Genre: Romance/Teen/Comedy
Director: Chad Taylor
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Alex Wolff, Garance Marillier, Madison Iseman, Haley Lu Richardson, Harry Styles, Charlie Plummer, Aaron Eckhart, Rebecca Romijn
Plot: On a summer night in June 2007, Chad (Alex Wolff) and Sara (Madison Iseman) share a hammock under the moonlight. After some small talk, there is a lingering silence before Chad says awkwardly excuses himself to go to the bathroom. There, he texts with his friend Ashton who tells him what to say. When he returns, he confidently converses before looking Sara in the eye and asking if they are official. She squeezes his hand tighter and matches his eyes and affirms as long he doesn’t run to the bathroom every time it gets serious between them. Chad gives off a goofy grin as the opening credits roll as we see him texting his friends, telling them he and Sara are officially dating.1
1Welcome to the commentary for my directorial debut. Hopefully this can provide some unique insight into the filmmaking process. When this film came out, it was my 18th feature film as a writer and, thus, felt like the right time to do a semi-auto-biographical story. To be clear, this isn't all a true story and it's not all a story about me. It is built pretty equally from both personal anecdotes of my own life involving people in my life (so some about me, some about others) and works in the high school drama/comedy genre that act as my influences (which I will discuss a bit later). While I did consider having other directors to take up this story, I ultimately decided that this was of a manageable scale to tackle for my first project.
In August, Chad is starting his sophomore year of high school. He has found his comfort zone in his little Midwestern suburban life with his tight-knit friends group of charmer Evan (Harry Styles), class clown Cheese (Charlie Plummer) (a nickname earned from his last name being Kraft), and Ashton (Haley Lu Richardson) – a tomboy who has been a family friend of Chad’s since he was young.2 They are a part of the popular kids in school, especially now that Chad is dating Sara – one of the richest girls in town. On the Friday before classes start, Chad has dinner at Sara’s house – meeting her parents Tom (Aaron Eckhart) and Jane (Rebecca Romijn) and is nervous around them as he really wants to impress both Sara and her parents.
2With these first few scenes, I wanted to firmly establish our main players and their relations to one another. I settled on a group of six as it allows for some variety in personalities while also not feeling overwhelming or confusing to follow. They each certainly play the part of an archetype: the popular girl (Sara) and guy (Evan), the class clown (Cheese), the friend-who-wants-to-be-more (Ashton). And then Chad as this neutral position that sees him as the main connecting point between them all (if you recall, one of the posters for the film emphasized this web in its design).
Complicating things is the arrival of Melanie (Garance Marillier), a French foreign exchange student being hosted by Sara’s family. It becomes immediately obvious that there is a clash between Sara’s pristine preppiness and the edginess of Melanie. This personality clash is accentuated by Sara being the one having to guide Melanie around school and practically spend all day with her. At first this annoys Chad as he wants to spend as much time with Sara as possible but upon seeing the stress this causes her, he vows to assist in guiding Melanie through American high school life.3
3The introduction of Melanie was always key to this story. Obviously we know now that she is a love interest for Chad but I wanted to initially introduce her as a roadblock to his relationship with Sara (something I can't recall seeing in much other teen films). In some ways, she also becomes our second protagonist and I think that bringing her in after we met everyone else was key as we should empathize with her trying to fit in with pre-established friend dynamics.
When Evan throws a party while his parents are out of town, Sara’s parents insist on her taking Melanie with her. At the party, various drinking games are played while a pop-music radio station blasts in the background.4 With Chad introducing her, Melanie seems to mesh well with everyone at the party – especially Ashton and Cheese, who begins to take a liking to her. Sara grows irritated at the attention Chad is devoting to Melanie and demands he spend time with her. During this time, Melanie grows bored with the radio and plugs in her iPod – which blasts harder rock songs that the kids would classify as emo. Things become awkward and someone changes the music back, making both Melanie and Sara deeply embarrassed.
4Let's talk about influences. I knew I wanted to include a party scene as it felt like a quintessential element to this formula as this natural event that coalesces all of our characters together as they all have differing motivations. So what works influenced Somewhere, Somehow? Here are a few: Dazed and Confused, Superbad, The Edge of Seventeen, Lady Bird, Boyhood, The Spectacular Now, American Graffiti, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Last Picture Show, and in the TV realm, 'Freaks & Geeks', 'Friday Night Lights' and 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'. A lot, I know, but I felt that I needed that kind of backing when heading into the endeavor of directing for the first time.
