Darkon (2006)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Directors:

Luke Meyer
Andrew Neel

Writers:

Luke Meyer (writer)
Andrew Neel (writer)

Genre:

Documentary | Fantasy

Tagline:

Everybody Wants To Be a Hero

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Role Playing Game | Weapon | Baltimore Maryland | Battle

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Skip Lipman	...	Himself / Bannor
Kenyon Wells	...	Himself / Keldar
Daniel McArthur	...	Himself / Trivius
Rebecca Thurmond	...	Herself / Nemesis
James Iddings	...	Himself / Saruk
Gary Black	...	Himself / Malkin
Domenic Prince	...	Himself / Arfex
Andrew Mattingly	...	Himself / Shapwin
Frank Kanach	...	Himself / Otto
Leah Kanach	...	Herself / Ilya
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Wells	...	Himself - Kenyon's father
Nancy Lee Wells	...	Herself - Kenyon's mother

Directed by
Luke Meyer
Andrew Neel

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luke Meyer		writer
Andrew Neel		writer

Produced by
Tom Davis	....	producer
Debbie Demontreux	....	executive producer: IFC
Lee Adhemar G. Feldshon	....	associate producer
Christopher Kikis	....	executive producer
Christopher Kikis	....	producer
Thoma Kikis	....	executive producer
Thoma Kikis	....	producer
Nicholas Levis	....	executive producer
Nicholas Levis	....	producer
Christine Lubrano	....	executive producer: IFC
Ethan Palmer	....	producer
Domenic Romano	....	associate producer
David Schwartz	....	associate producer
Evan Shapiro	....	executive producer: IFC
Cherise Wolas	....	executive producer
Cherise Wolas	....	producer
Alan Zelenetz	....	executive producer
Alan Zelenetz	....	producer

Original Music by
Jonah Rapino

Cinematography by
Karl F. Schroder
Hillary Spera

Film Editing by
Brad Turner

Art Department
John DeLuca	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
John Bosch	....	sound mixer
Keith Cecere	....	sound mixer
Raphael Laski	....	sound editor
Raphael Laski	....	sound mixer
Mike Mayo	....	recordist
Rafael Sienkiewicz	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Gavin Rosenberg	....	online editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Barth	....	camera copter pilot
Maceo Bishop	....	Steadicam operator
Scott Buckler	....	crane operator
Steve Bussman	....	camera copter pilot
Rick Carmona	....	crane grip
Steve Cassidy	....	aerial director of photography
Jean Chen	....	grip
Shawn Crawford	....	assistant camera
John Dianda	....	crane grip
Mike Horn	....	additional camera operator
Chris Koch	....	grip
Luke Meyer	....	additional camera operator
Sarah Morton	....	assistant camera
Andrew Neel	....	additional camera operator
Ethan Palmer	....	additional camera operator
Brent Poleski	....	additional camera operator
Brent Poleski	....	grip
Rossana Rizzo	....	additional camera operator
Rossana Rizzo	....	assistant camera
Gavin Rosenberg	....	additional camera operator
Gavin Rosenberg	....	assistant camera
Richard 'Rico' Sands	....	crane operator
Alex Valentine	....	additional camera operator
Charlie Wing	....	grip
Ben Zimmerick	....	assistant camera

Animation Department
Erin D'Avella	....	animator
John Garland	....	animator
Ian Lamont-Havers	....	animator
Scott Pallo	....	animator
Rich Paul	....	animator
Drew Vogelman	....	animator

Editorial Department
Ted Pishko	....	smoke editor
Gavin Rosenberg	....	digital intermediate conformer
Scot Starbuck	....	colorist

Music Department
Todd Brunel	....	musician: clarinet
Eric Dahlman	....	musician: trumpet
Joshua Evans	....	musician: cello
Daniel L. Heath Jr.	....	musician: trombone
Kaethe Hostetter	....	musician: viola
Rick Landwehr	....	musician: percussion
Jonah Rapino	....	composer: additional music
Jonah Rapino	....	musician: violin
Laura Smolowitz	....	musician: flute
Vessela Stoyanova	....	musician: marimba

Other crew
Lee Adhemar G. Feldshon	....	legal counsel
Kenneth G. Alberstadt	....	counsel: OVIE
Marcello Benedetto	....	legal counsel
Nick DeWind	....	intern
Ish Goldstein	....	production assistant (as Jesse Goldstein)
Diane Grayson	....	intern
Guy Greenberg	....	production assistant
Vicky Hely-Hitchinson	....	intern
Masato Ota	....	intern
Domenic Romano	....	legal counsel
Chris Schmidt	....	key intern
David Schwartz	....	legal counsel
Daniel Timmins	....	production assistant
Jeremy Walker	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Ovie Productions
• SeeThink Films

Distributors

• SeeThink Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Independent Film Channel (IFC) (2007) (USA) (TV)
• PorchLight Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Ovie Entertainment (2007) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• BrandCinema  marketing design
• Cactus Three  sales
• Darkon Wargaming Club  special thanks
• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity
• Post Millennium  thanks
• Silver Screen Post Production  post-production facilities

Runtime:

USA:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Ovie Productions

Movie Connections:

Features Excalibur (1981)

Mediocre approach, interesting subject

Saw this at the Santa Fe Film Festival. I knew little more than what I had read in the program and seen on the trailer. Not being a "Larper" (which is never fully explained) I never had a clear sense of the complexity of the activity. Overall, I thought that the film did a cursory job of presenting the characters and their motivations. Because the film takes itself so seriously, I felt we were laughing at the characters, not with them. All we really get from the characters is a reinforced theme of "at home I'm nobody, I'm not in control... at Darkon, I'm somebody, I'm in control" (not a direct quote).

Rather than documenting, this film seems to promote the activity, never taking the time to question whether or not participating in Darkon is always a good thing. It's more narrative than documentary, and the story simply isn't that compelling. I think this film thrives largely on the foreignness of the subject matter.

The editing is a little sloppy (the film could be about 15 minutes shorter), characters are a bit bland (give the subject, I expected more dynamic personalities), visuals range from professional to poorly shot/poorly exposed, the music is quite excellent... though it gives the film a pseudo "Lord of the Rings" vibe when it's really just Medieval Reenactment with padded weapons. Again, I felt this undermined the objectivity and made it Pro-Darkon.

The preview has all the best shots from the film, as previews often do. Most of those images have no context in the film itself, and are just visual asides.

Of course, independent film-making is no small task, so for that reason I'm giving this a 5/10. It was a good effort, but overall, I would not recommend the film. Boredom sinks in at about minute 15.