Update and New Blog

Hey all,
it's a new year and a fresh start. I have decided to create a Word Press for all my future Blog postings. Please join me over there at:

www.micahknapp.wordpress.com/

To the future!

Micah

Top Ten Films of 2014

Top Ten Films of 2014

(In no particular order)

1. Boyhood

2. Whiplash
3. Gone Girl
4. Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
5. Selma
6. Interstellar
7. Nightcrawler
8. The Imitation Game
9. The Theory of Everything
10. Foxcatcher
(Runners Up): Big Eyes/American Sniper

Side Mention (Biggest Letdown): Inherent Vice

Empathy and the Movies

Empathy and the Movies

We go to the movies for escapism. To be transported. We go to forget the troubles in our lives for just a few hours. To have a good scare. A few laughs. A good cry. Whereas the big studio films that come out of the Hollywood system are simply out to make a profit, Independent films strive to do one thing above all else: tell a good story. As independent filmmakers, we are passionate about telling stories we find compelling and hope that audiences will also. Independent films are where we go to think and feel challenged. Films have always been about telling stories, but have we lost that in place of just "entertainment"?

So many people go to the movies for mindless entertainment. By the time they've left the theater though, their brains are mush instead of being engaged. While there is a place for "just entertainment", isn't the Film Medium meant for so much more? Are we wasting a powerful tool on brain-numbing visuals that could inspire instead of dull the mind?

Film is an art and thus a communication device. We communicate with each other through various forms, and at times have difficulty truly expressing how we feel as human beings. To me, filmmaking is a tool of reaching out to others and expressing ourselves in the best way we know possible. To get our message across. To understand one another. To me, film is about empathy.

As Film Critic Roger Ebert once said, ‘Movies are the most powerful empathy machine in all the arts. When I go to a great movie I can live somebody else’s life for a while."

To me what's great about film, is not that it's just enjoyable and meaningless entertainment. Great film truly has the power to inspire and create empathy for the viewer. To put you in the place of someone else and see through their eyes and feel what they feel. Whether you agree with their actions is beside the point. We are there to observe, take in, and understand why a character is the way they are.

Let's bring storytelling back to filmmaking. Let's tell a great story first and foremost, and the technicalities can come second...not first. Let's create a world in which we understand each other better, even when we disagree. Films have the power to do this.

Empathy: It's something the world needs more of and films shouldn't strive to do anything less.

What's Up! Magazine Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell review

On Screen: Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell

Written By: Megan Housekeeper

• 45
• 2

The only thing more charming than a pubescent teenage boy riding around on a vacuum cleaner as a door-to-door inventions salesman on the search to recover his parents is imagining local filmmaker Micah Knapp at around the same age creating this story alongside his older brother Jake Knapp. Thirteen years after conception and four years of production later, filmmaking team and brothers Micah and Jake Knapp are releasing their 45-minute film, Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell.

“Fantastic Stan came about from having a super active imagination as kids, highly inspired by the movies we grew up with and the possibility of what special effects we would be capable of creating on a computer by ourselves,” said Micah of their inspiration for the film. This sentiment comes as no surprise after watching the short film, which acts as a bottled up piece of childhood spark. It’s not hard to muster up trope-filled classics that served as initial stimulus calling on classics like Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Muppet Movie as well as some more enigmatic influences like The Rocketeer and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.

What served as the original catalyst, though, was “seeing Jurassic Park for the first time as kids, we were amazed at how real the dinosaurs seemed.” For the brothers, the mystery of special effects and the experimentation they were capable of in their own back yard was exhilarating.

Even more exciting and fantastical than the film itself is imagining the filmmaking process. Micah Knapp described working with first-time actor Brandon Willkie and the manner in which they got him comfortable with his role, making him actually go door to door as a salesman. Other highlights included a lot of green screen work while attempting to fit multiple actors on the vacuum cleaner (do not try this at home) and one trailer park fiasco that served as one of those gem-like life lessons artists receive early in their careers.

The technical aspects of creating the film are what take over the short, serving as a platform for the developing filmmakers to try their hand at the fantastical elements, which is important to understanding the individual work by Knapp Bros. Studios. Though the “young boy with wacky side-kick in search of parents, using magic, with enemies like witches and helpers like forest nymphs” may seem like old hat-but that really isn’t the point. Underneath the charming classical adventure story is stand-alone piece that after four years and a lot of heart, the Knapp Bros. Studios are proud to release to the public.

In the Knapp Bros. Studios catalog you can currently find music videos, commercials, and various shorter works to reach a larger audience that are just the tip of the iceberg for the burgeoning company.

As Micah explains, “We hope to model ourselves after someone like Robert Rodriguez, doing everything ourselves…Making films with deep, meaningful messages that really get people to think,” explaining the future direction towards documentaries as an ultimate payoff.

