Private Project

Arcadia

Jared, a journalist in despair of meaning, comes across an old map to a place that shouldn’t exist. His coworkers however, insist there is a story worth writing. Having nothing to lose, Jared enters a rabbit hole into a surreal world of shady characters, lost customs, and soulful performers. The people of Arcadia, with dubious motives and tricks up their sleeves, keep Jared on edge, forcing him to confront the meaning of being a human in the tunnels of Arcadia.

A micro-budget film starring Yang Miller as Jared, Arcadia pulls together unique performers, musicians, and visual artists to bring to life a lost way of living in this art-house film riddled with poetry, philosophy, and mysterious figures. Challenged by limited resources, a volunteer cast and crew trekked through hidden locations across Marietta, Ohio, learning and experimenting along the way. The aim was not to look micro budget!

Over the course of a year the film took on a life of its own and bloomed into an existential narrative under the direction of Andy Hall. The essence of humanity has been left to thrive in the shadows of Arcadia. The darkness demands each and every person to go within and ask, “Who am I?”

  • Andy J Hall
    Director
    The Stone (short)
  • Andy J Hall
    Writer
    The Stone (short)
  • Zane & Margaret Lazer
    Producer
  • Yang Miler
    Key Cast
    Video Shmideo
  • Andy Felt
    Key Cast
    Scapino
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama, Fantasy, Cabaret, Philosophical
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 16 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 30, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    11,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.22
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Colony Short FIlm Festival, Peoples Bank Theatre
    Marietta, OH
    United States
    March 5, 2016
    Special Event: Community Preview
    230 Tickets sold
  • NYC Indie Film Awards - June 2016
    NY, NY
    United States
    Best Feature Film - SILVER Award :::Best Cinematography- DIAMOND Award::: Best Lead Actor - BRONZE Award::: Best Score - PLATINUM Award
  • Screening at Athena Cinema - Athens OH
    Athens, OH
    United States
    July 31, 2016
    220 Tickets sold
  • Mindfield Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    August 1, 2016
    Best Feature FIlm; Best Cinematography
  • Marshall University - FIlm Studies Series
    Huntington, WV
    United States
    September 13, 2016
  • TOP Indie Film Awards

    United States
    December 15, 2016
    Winner—Best Music; Nominations—Best Feature, Best Original Idea, Best Cinematography
  • Endless Mountain FIlm Festival
    Wellsboro, PA
    United States
    October 15, 2016
    Nominated, Best Actor, Yang Miller; Best Supporting Actress, Andy Felt; Best Supporting Actress, Christy Lass
  • Cosmic Film Festival
    Orlando
    United States
    February 16, 2017
    Best Feature: Drama
Director Biography - Andy J Hall

Andy has worked for over 25 years in the graphic design field and in the last few years has incorporated video into his work with Stonewall Group in Marietta, OH—a marketing firm where he works full time.

His love of film has been with him since childhood, and his first short won Best Local Film at the Colony Film Festival. His second short, a stop-motion animation called The Stone, was screened at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus and was licensed by ShortsTV out of London. Arcadia is Andy’s first feature. His duties for Arcadia include writer, producer, director, art director, cinematographer, editor, visual fx and sound designer.
Andy is also a drum set player who can be heard with the modern vocal-jazz group Jess Baldwin Quintet, his fiance’s band. He creates personal projects under his own business, Zetetic Studios, LLC.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Witnessing a combination of the mysterious and beautiful has always been a favorite sensation of mine in film—growing out of the side shows, museums and circuses of childhood. Visceral experience of representational art, live or on screen is exciting to me as a chase scene. The visual works of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brothers Quay, Michel Gondry and Terry Gillam are influences here. Art is not just present within the production design as backdrop, but becomes an immersive environment made by on-screen artists. The viewer discovers the artscape alongside the protagonist, and in many cases the onscreen art is being made or performed on screen by the actors themselves. The event becomes an active creation on-screen that we are witness to, not a passive set piece.

Arcadia grew out of an opportunity, and a desire to make my first feature film. The opportunity was the use of a vacant theater with a derelict interior. The story grew out of the theater location very organically—what would be intriguing to see in this space? (Vintage performers using fire and acoustic instruments.) Why would they perform here for small crowds? (They are a hidden society.) Who would witness this? (A reporter...)

With no film community in my small town to tap into, writing to available assets became my method moving forward. This method grew to incorporate elements of the local performing, musical and visual art scenes and also the historic hidden spaces of my small river town. Performers and artists were folded into the story as they agreed to be in the film—location’s features and were written for as we secured permission. The story and all you see in the film unfolded very organically out of what was around us.

The long shoot (over 18 months on available weekends) allowed for ideas to keep developing during the entire shoot—an unorthodox process in a world of buttoned up scripts—yet the story arc remained intact.

Arcadia is a hero’s surreal journey down the rabbit hole and raises questions about sense of home, artistic fulfillment, belonging and dreams.

Andy J Hall
Marietta, OH, February 17, 2016