Out of My Mind is a short film beginning with Carter (Rusty James) an author sitting at his computer writing a story. Carter is playing out a story in his mind about seeing a woman, a blonde woman dressed in blue (Mina Fedora) who is across the room. Carter is watching as he is having drinks with his friend (Michael Diton-Edwards) A hesitant Carter finally stoops up from his chair and makes his way over to this beautiful gem. As Carter anxiously approaches he is immediately shut down when her date returns to the table. Swiftly Carter turns back and heads toward his friend. As the evening progresses, we receive glimpses of heated tension between the woman in blue and her once friendly date. The tables will suddenly turn as Carter receives a visit at his residence in the middle of the night.

Quick Thoughts

In the tradition of Tales From The Crypt, Out of My Mind truthfully lingered on my mind days after viewing it. A good mystery leaves leftovers for viewers to ponder with, and not everything is truly answered. Our imagination, left alone to create our own answers and sometimes fill our own void and Out of My Mind does just that! Blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, Maples pulls off the perfect story, placing her characters on the brink of insanity and does a fine job of building up a bulk of anticipation. Audiences will have the challenge of determining the difference between what is real and what is pure fantasy, having Maples at the helm truly is exciting, and I cannot wait to see what is next. It’s a sensational and suspenseful film that’s sure to give you goosebumps, definitely worth checking out.

Watch the trailer below and be sure to read our interview with Director Cindy Maples!

 

 

Storyline: 

Carter is a successful mystery writer on the rise. Fueled by alcohol, and a chance meeting with a beautiful woman in blue, his latest book is flowing out of him. If only he could find the source of dripping water that’s driving him insane. As the novel progresses and the bourbon flows, what Carter’s written about the woman takes a hauntingly dark turn. Slipping into madness might be a great way to write, but are the horrors of the night real or only something out of his mind?

 

Interview With Director – Cindy Maples

iHorror: Out of My Mind seems to be the perfect title for this short, was this the first choice?

Cindy Maples: That is a great question and no, it was not the first title. I knew from the beginning that the original title of the short story written by John Cosper, Drip Drip, was not going to work. It just didn’t give off the right feel for what I wanted to show visually on screen. My co-writer, Neil Kellen and myself batted around a few ideas before we finally landed on Out of my Mind. The original title we used for the screenplay was Intertwined, and although we both really loved it, it still wasn’t exactly right. When we finally landed on “Out of my Mind”, we just knew it was perfect. But we never let go of our original title Intertwined, and it still makes its way into the film, you just have to look for it.

iH: Out of My Mind had originality and innovation, what was the most challenging part that you endured during the process of putting this film together?

CM: Time and money are always the biggest challenges for an indie filmmaker, but time seemed to be my biggest enemy for this project. Trying to schedule the time for the production almost drove me out of my mind. When we were finally able to coordinate all the schedules, the only time available was 4th of July weekend. Most of OOMM takes place at night, and I don’t know if you know this or not, but they shoot off fireworks at night during the 4th of July. This brilliant piece of decision-making lead to very little sound being recorded on set, which meant we would have to add it in later. Luckily, Neil Kellen, also my editor, did an amazing job with the sound design. We spent many hours searching for and recording little things like water hitting the floor, gurgling, bed sheets rustling and so many other things. It actually became a really exciting part of the editing process, and I’ve found a new love for Foley work.

iH: How many days did you shoot for? Where did you shoot the film?

