LOSING GAME IS A SPORTS FILM ABOUT GRIEF.

Logline: A GRIEVING FATHER FINDS CLOSURE IN A FINAL GAME OF BASKETBALL WITH HIS SON
Synopsis: Big Ozzie IS STRUGGLING WITH LOSS OF his son, LITTLE OZZIE. In a shoebox, Big Ozzie carries the sneakers LITTLE OZZIE was killed wearing. A SIGNIFIER THAT, FOR HIM, TIME HAS STOOD STILL. AT THEIR Favorite park, BIG OZZIE RETURNS TO the ritual that bonded them together: the beautiful game of basketball. The game forces Big Ozzie to face THE REALIZATION THAT HE CAN’T SHAKE OR PIVOT AWAY FROM HIS GRIEF. It’s a game he can’t avoid playing, even though it’s really against a ghost. AND BIG OZZIE PLAYS THIS GAME LIKE IT’S THEIR LAST. BECAUSE IT IS. AND IT’S ONE THAT HE LOSES. DISHEVELED, BIG OZZIE returns to the courT, WITH LITTLE OZZIE’S SHOES IN HAND. The final ACT OF CLEANING HIS SON’S SHOES restores HIM TO A MOMENT WHERE THE TWO WERE TOGETHER. AND THEY ARE AGAIN BRIEFLY. IN A FINAL GESTURE, BIG OZZIE tosses his son’s sneakers onto a power line. To free the boy and himself. To signify the boy made it out.

PROJECT CONSDIERATIONS

PROCESS: MOTIVATION TO EXPERIMENT WITH CAMERA MOVEMENT & CHOREOGRAPHING BASKETBALL MOTION. AND THINKING ABOUT HOW TO PRIORITIZE SOUND TO EXPRESS GREIF THROUGH THE PHYSICALITY OF A HEATED PICK-UP GAME/CONTACT SPORTS. CURIOUS ABOUT SOUND DESIGN IMPLICATIONS FOR FILM THAT HAS NO DIALOGUE
outcomes: Develop directing/shooting approaches around cars and courts. working from my last film, develop better pre-production/production workflows, look for opportunities to build relationships in local film community.

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SHOOTING SCHEDULE:
OCTOBER 17 & 21

BUTTERMILK PARK COURTS
AUSTIN, TX USA

THEMES

major theme: GRIEF, black men & Boys, memory, loss
unifying question: How does it sound/feel to move through a grief practice? how to place images together that work to expand our understanding of how black men and boys carry grief and memory? what gets lost in translation (shooting and editing the film)? what helps—image/approach—keep the themes at the forefront of the story? How do I build from lessons learned on my last PROJECT.