By ABBY LINCKS, Vandegrift Voice
Nightmare or daydream? Erin Seitzler’s film, “Tagträume”, drops German exchange student Finn into seemingly endless transitions from one atmosphere to another, all inspired by stereotypical American movies or television series. “Twilight” spoof “Cry-Light” to “The Office” inspired “Nauseous,” Seitzler ties in additional film aesthetics like western, shot in black and white, and rom-com, where Finn tries to “get the girl.”
The film was part of Vandegrift’s annual senior directed one-act plays, which seniors audition for in their junior year. SOAPs are an opportunity for students to take on a leadership role of directing a play or film of their choice, either original or remake. SOAPs are featured in May.
Seitzler – who graduated in May and was an avid member of the theatre department – not only contributed to the writing process of another SOAP but has starred in numerous roles in past performances. This year, she wanted to try something that had not been done before – a film. Her major talents lie in the AV (audio/visual) side of things.
“I came up with the idea because there is this foreign exchange student in theater and he just inspired me,” Seitzler said. “I just wanted to try and create the whole project myself because I’ve always done (film) shorts but never an actual movie-type bigger film.”
“Tagträume” translates to “day, nightmare,” or “daydream.” Unsure of a singular direction to go in, Seitzler chose to include a multitude of different aesthetics in the film to appeal to the tastes of a larger audience whilst giving her more creative freedom.
“[During its first run on May 11,] I was a little nervous because the humor is my humor because I wrote it and I was like, ‘What if people don’t laugh?’” Seitzler said. “But, there was a big crowd and parents and kids were laughing, so it just made my heart warm because the reward paid off from the weeks I’ve been working on this.”
Seitzler casted, directed, filmed, edited, and wrote “Tagträume”, choosing to do the majority of work herself, with the help of 21 cast members. Max Hunter [Finn] was the main inspiration for the film, as he is a foreign exchange student newly involved in theater this school year.
“He [Finn] gets dropped off by the Uber driver and gets thrown into these different [alternate realities] and there’s a transition between all of them because he’s trying to get away from all of them, except for the rom-com because he gets the girl in the end… and he wakes up and wants to stay in the rom-com” Seitzler said.
This long-term project just before graduation has helped Seitzler prepare for upcoming assignments. It also unexpectedly made her recognize that she can’t continue to take on such huge projects single handedly.
“I tried to do it all myself, which is not normal because I didn’t have the willpower to let someone else do it,” Seitzler said. “I would rather blame myself if it turns out wrong with the shot.”
Seitzler will continue her education at San Diego State University where she will pursue a career in film.
“I’m happy that I took this time to do it [“Tagträume”] and experience the memories with the underclassmen because we didn’t really get that for a couple years so I’m happy that I got to be a role model and be a leader and give them an experience they’ve never experienced before,” Seitzler said.
Abby Lincks, an incoming senior, is interested in journalism because she finds joy in helping to voice other people’s passions and accomplishments. In her free time, she enjoys running book club and listening to music.
