Three Questions One Week, my short film from 1995, is now available for viewing on YouTube. This film is, in many ways, a companion piece to another short of mine, Bottled Words, which I released later that same year. Both are silent narratives with no dialogue. Both were shot in black and white at many of the same locations. However, while Bottled Words was shot with 16mm film on a tight two-day shooting schedule, had a detailed shooting script, used local experienced actors, had a small crew and had many screenings, Three Questions was shot on S-VHS over the course of two years, had ideas rather than a script, used friends as actors, had no crew, and screened just once on Manchester Community Television before disappearing altogether (a special thanks should go to Marc Vadeboncoeur who was a huge help at the time in transferring all the footage from color to black and white as well as with general advice).

In 1999 the film resurfaced when I posted it for a very short time online. I was surprised to read the following review in the now-defunct online movie site Filmson.com: “Several perspectives are offered on two violent acts of murder, all of which ask the same question about fate: If there’s such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is there a way to realize it before anything bad happens? The answers are not necessarily set in stone in this dreamy, B&W, noir mood piece. The film cleverly uses still photos to creatively fill in the narrative gaps. The vibrating chunks of gray in a Pixelvision image lend well to the modern-noir vibe, as a hauntingly sweet piano melody lulls viewers into a false sense of well-being. The long dissolves pull us into the sticky quicksandy story like a large frog’s tongue lapping a fly outta the air. Chilling and intriguing.”

The film again disappeared soon after when I pulled it from online viewing – in the late 1990’s online streaming was not a very dependable or good-looking online video format and I was never pleased with how Three Questions (or any of my films for that matter) appeared online. However, things are obviously much different now in this YouTube age. The quality may still not look all that great due to the compression but dependability and ease of use has improved a great deal. As such, after I posted Bottled Words earlier this month, I decided to take yet another look at Three Questions and see if it deserved a new life online.

Those familiar with my films will immediately notice that Three Questions is much more violent and colder than my usual work. Also, the story (if there in fact is a story) doesn’t make much sense and is sometimes difficult to follow – one example in the second tale, and for apparently no reason at all, two of the actors are dressed almost identically which only confuses matters. I’ve usually thought of Three Questions as more of an editing experiment than a legitimate film. But in viewing it a number of times this past week in prepping it for YouTube, I’m now convinced that this definitely is a film. It’s dreamy and weird, experimental and pretentious, funny and repetitive and includes a wonderful piano soundtrack written and performed by Mike Huggins (who two years later would do the same, but on acoustic guitar, for our feature Old Man Dogs). And the acting performances, especially those by Mike Hall, Lou Springer and Jeff Robitaille, work perfectly…

I may have made a mistake by again releasing Three Questions as there’s no denying that is obviously a very minor work that was always intended to be a very minor work – an experiment, nothing more. Yet, and I’m not sure why, there’s something about this little film that makes you want to keep watching.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy viewing Three Questions.

Three Questions One Week: A film by Bill Millios
Cast: Mike Hall, Lauren Mazurka, Lou Springer, Jeff Robitaille, Bill Mcaneney, Karen Morencey Access Coordinator: Marc Vadeboncoeur
Music: Mike Huggins
Writer-Director-Producer-Editor: Bill Millios
Principal Photography in New Hampshire, 1992-1994

http://www.backlotfilm.com/
copyright, Bill Millios/Back Lot Films, Inc. 1995

THREE QUESTIONS ONE WEEK: Part One

THREE QUESTIONS ONE WEEK – Part Two

Bottled Words, my short silent 16mm narrative from 1995, is now available below (and online on YouTube) in two parts. I recently revisited this film as it will be included as an extra on the upcoming DVD reissue of Old Man Dogs. Here’s the blurb which appears on YouTube describing the film:

This silent narrative follows an inept group of criminals who have just robbed a nursing home. A string of clumsy mishaps soon follow. Bottled Words captured the “Best of Show” award in the 1995 NH First & Finest Film/Video sponsored by the NH State Council on the Arts.

Cast: Celeste Milukas, Ken Butler, Mike Huggins, Bill Butler, Marc Leroux, Benjamin Stergiou, Mary-Ellen Stergiou, Kelsy Stergiou
Crew: Michael Hall, Marcus Milukas, Andrew Vyrros
Access Coordinator: Marc Vadeboncoeur
Music: Ken Butler
Writer-Director-Producer-Editor: Bill Millios
Principal Photography in New Hampshire, Fall 1994
Copyright, Bill Millios/Back Lot Films, Inc. 1995

I’ve always been proud of all that this little film achieved during its “run” back in 1995-96 as a lot of people worked really hard on it – I hope you enjoy it.

BOTTLED WORDS: PART ONE (6:31)

BOTTLED WORDS: PART TWO (7:30)