CM: The main production days totaled 4, with a couple of evenings during editing to get some shots that we felt were needed to better tell the story. Our main location, Carter’s apartment, is actually an old apartment above the carriage house behind our house that we converted into a studio. This is also where we got our company name, Carriage House Productions. This location was also part of our time issue. We had sold the house and were in the process of moving during the production. We HAD to get those scenes shot before the end of July when we moved. The best place we filmed was Bokeh Lounge in Evansville, IN. I approached the owner, Mike about using Bokeh for our Mystery Writer’s after party, and he literally opened the doors and gave me whatever I needed. I was blown away by the amount of cooperation I received from Mike, Josh and his entire staff. We also created an event on Facebook to request locals to come out and be extras for that scene, and the response was humbling. When it came time to do the premiere last October, they were the only place I even talked to about hosting it and again, they threw open the doors and we had a great night. They even created an “Out of my Mind” cocktail for the evening!

iH: I understand that you wore many “hats” for this production, including casting. What was that process like? Did you know exactly who you wanted immediately when casting for the “Woman In Blue?”

CM: There was never a moment when I didn’t want Mina Fedora for my “Woman in Blue”. When I read the short story for the first time she was the one I saw in that part. I’ve known Mina for about 5 years now and I love working with her. We met on the set of her music video Nightwatch back in 2012 and became fast friends. She scored my first short film Random, and I knew that I wanted her to work on the score for this project, so I was a little afraid that I was pushing my friendship bounds to the limit. Luckily for me, she read the script and couldn’t wait to tackle this character. Rusty James, my husband in real life, was also a no brainer for Carter. I knew Mina would need a little more direction on set because she is still really new to acting, so by using a seasoned professional like Rusty, it freed up my time to concentrate more on Mina. The “Mysterious Man”, played by Clint Calvert, took me a little longer, because I had to find someone around the same size as Rusty but who fit the description of the boyfriend. And then there was Michael Diton-Edwards, who is one of my dearest friends, who I had to almost force into doing the part of Louis, and he was wonderful! He kept asking what I wanted for the character of Louis, and would say, “I want you, that’s why I cast you”. It’s funny how hard it is to just be yourself when someone points a camera at you, but he nailed it and gave me exactly what I was looking for.

iH: Was this the original length of the film that you had intended on producing or were you looking something more or less?

CM: This short comes in a little over 15 minutes, which is about where I hoped it would be. When it comes to short films, I’ve learned the shorter, the better, especially when it comes to film festivals. They are more apt to accept a short less than 15 minutes into a festival to help fill up a block, especially if you give them something that the audience can enjoy in that time frame. I won a Spirit Award last year at a festival in Illinois for Random, and I was told that out of all the filmmakers who had submitted, I was the only one who told a concise and entertaining story in 7 minutes. I loved hearing that, and it challenged me to keep trying to make that kind of film. Shorts don’t really have a place yet, outside of YouTube or other online services, but with today’s time-poor society, I think they are the perfect medium. And for a new filmmaker like me, it’s a great way to learn and improve until I’m ready to do a feature.

iH: What is next for you?

CM: I’m currently promoting Out of my Mind and will be traveling with it throughout the year to various festivals. The first of those trips is in February to the Cosmic Film Festival in Orlando. I’m also in pre-production on a feature horror film that will put me back in the role of producer and casting director. I will always be an actress first and filmmaker second, so I’m hoping to do as much acting as I can this year. I’m currently looking at a short and a feature that will probably be filmed in 2017. I also have two short films scheduled to premiere this year, Prisoner of Perdition and Hell’s Half Acre and I can’t wait to see both of those. And of course, I’m looking forward to seeing what else happens with Volumes Blood: Horror Stories, which has received such tremendous reviews and support from the horror community.

Cindy, thank you so much for talking with us. We look forward to speaking again with you about your future projects!

 

Behind The Scenes Photos

 

 

 

 

 

-ABOUT THE AUTHOR-

Ryan T. Cusick is a writer for ihorror.com and very much enjoys conversation and writing about anything within the horror genre. Horror first sparked his interest after watching the original, The Amityville Horror when he was the tender age of three. Ryan lives in California with his wife and Eleven-year-old daughter, who is also expressing interest in the horror genre. Ryan recently received his Master’s Degree in Psychology and has aspirations to write a novel. Ryan can be followed on Twitter @Nytmare112