From what I'm hearing, the calls to those who made it to the second tier of the
On The Lot competition have already gone out. I won't be going any further with this season's contest, 'cuz The Call(tm) hasn't come here. But it was fun to have at least tried... and to have put together a movie like this so fast.
Anyway, the News & Record, which is the big newspaper around here, ran a story about my entry Schrodinger's Bedroom in the Rockingham section of the paper. It's not up on their website so I transcribed it here:
A couple, a room, a hopeful director- Chris Knight hopes his short film gets him chosen to be on a reality TV show.
BY GERALD WITT
Staff Writer
REIDSVILLE – Dead cats, quantum physics and newlyweds thread into a short film that was shot, written and directed here as a contest entry for a reality show.
Christopher Knight, of Reidsville, made it for Fox's "On The Lot," in which 16 directors work to win a $1 million development deal from DreamWorks studio.
Right now, Knight is among thousands of entrants for the show.
The 32-year old former technician at WGSR hopes people will visit its Web site and see his film and that he'll be among the finalists.
Knight's short, "Schrodinger's Bedroom," is a comedy based on an experiment by Erwin Schrodinger, a German physicist and colleague of Albert Einstein.
Called "Schrodinger's Cat," the experiment uses a cat to help explain the atoms often used in quantum physics theories.
In the experiment – which occurs in thinking, not reality – a cat in a closed box dies from poison if a radioactive atom in that box breaks down. The cat could be alive or dead, but there's no telling unless someone opens the box and sees the cat.
Anything could be happening in there, the experiment is supposed to prove, because two universes are happening in the box – one with a dead cat, one with a living cat – like atoms in an experiment.
No cats really die in the experiment, nor in Knight's movie, where he replaced that box with a bedroom and the cat with newlyweds.
As the movie says, anything could be happening in a closed bedroom with newlyweds.
He got the idea after moving into a new apartment with his wife in May. A friend helping them out joked that everyone who helped knew what was happening in the Knight bedroom.
Knight made the film in January after friends urged him to enter the contest.
"According to 'Schrodinger's Cat,' everything and nothing could be happening in there," Knight said.
Starting around 7 p.m. one day, Knight wrote the script on that idea.
He finished writing at 4:30 the next morning.
He shot footage around Reidsville, in a downtown restaurant and at the YMCA. He paid the cast nothing but had them sign a contract.
"If I end up winning a million-dollar contract," he said, "I'm going to pay everyone at least $1,000."
He heard this week that calls for finalists have already gone out, but he said he doesn't expect one from among thousands of entries.
"On The Lot" should begin airing in May.
"There's always other projects to move on," he said.
Hey, at least the film might have a good second life.
"If some physics teachers want a copy of this," Knight said, "I'll get a DVD to them."
Contact Gerald Witt at 627-4881, Ext. 120, or gwitt@news-record.com
And they also printed the link to the movie along with the article. I've noticed that it's picked up a number of more viewers than what it's been averaging lately already... so hopefully more folks in Rockingham County are checking this out :-)
