User:Naathyn/Behind Tinted Glasses

Introduction
Behind Tinted Glasses is an independent film created by three teenagers made over the summer of 2006. (Samuel Raines, Nathan Couch, and Tony Carroll) shot the movie with only a $3,000 budget and met for 12 shooting days. Behind Tinted Glasses is set in a slightly backwards world, infiltrated by unusual characters. Noodle, the protagonist, tries to find some sort of truth out of the strange community he inhabits. This film has not yet had a public appearance because the directors plan to send this entry into Sundance Film Festival. This page was created by the directors (Couch, Raines, and Carroll) and have no further references to add.

Cast

 * Nathan Couch as Noodle/Mrs. Cleverbunny
 * Samuel Raines as Paper Boy/Doog/Indian Man/Science Teacher/Dentist/Fork
 * Taylor Rushing as Kataleena
 * Tony Carroll as Jerk/Lemonade Customer/Wreckless Driver
 * Eron Raines as Missionary
 * Landon Shivley as Exiting Classmate

Crew

 * Samuel Raines is the Writer/Director/Editor
 * Nathan Couch is the Director/Director of Photography/Score Composer
 * Tony Carroll is the Director/Cinematographer/Documentarian

Plot
The plot of Behind Tinted Glasses deals with comical, surreal themes usually found in Noodle's dreams.

Scene 1 - Introduction to Meadowphysical begins the movie with the main character, Noodle, hopelessly walking around in a field as if he was searching for something. The audio is accompanied by gusts of wind and voices. Noodle is seen dreaming in REM and soon awakes.

Scene 2 - Introduction to Physical begins with Noodle awakening from a dream he was having, putting on his glasses and getting out of bed. We see Noodle doing every day things: The scene is ended with a drawing that Noodle was working on throughout the intro It is a blank white page.
 * Eating Breakfast
 * Brushing His Teeth
 * Watering a Plant
 * Checking the Mail
 * Drawing

Scene 3 - Phone for Noodle is a scene where Noodle is shown talking on the phone to a friend named Doog. Doog is Noodle's best friend and in this scene the plot develops. It is shown that they both love playing video games but Noodle can't visit because he has a Dentist Appointment. Other things that develop in this scene are: The scene ends with Noodle agreeing to fight the bully named Fork.
 * Noodle must fight a bully named Fork
 * Noodle likes a girl named Kataleena
 * Noodle and Doog are not respected in school

Scene 4 - The School He'll Come to Hate is a scene that shows Noodle in school doing every day things, much like Scene 2, except with no music and an atmosphere of bleakness. He is shown being picked on by a kid. It also shows Noodle recognizing Kataleena in the library. Later it shows Noodle looking at a kid that is later identified as Fork. Scene 4 is the first scene we find out Noodle's transportation, which is "pogoing," short for pogo sticking.

Scene 5 - Mouth Full of Fun is a short scene that shows Noodle going to his dentist and discussing his interest in Kataleena. The scene ends with Noodle screaming due to the pain of getting his braces tightened.

Scene 6 - Priorities is a scene that depicts Doog's violent and impatient behavior, and begins to show Noodle's innocence. Doog begins to tell Noodle that he needs to fight Fork soon in order to "take over," but Noodle has other things on his mind... like Kataleena. The scene ends with Noodle agreeing once more that he will fight Fork the bully in due time.

Scene 7 - The Clever Bunny is a scene where the audience discovers many things. The scene shows: Mrs. Cleverbunny looks at the board to explain to Noodle that, "The lesson today was on diagramming sentences." The sentence diagrammed on the board was "The field was empty." The field is shown in the movie again, yet its significance remains unknown.
 * Noodle's interest in talking to Mrs. Cleverbunny.
 * Noodle's recognition that he is indeed weird.
 * Noodle's capacity to think deeper thoughts than those around him.

Scene 8 - Can't Do It is an extremely small scene that shows Noodle attempt to make conversation with Kataleena, but he fails and the audience is shown what turmoil he goes through over his crush, and how she doesn't even notice him.

Scene 9 - Patience is a scene that shows Noodle's wanting to communicate to Doog, but Doog is so self-centered on what he wants: dominance. It begins to show Doog's impatience more and more, yet Noodle reprimands Doog and states that he will fight Fork after the woman problem is settled.

