the hope dress
the hope dress
Starring Harry Pottash as Bill, Cori Haisler as Erica/Ercia, and Jamie Odum as Reoke
5 min., silent, 2001. Concieved and directed by Garrett Gilchrist.
Garrett's first attempt at a student film is generally left off of tapes, because it wasn't very good. It is notable for its editing, though - there isn't any. What you see is exactly what was shot. The assignment was to "edit" in-camera, meaning there were no second takes, and it took very precise timing to make it look like a movie. You can't really tell watching it. The movie tells the story of Bill, who is feeling depressed, running a knife (that star Harry Pottash forged himself!) across his wrists. But he's bought a dress for a girl he wants to impress (even if he can't spell ber name right - in a funny accidental moment ... I mean seriously Harry, how hard is it to spell Erica?) ... Problem for Bill is, when he gets there she's wearing the same dress. He panics, runs off, but Erica discovers his gift anyway and rewards him with a kiss. The end. Yay. Cori Haisler would later star in "Stripped Away." Look for a cameo by Jamie Odum, who would later star in "Music for the Mind Ballet." She is credited as "Reoke," which is her anime-inspired nickname in real life. One odd side note: Garrett originally considered shooting the film from the point of view of the dress.
Note: USC owns all the student films, so they are not distributed to the public, shown or sold. Nor do any of these pages contain any actual images from the movies or their production (though I've tried to find alternate plctures of the people who starred in the films that suggest the tone of the movie itself).
Did you notice:
Reoke carries a Rubik's cube.
A large lamp is visible behind Erica as she stands out in the hallway. It makes no sense for it to be there.
The neon light in Bill's apartment would later play "God" in "Stripped Away."
The skull on top of it would appear in "Mort."