‘Death Undone’ at Catoosa Library
Last year, a teen group at the Catoosa County Library made a short movie called “Death Undone.” The kids wrote, directed and acted in the movie themselves, with some guidance from the library’s Teen/tween Coordinator Erica Tuggle.
Spoiler alert: You are about to read a full account of the movie.
“Death Undone” is set in Chicago 1953 and is shot in black and white. A detective — Det. Floyd — learns from his assistant, Miss Clark, that people are failing to die, that “Death” appears to be missing. But, Miss Clark tells him, there is a suspicious character working in a nearby diner. The two repair to the diner and find Death sitting in a booth, looking despondent.
Death assures Floyd and Clark that she cannot return to work: “The lack of deaths is my fault, but I can’t go back to my job.”
The sleuths determine that Death has fallen prey to the debilitating (for Death) emotion of empathy. Death is feeling guilty about her work. “The good in me doesn’t feel right taking souls every day,” she says.
The detective applies a sly approach to the situation. He boldly challenges Death to take his life and when she suggests that it’s not so simple, he mocks her and raises her ire, whereupon she claims his soul and he falls to the ground. But the act does not remedy Death’s moral dilemma, and she walks away declaring, “Hope you’re happy now.”
“The kids really did an amazing job with the film — on screen and behind the scenes,” says Tuggle. “It was the first one they ever did. It took three months of preparation and shooting scenes to produce a four-minute film.”
With a bit of experience behind them, the Catoosa Library producers and actors are undertaking two movie-making ventures this year. They held a planning meeting at the library recently.
Eight young people ranging in age from eight to sixteen gathered to discuss everything from plot to props regarding their next films. No spoilers this time — just some teaser.
One movie will feature a talk show host referred to as Tucker Tucker. The other movie will feature time travel and a daring rescue from a circus of years gone by.
Of all the young people at the recent meeting, only one says she wants to be an actress when she’s grown. Connor, the leader of the movie ventures (and the detective in “Death Undone”), plans to earn a PH.D. in music and teach music theory at the university level.
Life aspirations of the others at the meeting include becoming a veterinarian, a producer with Youtube, a mechanical engineer, an artist, and the CEO of his own industrial company. Maybe not surprisingly, Death has not yet decided what she wants to do with her life.
Keep an eye on this varied and talented group of young people. Watch “Death Undone” and watch out for their next two movies.
The Catoosa County Library welcomes new young people in all of their events for teens and tweens. Learn more at catoosacountylibrary.org or call 706-965-3600.
To see “Death Undone,” youtube.com/ watch?v=lcvw_o_2vqk.