Scene 10 - Bedtime Thinking is a short but key scene in the movie. Noodle is in his bed at night contemplating the troubles in his life. He notices that he and his friend Doog are weird. He knows that he doesn't really want to fight Fork, and most of all he realizes that there is no answer to his problems in sight. He needs to do something to improve his sight.

Scene 11 - Sun is Setting is the second dream sequence of the movie. It shows a peaceful sunset out in the field, but soon turns to a nightmare when it starts moving rapidly throughout the field. It transitions quickly to his school, and finally to his own house, where he awakes and questions the nightmare.

Scene 11.5 - Space Spurts is a scene that shows the viewers that Noodle and his world are anything but ordinary. It shows Doog playing Space Spurts with Noodle, once again showing Doog's violent and impatient attributes. Comically, Doog is commenting on Noodle's videogame playing, but Doog is only on the phone with Noodle, hinting at something. The scene ends with Noodle rushing to school.

Scene 12 - Religious Guacamole is a scene, once again, that shows the viewers that Noodle's world might be smaller that they thought. A missionary meets Noodle on the way home from school one day explains that he is from the country "Guacamole." The scene also shows Noodle's interest in his dreams as he gazes upon a field before the missionary interrupts it with a small conversation.

Scene 13 - Personal Relationships is a semi-important scene. It is a conference which Noodle talks to Mrs. Cleverbunny once more. It begins with Noodle telling Cleverbunny what the missionary had said. Noodle realized that he had never had a personal relationship before. He tells Cleverbunny that he wants a relationship with a certain someone. The scene develops Mrs. Cleverbunny's wisdom and Noodle's relationship with her. The scene ends with Cleverbunny telling Noodle to show his love "something beautiful."

Scene 14 - Happiness is a rare scene that because it actually shows Noodle's happiness in life. He is shown opening his own lemonade stand(spelled lemonaide on the sign) and buying flowers with his new earned money. Doog calls and Noodle explains that he is going to try to get a date with Kataleena; Doog, once again, doesn't agree, but Noodle pursues this anyway.

Scene 15 - Asking Her Out is a key scene in the movie that shows Noodle going to the library and asking Kataleena out. He attempts to bribe her with material items but fails. Noodle soon tells Kataleena of his love for her in hope of acceptance. He asks her to go to the park after school and blow some bubbles. She denies his offer.

Scene 16 - Messed Up Introduction is a scene that is showing Noodle's heartbreak in life. This scene is original because it starts identical to the original introduction but everything goes wrong. When he wakes up he: etc.
 * Falls out of bed
 * Finds nothing to eat
 * Has no toothpaste to brush his teeth
 * Doesn't water the plant
 * Doesn't check the mail
 * Tries to figure out his blank page drawing as if it had something drawn on it

Scene 16.25 - Conference on the Reality of Dreams is a key scene and, once again, takes place in the field. It is on of Noodle's dream. He is not wearing any glasses but has his eyes shut. He is having a conversation with the bully at school, Fork. Fork informs to Noodle that he gives in to Doog too easily. Noodle tells Fork that he can't open his eyes. Fork says, "You should work on that."

Scene 16.5 - School Got Worse is a simple scene that shows the Jerk in school playing pranks on Noodle. It ends with Noodle pogoing rapidly away.

Scene 16.75 - Even Worse is a scene which Noodle is pogoing home from school and gets hit by a car. It is a comical scene but also very dramatic in that the wreckless driver steals Noodle's pogostick. Noodle has no means of transportation any longer besides his own feet.

Scene 17 - The Great Convincer is the scene which Doog is not necessarily aggressive, but persuasive, and alters Noodle's behavior in thinking. The scene starts out with Noodle angrily picking up the phone because of all the misfortunes that have passed within the two week period. Doog attempts to sympathize about rejection from Kataleena, but quickly cuts into making Noodle enraged enough to fight Fork. Noodle, this time, agrees for good.

