Dear Readers,
I was asked by my former student/Drama Club member, Jared Soucie, in the spring of 2020 (during the Covid shutdown so I was stuck at home for months and months) to take a small role as a "counsellor" in a music video by Garrett Duncan. I played "Mr. Loomis" in the song "Wages." As it turned out, "Wages" was the climax of the whole "The Darkened" song series storyline. There were several other people involved in that day's shooting as we were pretending to be a 12 step-style meeting. It just so happens that I have experience in being a counsellor and leading a 12-step style meeting so the part felt very natural.
Jared and Garrett were worried about the sequence where I hold a gun and shoot. Actually, it's a paintball gun that looks like an M-16. The rest was done by Jared with his nifty special effects. I explained what was the fear of backlash? I didn't shoot anyone. I shot at someone, but it was the "FEAR" character. So, it was symbolic. It was like a dream sequence.
On the whole, the video was tastefully done with great effects and an interesting psychological and symbolical storyline to accompany some very fine music by Garrett. He wrote, performed, recorded, and produced all the songs and each one sounds a little different than the previous one and a few mix genres. "Fear" and "Wages" are my personal favorite of the songs.
And, yes, many of my students have commented on the "GUN" sequence. When they ask, "Mr. Cummins, is there some video out there of you shooting a gun?," I show them the "Wages" video. They asked out of natural and honest curiousity and the best answer is to show them the video. They need to see art like this. It's about HOPE. FORGIVENESS. We need to put those topics as strands into the State Education Curriculum.
"The Darkened" video went on to win several awards. Among them were: Global Film Competition Award of Recognition for CHRISTIAN and an Award of Recognition for EXPERIMENTAL. Best Shorts Competition, again winning Awards of Recoginition in CHRISTIAN and EXPERIMENTAL.
Here is the IMBb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30526160/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5_tt_8_nm_0_q_The%2520Darkened
All my links: https://linktr.ee/GarrettDuncanMusic
Credits:
Directed by: Garrett Duncan
/ @garrettduncanofficial Jared
Soucie
/ @jar-headjared
Main Cast: Garrett Duncan Ashton Duncan John Kietzmann Seth Stuntz
Jeffrey Cummins Emily Kietzmann Written by: Garrett Duncan Ashton
Duncan Jared Soucie Camera: Jared Soucie Editing: Garrett Duncan
Jared Soucie VFX: Jared Soucie SoundFX: Garrett Duncan Jared Soucie
Audio Mixing: Garrett Duncan Additional sound effects from
YouTube’s Audio Library.
Songs include: "The Darkened," "Fear," "Wages," and "The
Sacrifice"