Morgan in Wings!

Truly everyone remembers this day, when Morgan put on some cardboard wings. We were really flying then, eh buddy?

Chasing an Impossible Dream

At one point, Brett thought we should try to build a scale model to simulate Molly's triumphant takeoff, and he made this diagram to illustrate his idea. Good thing we eventually decided film out of the back of a U-haul driving backwards towards the train tracks, because that was much more exciting!

Good Humor

"This is a segment of a mural that Amelia drew about her summer. I love the way she drew the stork costume, and especially Brett's evil face. Perfect!!! I had to be the storkasaurus for just one shot, and it was AWFUL! The head smells like hamsters and you really can't see anything and it was sooooo hot and miserable. I have renewed respect for Amelia and Lauren - you ladies are badasses!!" - Ye Olde Movie Blog

Something's Rotten

Here are some photos from our cafeteria shoots with Morgan and Michael Neimeyer as Newton Fig. The pictures were taken (mostly) by the lovely Laylee, who was our PA that day.

The Flying Ace

After we came up with the idea for this ridiculous animated scene, we put out a call to CalArts student animators, who we figured would be brimming with talent and hungry for work. We were fortunate enough to hear from the brilliant Penelope Gazin, whose love of old cartoons and willingness to work for peanuts won us over. Here are the initial character designs for the flying ace stork.

Mississippi Mud Pies

The search for the most magical location of all time to shoot "The Finale” took us all over the greater tri-state area. One day, we decided that the best place to find the spot would be in a remote forest near the Mississippi River. After a long day of fruitless questing, we ended up driving down a swampy dirt trail to nowhere that was not marked on any map. Then, the force of the Concrete Gods stopped our search as Alanna’s car was sunk into a mud pit. The mosquitoes were buzzing, we had little water, no cell phone reception, and it was HOT. But fate did not fail us! A man in a Jeep passed by, took pity on us, and hauled us out with a chain.

Poster Gallery

We could never agree on a poster, so we made a bunch of them.

We Need a Little Help

We launched this Kickstarter campaign to help finish the movie. The fundraising video has lots of behind the scenes footage and provides deep insight into our process and state-of-mind during post production.

Storyboard Gallery

To create Molly's takeoff at the end of the epic chase scene, Brett filmed a real pair of swan wings (on loan from the University of Michigan) against a blue screen and then added them into the original footage. For the POV shot, Sarah Fleming helped us rig a jib arm into the back of a U-haul. Katherine blindly drove the truck backwards towards the train tracks while Alanna told her when to stop over speakerphone. Katherine came very close to running the U-haul into an oncoming train but luckily she stopped in time, and everyone is still alive.

Esmerelda

Back in high school, Katherine had t-shirt of a duck playing an oboe. We wanted Georgie to wear the shirt in the movie...but we couldn't find it! So Katherine headed to the copy shop to re-create the shirt. Upon learning that the shop didn't print shirts, Katherine turned around only to encounter a mysterious man who happened to run his own t-shirt company. It was meant to be! He met her back at the Kinkos 24 hours later with a beautiful oboe-playing duck shirt for the bargain price of 15 dollars.

Making-Of Gallery

Here are a bunch of behind the scenes photos that we didn't know what to do with.

Attention to Detail

This was Amelia's original design for Molly's library card. Alanna rejected this design, insisting that the 1990s version of her actual library card was preferable. Alanna got her first library card at age 4 and continued to carry it until her purse was stolen at a Scandaliz Vandalistz house show in 2008.

Captain Leon

Captain Leon was an old friend of Ms. Mopsus and a lepidopterologist, who would "steam in to the Port of Memphis" and drop off a mysterious package for Molly. We had to cut this scene, but not before Katherine had a moment standing in for Captain Leon aboard the Island Queen on the Mississippi River.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Trojan Horse

This is our real life high school's logo, only Brett made it better.

Young Adult Fiction

This iridescent YA bestseller, set in a punk rock wonderland of bougainvillea blossoms and sea-salty surfer swans, is actually another prop created by Mr. Hannubins.

Cast and Crew Party

After our cast and crew screening, everyone gathered at Katherine's place on Yale Avenue. Alanna's mom brought bottles of wine that had pictures of birds on them. This picture documents one of Katherine's greatest moments, singing her favorite karaoke song "Strawberry Wine" with Markus Seaberry AKA Coach Kumquat.