Private Project

CHRYSALIS

"CHRYSALIS" is an experimental film by first time filmmaker Nic Nassuet; a muti-ethnic, disabled, veteran, award winning songwriter and recording artist. "CHRYSALIS" has its roots in the alchemical process of transmutation as experienced via transition from military into civilian life as a disabled veteran. The film was created for Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) Veterans Make Movies program in which veterans study film making and create their own short films for the museum's archives in just eight weeks.

"CHRYSALIS" is the only movie of any length to have ever filmed on location in the tombs beneath the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Through the intention imbued into every effect, color, sound, click, knock, angle, set, and frame, the cycles of creation, sustenance, and destruction, are exemplified as are the Masonic, Rosicrucian, and Eastern mysteries as they relate to the "Solve et Coagula" formula of destruction and reconstitution.

The title "CHRYSALIS" is necessarily written entirely in capital letters. This is because the external state of chrysalis is outwardly still and silent, while the internal state is one of noise and ordered chaos.

(NOTE: This film is intended to be an initiatory experience of it's own and is offered without elaboration upon the themes and symbols. For those who desire a complete explanation, a walkthrough guide has been added to the "Files & Attachments" section of this entry. It is on the bottom right hand side of the page below the "News & Reviews" section.)

  • Nic Nassuet
    Director
  • Nic Nassuet
    Writer
  • Nic Nassuet
    Producer
  • Anna Lee
    Key Cast
  • Robert R. Ryel
    Key Cast
  • David Nassau
    Key Cast
  • Charles Claymore
    Key Cast
  • Wolf Ramsey
    Key Cast
  • Nic Nassuet
    Cinematography
  • Nic Nassuet
    Post Production
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Experimental, postmodern, occult, religious, spiritual, mystical, hermetic, cult, metaphysical
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 10, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Calcutta International Cult Film Festival
    Calcutta
    India
    WINNER: Outstanding Achievement, Postmodern Film
Director Biography - Nic Nassuet

Nic Nassuet is an award winning American gothic-folk musician based in Hollywood, California, and is listed on Wikipedia as an influential gothic rock artist, and a notable neofolk artist.

Nassuet branched out into film making as part of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) Veterans Make Movies program in 2017 where he self produced his debut experimental short, "CHRYSALIS", on a budget of about $200.

A former US Counterintelligence Agent and lover of all things strange and unique, Nassuet has only two hobbies; Joining cults, and espionage, both of which he hopes to explore further in future film projects.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Long before we could speak, or understand our mother tongue(s), we had thoughts and feelings. Those thoughts and feelings are expressed in color, sound, and symbol. Each of us has our own internal language that we express through collectively understood external languages. Understanding the personal language of another requires deconstruction of the hallucination of collective language and culture. The colors, sounds, symbols, and moods expressed in this piece transcend time and culture, and should not be interpreted through the lenses of language, location, or era.

Many people will not understand this film, and that is okay. It will reach and make sense to the people who need to experience it and understand. Art is communication, and not all communication is intended to be interpreted by all people.

Regardless, it stands on its own as an aesthetically pleasing work of art, so I hope that anyone who engages with the work will have a pleasurable experience without feeling that it is necessary to comprehend the piece.

(NOTE: This film is intended to be an initiatory experience of it's own and is offered without elaboration upon the themes and symbols. For those who desire a complete explanation a walkthrough guide has been added to the "Files & Attachments" section of this entry. It is on the bottom right hand side of the page below the "News & Reviews" section.)