Scene 18 - One Last Glass of Truth begins with Noodle describing how angry he is and then gets locked out of school. We assume that Noodle gets in, and it cuts to him talking to Cleverbunny. Noodle is describing to Mrs. Cleverbunny how he is "going to go through with it." She has no clue what Noodle is talking about, but wants him to do it if it means alot to him. He thinks it does and reluctantly makes up his mind....

Scene 19 - The Wrong Fight is one of the original Behind Tinted Glasses scenes. It starts out with Noodle following Fork into the restroom, using spy techniques to avoid his gaze. Noodle goes in after him. Though Noodle gets unnerved and runs out, he is convinced by the voice of Doog to go through with it. Noodle confronts Fork verbally, and it turns into sweat and blood when Noodle is being beat up by Fork. Fork shoves Noodle's head in the toilet. The picture fades with the words, "I got wet."

Scene 20 - After Tinted Glasses is the final scene in which he calls Doog and tells him that he did not win the fight. He also hears Cleverbunny's voice telling him that the smaller things in the world really don't matter. He soon tells Doog that he wasn't meant to fight Fork. Noodle also tells him that if you allow the less important things to outweight the larger things then it is as thought you are seeing things from "behind tinted glasses." Doog hangs up on him and Noodle brings his hand up to his face to remove the glasses. They fall from his hands and hit grass at his feet. He is now holding a disconnected phone in the field without his glasses. Noodle opens his eyes, looks around at the beauty of the landscape, and walks off.

Journal Scenes are snippets of journal entries spread throughout the movie where Noodle expresses truer feelings than shown while communicating with characters. The journal is the one object that Noodle can confide in, telling the audience that no one is on Noodle's level because no one could ever understand who he truly is.

Noodle
Noodle's age is unknown, but we do know that he goes to Southside High School, and he is considered a freak among his peers, except for Doog, who is much more of a freak than he is. Noodle thinks more deeply than the other characters, even his teacher, but there's still an element of confusion within him. Noodle does not know what is true and he is not happy. He begins experimenting with a few different things to see if he can find it, but Noodle must look inward to find what he is searching for, which he cannot do with the orange-tinted glasses.

Mrs. Cleverbunny
Mrs. Cleverbunny is a mysterious character that, even when she doesn't know details of a situation, can give good advice for it nonetheless. She always wears her sunglasses on her head rather than over her eyes, even when it's sunny. Cleverbunny is fascinated by Noodle as a student, and serves as his mentor throughout the movie.

Doog
Doog is Noodle's only real "friend," but has a knack for telling Noodle to do the wrong thing. Doog continuously calls Noodle, telling him to fight Fork so that the two of them can be cool. He senses an untapped power within Noodle, and therefore believes that such a fight with a bully is winnable for Noodle. Doog doesn't exactly want the win for Noodle, as he acts very self-centered and seems to want to further his own agenda, which remains unknown. Doog has a high-pitched voice and only communicates to Noodle over the phone or from within Noodle's head. Doog's past is revealed that he is, or was, a real person, but Noodle no longer sees him anymore. Doog, perhaps purposefully, helps Noodle become more lost.

Fork
Fork, equipped with bandana and leather jacket, is more than just a bully in school, he is the target Doog told Noodle to aim for. Fork isn't shown much until the climax, but is talked about frequently. He is seen in a dream sequence and tells Noodle he is closer than he thinks to him. He also tells Noodle to work on opening his eyes. Fork is the only force in the movie, after all of Noodle's accidents, that successfully gives Noodle an injury worthy of a band-aide.

Kataleena
Kataleena is a character who is not shown very much but, once again, talked about frequently. Noodle has a soft spot for the weird-book-reading beauty, but is unsure of how to pop the question (Wanna blow some bubbles?). Noodle tells Doog, but he completely disagrees with the Kataleena situation, wanting Noodle focused on Fork. He tells Mrs. Cleverbunny and she insists on Noodle following his heart. Noodle eventually works up the courage to ask Kataleena out, but Kataleena isn't the kind of girl that's going to be interested in Noodle's activities.

Taw
Taw is the indian man Noodle calls at the beginning of the film to ask for Time and Weather. He only tells Noodle that the weather looks dark. Dark today, and dark tomorrow. He is later heard over the radio coming over the music saying "Dark today, dark tomorrow, dark everyday! Something has to change."

