is being said is working on multiple levels, adding a rich depth to the narrative, not just filling space.
The make up by Margarita Potts is among the best I have ever seen in an independent film. Without this key element, the film would not have perhaps worked, as it would have looked cartoonish, not the gritty, realistic way it did, which matched perfectly with the overall tone of the film. Seriously, this is amazing work, and anyone in Tucson looking to hire someone for their project could do no better than the work Potts does here. It is not just the work on Monkey-Boy either, as his mother, played by Megan Mioduski, shows a look that adds depth to the role, and the King, played by Daniel Higgins, hell, even his feet fit the part and situation, just great attention to detail.
The dramatic tone of the piece displays a continuing growth from Duarte, moving into more complex and emotional themes with each subsequent film he makes. This is not a film that slaps you in the face with what it says, it rather requires the viewer to make choices and determine what they see within the complex picture being painted on the screen. I felt myself identifying with all of the characters in one way or another, which is really the most any viewer of a film can ask for. This identification also resides at the heart of the film in my view. In What You Need, perhaps finding someone or some way to identify with the world is what we all need.
Be sure to head over to Crown Chimp's website to check out the other great work that has been done by this group of filmmakers, as well as the links below for more items on Duarte and Crown Chimp. If you are interested in following along with the happenings in the Tucson film scene and with local filmmakers, you can receive these articles directly as they are published by clicking on the “Subscribe” button at the top of this piece. You can also follow me on Twitter by searching for ericshlapack or by clicking the link below.
For more info:
Crown Chimp Productions
Part One of an interview with Nickolas Duarte
Part Two of an interview with Nickolas Duarte
Previous story done by this space on Nickolas Duarte
Previous story done by this space on Fade In
Previous story done by this space on Pretending
ADDY Awards
Evan Robold Photography
See Crown Chimp videos on their website
Follow Crown Chimp and Nickolas Duarte on Twitter
Follow me on Twitter
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