Kickstarter is a special site – and it has fostered a special community. I’ve always loved the internet, if not simply for it’s unique ability to inspire. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can start sharing their labor of love – and stumbling across these hard-to-find projects usually leads to new ideas and new relationships.

I first mentioned Kickstarter, because one interesting project I came across recently was called Lake Beast, in particular a post that was written about “what was inspiring the look” of this animated short film.

Which the last week’ish left me wondering: what films have / are most inspiring the look and feel of For Thousands of Miles? Many of these have actually been films I’ve seen long into the writing and creation process of Pedal. But they stuck with me… I have vivid memories of sitting in theaters in Los Angeles and seeing a movie that suddenly overwhelmed me with that sense of “this is what I want”. Those moments and films are important to hold onto – they can serve as guide-lines.

In no real order of importance – here is a short list of five films that have an influence on me, and how specifically they influence FToM.

Stranded – I’ve come from a plane that crashed on the mountains: Main influence: message.

I might get a few strange looks for this… but when I was young, I was fascinated with Alive, a film about a group of real-life teenage rugby players who crash and survive in the Andes Mountains for 72 days. I watched it dozens of times during middle and high school.

The recent documentary, Stranded, is a collection of first-hand accounts with the actual survivors of that crash. Aside from it being one of the most visually engaging and crafted documentaries I’ve ever seen, it’s also one of the most inspiring stories I’ve ever heard.

It’s been one of the clearest examples of people’s inner strength… of our ability to, in the most nightmarish of situations, not only simply survive, but to tap into a part of ourselves that is buried… that is often unnecessary in our routines.

The Mirror: Main influence: chronological-structure.

I remember first watching the Mirror, a Soviet-era self-reflecting film by Tarkovsky, the cinematography was stunning… each scene was so perfectly choreographed between the actors and the camera to maintain a constant mood of dream-like reflection.

But what stood out to me the most, was the story was told in an order that was defined not by date, but more by when the director seemed to full piece together that event’s meaning or relevance. It was the first time I’d seen this done so beautifully… and the first time I felt at all confident that, yes, I could tell FToM in a similar way.

City of God: Main influence: narrative-structure.

Similar to the Mirror, City of God is able to start a narrative, but then side-step into an important and directly related side-narrative, while then smoothly coming back full-circle to where it started, now having explained all the pieces of the puzzle the audience needed.

This kind of nonlinear story-telling seems most necessary when dealing with real life, which is often full of so many more layers and back-stories than fiction. But most importantly, just because X happens before Y, doesn’t mean it’s understood in that order – sometimes Z, M, F and H have to happen before X seems to have significance.

Gerry: Main influence: pacing, visual.

The first opening shot of Gerry, aside from the 13 seconds of blue, is a near 8 minute continuous shot following the main character’s car through Death Valley. Not a shot that everyone would be excited to sit through, understandably… but for me it was hypnotizing.

We’ve been trained to expect a certain amount of important information to be shown / explained in a certain amount of time when watching a movie (or TV show). But when a film takes an editing or pacing approach that goes beyond when we naturally expect a cut or a break, we begin to look closer at what’s being shown – what’s being said.

Is the film showing us clues, is the film setting a mood or level of reality that shifts the audience’s perspective?

As a story-teller, you run the risk of pushing many people away with a shot that exceeds 3 minutes, 4 minutes, even 8 minutes – but sometimes that’s a risk worth taking if important to the “way” in which someone begins to watch and take-in your film.

Days of Heaven: Main influence: visual, narrative.

This film is such a source of inspiration and nostalgia every time I watch it. The wide shots of the sprawling farmland just before sunset… the extreme close-ups of the grasshoppers clinging to strands of wheat. This is one of the films that I have a hard time putting into words.

There is something about how far-back the camera sits from people during a conversation… Or where the editor starts and ends that conversation which leaves something to the imagination. There’s a drama that plays out that doesn’t leave you gripping the edge of your seat, but allows you enough space to study the strange, predicable human-behavior the main cast finds themselves playing out.

Not to mention is has my favorite line from a film: “Looking for things. Searching for things. Going on adventures”. I have that quote, from Linda Manz’s character, written on a yellow post-it and taped to the front of my typewriter. I keep it there as a constant reminder of what For Thousands of Miles is supposed to be at it’s simplest.

That’s the end of my short-list for FToM’s biggest inspirations. What are your most inspiring / motivating films?

60 days left: Don’t forget to help us reach our post-production goal on Kickstarter – you can back our film for a dollar, or help spread the word.