Moving Narratives 2: Idea

Before settling on the final film, I managed to come up with an idea based on 'Wrong'. This film I came up with would actually serve as a sequel to my last Moving Narrative film. 'Misplaced' focused on a noir detective being thrust into the real world, forcing himself to see crime wherever he went so I wanted to expand on this by having the same character get involved in a real crime. However, I personally found there wasn't much I could do to expand on this idea.

I initially started this film in the planning stage with the potential of following up the previous crime of finding out who killed a fish but, due to the lack of scope, I felt apprehensive. It was until we were shown 'Down by Law' that I found a film with a gritty setting yet a relaxed tone and characters. I was able to keep it set in the crime genre but, rather than my previous films which showed a crime being performed, I was able to show the aftermath with a prison setting.

The first step was creating the characters. The only named character involved in the narrative is Terwilliger who I named after the character Sideshow Bob (whose real name is Robert Underdunk Terwilliger) as it tied in with the prison setting that Bob is usual seen in as well as a justification for my hair. I had decided to play Terwilliger because I felt I could convey what I had intended easier. The second prisoner is very loosely based on Roberto from 'Down by Law'. The only traits I took from him were him being the comedic foil to the other more serious prisoners and the fact that, out of everyone in that cell, he had committed the worst crime. The prisoner's squeaky voice was picked as I wanted something to be in stark contrast to the more deadpan, low voice of Terwilliger. The voice itself being an impression of Morty from 'Rick and Morty' for no other reason than it just fitting in well.

After deciding to star in the film, I thought that it would be best to play all three characters. As a result of this decision I realised I had just given the film a much deeper meaning. Initially, I felt there wasn't too much to look and set out just to make a quirky prison film. Instead, I ended up with a film about a trapped mind with a person seeing themselves as everyone. As their companion, as their superior, it made much more sense.

The name of the film, 'Joint', came from a number of definitions of the word. Joint is a slang term from prison, reflecting that the film is set entirely within the prison, and it also conveys the imagery of the corner of the room, where the walls join up.