Hey everyone, Adrian here. Total disclaimer, this might be my biggest blog yet. I just landed in Colorado for vacation, and a lot has happened very quickly. This trip was not originally planned for filming, but after talking with my co director Tati, we realized it opened the door for some important changes and opportunities that actually strengthen the film.
First, I want to address cast changes and new cast additions. Diego will no longer be playing the kingpin. I found a better and much easier alternative. The kingpin will now be played by a good friend of mine named Matheus, who is local and available. This change alone makes scheduling and coordination way more realistic.
I am also casting another friend of mine, Levi, who will be playing the kingpin’s German lab rat, the person responsible for creating Adrian’s costume. To add a bit of comedic relief, I want to cast JJ as Levi’s translator. Full disclosure, Levi does speak English in real life, but he immigrated to the US from Germany about four years ago. In the film, however, I want him speaking only German to sell the character and create some contrast and humor through the translator dynamic.
Now, onto the Colorado filming plan, which was very last minute but honestly one of the best ideas we have had so far. The plan is to film a short flashback sequence in the snow. This sequence exists purely to give backstory to the kingpin and explain his motivation.
The flashback will be no longer than fifteen seconds. The idea is so it shows the kingpin walking through the snow with his brother. His brother points out the mask. The scene then cuts to a mysterious figure dressed entirely in black sneaking up behind them. It cuts back to the kingpin putting the mask on. The figure knocks him out and takes his brother away.
This flashback is meant to be fragmented and unsettling, not fully explained in the moment. Later in the film, the flashback is triggered again when the kingpin shows Adrian the new costume that his German lab rat created. When he looks at the mask, he realizes it is the same one he found the day his brother disappeared, triggering trauma and PTSD.
Now I want to address the biggest issue we have been dealing with, which is fitting everything into a five minute film. To make this work, I had to cut some ideas entirely. We are completely scrapping the FPS style video game opening. We are also cutting the opening apartment scene where Adrian and Tati receive a phone call. And finally we are scrapping the idea of going back to the kingpins house to give him the mustang, more information will be spoken about that later in this blog. This should have been addressed earlier, but we were too focused on gear and equipment instead of story structure.
The film will now open with Adrian and Tati driving in the car, jamming to music. The music choice is still being discussed. They drive to Matheus’s house. A short line of dialogue will establish the relationship between Adrian and Matheus to avoid confusion. The idea is that Matheus was once a long term friend and associate, but after losing his brother, he cut communication and began working in secret to get redemption.
Matheus offers Adrian and Tati a thirty thousand dollar contract to retrieve a very important car. What they do not know is that this job is a setup. Adrian and Tati break into the house and neutralize the bodyguards while attempting to steal the red Mustang. During the robbery, Matheus shows up and confronts Adrian. He tells him he knows why the military kicked him out. He then delivers the line that shifts everything, accusing Adrian of killing his brother.
Here is where everything ties together. Adrian was the masked figure who took Matheus’s brother away. Matheus believes Adrian killed him, even though the truth is more complicated. From Matheus’s perspective, this job was never about the money or the car. It was a calculated trap designed to bring Adrian face to face with a buried decision.
Full disclosure, during the robbery, Adrian independently discovers the truth in the garage. He finds a framed photo of Matheus, his brother, and the red Mustang. This confirms that the car belonged to the brother and that the contract was deeply personal.
The final flashback completes the picture, revealing Adrian himself as the masked figure who orchestrated the disappearance. Matheus secretly calls the police, and sirens bleed into the scene. Everything collapses into inevitable violence. Matheus disarms Adrian. Tati intervenes by shooting Matheus in the leg. Adrian is forced to end him using the lab made blade in a single brutal moment.
The film ends with Adrian and Tati escaping in the gateway car. Music plays over a detached overhead shot of Matheus bleeding out as police arrive. The story closes on ambiguity and consequence rather than victory.
This trip to Colorado ended up reshaping the film in a way I did not expect. These changes make the story tighter, more emotional, and much more focused. More updates coming soon.
