So we make films (it’s kind of our shtick).  I thought an interesting post would be for us to list our influences.  That way, when you see all the references to Michael Bay in our film, you can be all, “I know this is a reference to The Bay because Chad listed him as a influence!”  Oh, how cool you would be!  Your knowledge of all things LG would make you come across as some sort of Lawn Gnomedia groupie or something!  Exciting!  And hey, I don’t mind…..ladies 😉

Where was I?  That first paragraph got completely out of hand.  First I was talking about Michael Bay, and then groupies, just nonsense.  Can’t say that’s the first time that has happened (and won’t be the last).  So without further ado, here’s my top 5 influences on my works.

Joss Whedon

Guess I’ll start with the obvious, no?  Mr. Whedon.  His name is synonymous with female-butt-kicking.  I just made that up, but it sounds about right.  Joss Whedon is the creator of such ensemble shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse.

The tone of his shows is something I’ve aspired to resemble/copy/emulate/plagiarize.  His characters  are usually witty, sarcastic, and full of bad puns as they take a stab at pop culture.  It’s a departure from a lot of current shows that feature cynical, offensive humor just for the sake of shock value.  I mean, I watch those shows, but they are severely lacking in the pun department.

Not only did his shows feature strong writing, he was willing to take chances with his story.  Most of his will-they or wont-they relationships ended with one of them dead.

In his film, Serenity, he killed off one of his main characters in the third act.  No, I won’t spoil it for those that haven’t seen it.  When asked by fans, “why are you so cruel, Joss?” he told them that, by killing off this character, it showed the audience how high the stakes were and any character could be expendable.  I like this approach (and expect a lot of casualties in my film).  Too many films tell the audience, “hey, look over here, there’s a worldwide disaster! Millions will die!  What, no? of course we can’t kill the Fresh Prince.  Why?  The hell, he’s the FRESH PRINCE.”

When pitching The Handicaped, I actually told people I was shooting for a, “if Joss Whedon made a superhero film.”  Well next year he’s directing The Avengers.  So…yeah, if his film sucks, I have to think of  a different comparison.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Hey, that’s more than one person!  You cheater.   Anyways, these two have been working together for quite some time.  If you were to check out IMDB’s photo of Phil Lord, it’s a photo of both of them.

Alongside Bill Lawrence (creator of Scrubs), they created the short lived cartoon, Clone High.

This show came out in 2001, and featured a high school attended by clones of famous celebrities.  Lot of great wordplay in this show, the humor slays me.  They should call it, “wordslay.”  Oh, shut up, Chad. Anyways, this show only lasted a season, and had a tearjerker of an ending (won’t spoil it).  It got cancelled by complaints from Gandhi’s family.  Apparently he was not portrayed quite accurately.

They also served as executive producers for a couple seasons on a little show called How I Met Your Mother.  What?  Yeah, I know that got your attention.

They also made Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Which is in my top ten all time films…as of right now.  Their next film will be the adaptation/remake of 21 Jump Street.  Since they’re not writing it, I’m sure it will suck (I’m too tired to do any research on who IS writing that film).  Also recently, they’ve been hired to make a film about Legos.

J.J. Abrams

This guy is rad.  When most people hear his name, they think of that one show about people stranded on an island, Gilligan’s Island.  Then, they realize their mistake and that they were ACTUALLY thinking of the show, Lost.  Now, it’s important to note that Abrams served only as producer, not the showrunner, so he is not responsible for some of the story mess that was early Season 3.

He also serves as producer for Fringe.  Another great sci-fi show that not enough people are watching.  No, seriously watch it.  I could listen to John Noble read a cookbook.  I can’t say that for many celebrities (except Morgan Freeman…but that’s obvious).

Recently he directed, Super 8.  A throwback to Spielberg films of the 80s.  Although uneven at parts, this film filled me with nostalgia of watching E.T. when I was little.  It made me all tingly inside.

David Zucker

This guy directed Airplane!  He also did The Naked Gun series, and, most recently Scary Movie 3 and 4.  I don’t think I saw Airplane! until I was in fourth grade.  Most of the jokes went over my head, but I always laughed at the more silly stuff.

I sort of rediscovered this film, and the Naked Gun trilogy sometime around my freshmen year of high school.  My sophomore year of high school, my parents purchased a Sony Digital8 Camcorder.  With this camera, I did some pretty terrible short films for school projects.  These shorts were 100% influenced by the style of Zucker’s films.  Although, I don’t believe my more recent projects bare a strong resemblance to his work, I can’t overlook the fact that I probably wouldn’t have looked into film making as a career option without having seen his movies.

JAMES CAMERON

I saw Aliens when I was in first grade.  I know right?  As a class assignment, we had to draw three “books,” of things we like.  Well, because, I’m awesome/disturbed, I drew a scene from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Also from Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

And yes, I’m pretty sure I saw the first three Nightmare on Elm Street films before seeing this one.  How else would I have followed the plot?

And the third, I drew a scene from Aliens….which, no I don’t have the drawings of.  I am such the tease.  I do remember though, that it was a depiction of Ripley fighting the queen alien with the power loader in the final act of the film.

One thing that James Cameron is great with, it’s his third acts of his films.  Seriously, watch The Terminator, any other filmmaker would end the story after the Arny goes explodey.  But no, we’re treated to a scene at a factory.  Same thing with Terminator 2.  You would think the film ends with Robert Patrick exploding into a million pieces.  Instead, our heroes are chased by the Caprisun man into a steel mill.  With Aliens, you would think the nuclear blast would have had the eggs and queen go all explody.  Again, no, we need a final battle with Ripley and the queen.   You know what?  What sounded unique in my head, seems a whole lot less so when typed out.  I guess, if you go and see a James Cameron film, and the antagonist explodes,  there’s a good chance that we’ll see them again shortly.