Adaptation, part two (or, Adaptation and the Temple of Doom)

A few more notes, because I can't stop thinking about Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation:

*These kids made or obtained costumes from thrift stores, borrowed a Bentley (or Rolls?) from a local dealer or collector or something, and appeared to have made quite a number of sets and props from whatever was lying around. I loved the moment when Indy is climbing out of the snakepit, the "rocks" collapse and you can see some kid's basement stairs in the background.

*The sound quality is abysmal, and the color palette is usually very, very limited. I don't care.

*The girl who played Marian is pretty good. Maybe not a pro, but probably the best that the high-school drama club had to offer. It does appear she had acted before. Nice haircut too. She had a lot of screen time -- maybe two summers' worth of work with these kids.

*The notion that an alley in Biloxi could serve as a street in Cairo is highly amusing to me.

As a kid, I definitely remember getting together with neighborhood kids to put on shows for our parents and friends. We had a little band in junior high and high school, and we made records on tape machines. To me, Raiders: The Adaptation is sort of the apotheosis of filmmaking in kid-land, when creativity comes from sheer boredom, when we make things just to satisfy ourselves. These kids made a movie primarily because they wanted to see it, and they wanted to see themselves in it. I know the feeling.

In response to Jordan's query below: I couldn't find any official or even unofficial Web site for The Adaptation, and I have no idea whether you can download any portion of it (apart from the trailer). I suspect it will be back, though, for another nonprofit screening -- it was just too damn popular. I hear that the Saturday show sold out.

In a related note, I understand that Christopher Guest once received a videocassette of a family's production of Red, White & Blaine.


Songs now playing: Wilco's "More Like The Moon," and Wilson Pickett's "634-5789"