With the releases of films like this, backed by the small but growing film community Bellingham is being put on the map in a whole new way. With filmmakers, videographers, varied landscape perfect for sets, and limitless creativity “Bellingham has the potential to be a filmmaking mecca if the city continues to grow and expand, bringing jobs here to support the extremely supportive arts community we have,” as noted by Micah.

With the help of fostering the film community, through releases like “Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell” Micah and Jake Knapp, alongside their actors and supporters are showing Bellingham, and beyond the capacity for creating a film of quality caliber, entirely independent of the deep pockets of Hollywood. For more information, follow the film’s Facebook page.

Bellingham Brothers to unveil fantasy film, 'Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell'

Jake and Micah Knapp are shown outside the Pickford Cinema on Wednesday, June 12.

Matt McDonald/ The Bellingham Herald

A Film Fantasy Realized 
Local brothers make 'long short' movie on a shoestring budget 
Michelle Nolan FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Bellingham brothers Micah and Jacob Knapp invite the community to see the caliber of fantasy film that can be made "for almost no budget at all". They will screen their 45-minute wild ride, "Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell," at 9 p.m. Sunday, June 30, at Pickford Film Center.

"We want our 'long short' to be a conversation starter," said Micah, who is the younger half of Knapp Brothers Studios. "We would love more people to be aware of what we're doing". Micah, a 26-year-old Sehome High Graduate, talked about what he and Jacob, 30, hope to accomplish.

Question: Micah, how did you create such a professional looking trailer (available on Youtube)?

Answer: With a lot of hard work. We shot our film in 2009-2010 and we've spent the years since in post-production with a lot of CGI (computer-generated imagery) and a green screen. A green screen makes more effective backgrounds possible. The star of the movie, Brandon Willkie, now lives in Eastern Washington.

Q: That image of Fantastic Stan riding his vacuum cleaner in front of the full moon looks like... .

A: Right, "E.T.". There is a lot of homage in this film, and that's a big part of the fun.

Q: Since Fantastic Stan is about 12 years old, were you inspired by Harry Potter?

A: I actually wrote my first version of this screenplay when I was 13, in 2000. It was the year before I first read a Harry Potter book and before I saw the first movie with Harry.

Q: So you're something of a born filmmaker?

A: When I was 8 years old, I had saved $500 from working around the house and with some help from my parents (Marty and Cheryl Knapp) so I could buy an 8mm camera. I had become utterly fascinated with my first movie, "Jurassic Park". From the time I first saw that movie, I knew I wanted to make movies; I wanted to become a director.

Q: Did anyone in particular inspire you?

A: I was always inspired by the directors, especially Steven Spielberg. I've seen every movie he has ever made.

Q: What are you two guys making now?

A: We keep busy making local commercials and music videos. We recently made a four-minute film for the Commercial Street Theatre Project.

Q: Are you commited to fantasy films?

A: Not at all. I want to tell stories that get people to think from different perspectives. Actually, we're more interested in producing films and documentaries with serious themes that reveal a lot about the human condition. Spielberg did that with "Schindler's List". I was always in awe of how a filmmaker could do something like that along with the Indiana Jones films.

Q: You seem to know a lot more about older films than many people in your generation.

A: I own hundreds of movies and I've see thousands. I leanred about making movies mostly by studying movies. I love modern films such as "There Will Be Blood", "Lincoln", and what Spike Jonze does. But I also love film noir, and the likes of Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil" and "Citizen Kane", along with classics like "Casablanca" and Fellini's "8 1/2".

Q: How do you and your brother split the work?

A: I like to write and direct, while he's more into the technical and special effects side.

Q: Why should folks see "Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell?"

A: It's meant to be absolutely over-the-top, not to be taken seriously, but we think viewers will have a great time, just to see what's possible in filmmaking on no budget.

Closing Down the Blog

Hey all, it's been so long since I've made a blog post update. So long in fact, that I have decided to shut down my blogger. It isn't as relevant to me as it used to be. If you'd like to keep up to date on what I'm up to, please follow me on Twitter (www.twitter.com/micahknapp) or find me on Facebook. Secondly, you can also keep up to date on my latest projects over at www.knappbrosstudios.com Thanks to you for reading my posts. Now it's time to get out there and make something special!

Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell Pickford Premiere!

Hey everyone! Fantastic Stan Goes to Hell is now premiering at the Pickford Film Center in Bellingham, Washington on June 30th at 9PM. Tickets are 5$, and it is one night only so get them while they are hot!

You can purchase tickets at the Pickford site here.

We will try and have more screenings to follow this up, as well as online distribution news soon. Thanks everyone for the wait!