Jerk
The jerk picks on Noodle, and really turns out to be more of a nuisance than Fork. The jerk specializes in planting little traps for Noodle one day, and Noodle is not pleased.

Production
The movie was shot in 12 days using a fixed budget of 3,000 USD.

Revised Edition
The revised edition is the newest version of Behind Tinted Glasses that was re-filmed in the Summer of 2006 when Nathan Couch and Samuel Raines decided the original was far from finished. A fifteen minute movie was extended to a fourty-five to fifty minute movie, and the script had about fifteen pages added to it. There are also step-ups to the DVD: the first release will include the full movie, outtakes, and trailer, and the special edition will include these, as well as the documentary, with interviews, and the commentary by the creators.

Differences

 * A more professional camera is used ($800); the original film used a $300 camera.
 * A $220 microphone is used for better sound quality; the original film used the user-grade, internal microphone to the camera.
 * The movie begins with a dream sequence, instead of just a regular day in the life of Noodle.
 * Noodle does not draw the figures of time and nature or write the sentence "cars hit other cars" in his drawing pad; his drawing in the revised edition is blank. Noodle is more of a blank page, and he and his future are more uncertain.
 * When Noodle runs outside, different camera angles were used that better focus on the figure of Noodle.
 * Noodle calls "Time and Weather" and speaks to Taw before Doog calls.
 * A new bathroom for the fight scene is used. The original was shot in a church bathroom, and the revised edition was shot in a school bathroom. Nathan's grandfather served as principal at the school, and allowed them to use it.
 * The new fight scene with Noodle and Fork does not use a tripod to give a more violent effect. Fork's forcing of Noodle's head towards the toilet better suggests that Noodle is receiving a "swirly," rather than being sexually assaulted, which was suggested by only getting close-ups on their feet and Noodle's hands, and the text that came up on the screen that said, "Not the toilet."
 * For the final field shot, Noodle's glasses drop to the grass, better suggesting that Noodle can now see, and better explains how hindering the glasses were.

Scene Add-Ons

 * Scene 1
 * Scene 4
 * Scene 5
 * Scene 6
 * Scene 7
 * Scene 8
 * Scene 9
 * Scene 10
 * Scene 11
 * Scene 11.5
 * Scene 12
 * Scene 13
 * Scene 14
 * Scene 15
 * Scene 16
 * Scene 16.25
 * Scene 16.5
 * Scene 16.75
 * Scene 17
 * Scene 18
 * All the journal entries.

Filming Coincidences
Behind Tinted Glasses is riddled with abstract ideas and underlying meanings that were merely a coincidence. Even the two main parts of the film, the glasses and the field, were brought about by chance. This section reveals what exactly in the film was not planned, and yet practically made the basis of the movie.

1. The first day of filming the original Behind Tinted Glasses, Nathan just happened to bring a pair of glasses his sister received in a fast food kid's meal. He suggested that Noodle wear them, and right before filming, one of the main parts of the movie was established, and the film was named.

2. Samuel thought up the name for Doog at random, but noticed later that it would good spelled backwards. Does that mean that Doog and good are opposites?

3. After months of wondering who would play Noodle's teacher, Mrs. Cleverbunny, Nathan volunteered for the part. It would be decided that Cleverbunny was to be a good influence that comes from within Noodle, thus explaining their similarity.

4. The day of filming the first Cleverbunny scene, Nathan decided to wear sunglasses in Cleverbunny's hair, and so that would signify her removal of the glasses from her eyes.

5. When writing Behind Tinted Glasses, Samuel decided to have Noodle appear in a forest after his phone conversation with Doog at the end, just to have a strange ending. When it came to it, Nathan and Samuel didn't want to walk that far, so they decided upon a field on the way there. The field came to be a center point for the film and represented both happiness and the truth within Noodle.

6. Fork defeats Noodle. The names could have told you who would win, but Samuel came up with them randomly.

7. Had Samuel not heard a kid in art class say that he would've won a fight, but kept slipping in the pee, the movie would have never been made. That was the line that started the idea.

8. Taw, the time and weather guy, always says the weather will be dark. Does that describe Noodle's life, and his life ahead? The first time that was practiced, that line was improvised.