While Melanie exiles herself alone in Evan’s bedroom, Chad tells Sara he is going to get a refill but really goes to check on her. At first she wants to be alone, but Chad becomes inquisitive about what else she has on her iPod. He admits that, unlike the other kids, he kinda likes that music and wants to hear more – but he is adamant that she not tell anyone what he just said. She offers to split her headphones and they both share playful laughter as they jam to the songs on the bed. Evan and a girl bursts in, apologizing at first but then saying how he needs the room. Evan gives Chad a suggestive look (as if to say: niiice), but Chad shakes his head no to deny anything happening. When Chad gets home, he briefly chats with Sara on MySpace before telling her goodnight and sending Melanie a friend request.5
5As was brought up in some of the reviews, the soundtrack and technology are also common elements of films like this. While I was working on a tight budget in terms of production design, using things like MySpace, iPod's, and the songs helped firmly place the film in recent past. When I work with my music team on building soundtracks, it doesn't usually come from an area of personal taste but instead what fits the film's tone the best. In this case, I felt it was best to use that personal flavor (for good and for meh). I don't love all of my musical tastes from my teen years but I felt it was best to translate it over to evoke a certain mood.
Chad wakes up happy in the morning when he learns that she accepted it and plays the song featured on her profile as he gets ready for the day. A few weeks later, the popular kids hold a weekend bonfire. Cheese takes everyone by surprise by asking Melanie to the Homecoming dance (which she accepts). Chad asks Sara if he has to formally ask her to the dance and she tells him technically no, but she would be really happy if he did it here and now. And so he follows in Cheese’s footsteps and makes a grand announcement asking Sara to the dance, who is happy that the attention is back on her. Melanie seems bummed by this development, but still happy that Cheese asked her.
Later in the night, Chad and Ashton lay on the bed of one of the trucks and gaze at the stars. He asks her who she thinks she’ll go to the dance with, and she is unsure. When he asks who she wants to ask him, there is a lingering silence (implying her crush is Chad) but she says maybe Evan. Chad agrees that would be rad. When she asks him who he wants to go with, he acts offended – as it’s already obvious he is going with Sara. He then realizes that his affection towards Melanie is at least partially obvious from the outside, but he continues to downplay it. Their arms touch briefly, to which Chad pulls back and puts his arm around her in a friend type of way.6
6I wasn't planning to be subtle here in this scene as it was always to set up for later. I really liked the chemistry that Haley and Alex displayed in this scene, something that we were able to capture in only a few takes as they just naturally clicked. If the film were longer, I probably would've spent some more time with the Chad-Ashton friendship but I know that nobody really wants to see a high school movie that runs over two hours.
At school, Evan, Ashton and Cheese come to Chad to tell him they are skipping lunch and P.E. to walk to the nearby movie theater and see Superbad. Sara, never one to break the rules at school, is adamant that they not but Melanie thinks it sounds fun. Amidst pressure from Sara, Chad turns down their offer while the four of them go. At lunch, Sara wants to see what Chad is listening to and scoffs when she sees that it is Melanie’s type of music. He excuses himself to go to the bathroom, but instead sprints to the theater after only have missed the first ten minutes of the movie.7 He takes a seat next to Melanie, who is happy to see he is there.
7This is one of the first scenes that came about in the writing process. I wanted to directly reference one of my influences while also allowing for the long take of Alex running down the street as he feels a sense of relief that he is finally fully living. I knew that 'Ocean Avenue' by Yellowcard was the song I wanted playing in this moment and the lyrics to that song is where I ended up getting the title of the film.
When they return to school and go to class, Ashton, Cheese, and Melanie are pulled out of class by the vice principal for skipping the previous period. Chad is confused, especially why he wasn’t pulled, and he is about to get up to join them but Sara holds him back. She tells him she told them that Chad fell ill in lunch and that’s why he missed P.E. (implying she told on the others when grilled).8
8Looking back, I think the major change I would make in the film is making Sara a little more likable. She cares about Chad but their personalities just don't fully click - something that they are both aware of and that she is trying to course correct for while they are on a sinking ship. There's probably an alternative version of the script that could be taken from her perspective and give some of that insight.
On the eve of homecoming, Chad shocks his friends by dying his hair bleach blonde reminiscent of My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way. Melanie is obviously amused by this and compliments him on it. Chad picks up Cheese and then Sara and Melanie on his way to the dance. At the Homecoming dance, Cheese drinks the alcohol from his flask too fast and vomits in the bathroom, with Evan and Chad helping him clean up. Realizing this has left Melanie alone, Chad goes back out to the dance floor but she is not there. He and Sara slow dance while Chad constantly looks over her shoulder for Melanie.9
9Just like the party scene, having some kind of high school dance in all its awkwardness felt like a must.
After the dance, Chad and Sara find Melanie sleeping in the back of Chad’s car, listening to her iPod. Sara actually comments that she finds it adorable, albeit in a partially condescending way. The group all get together and Evan comes up with the idea that since Melanie is of drinking age in France, they should see if she can convince the liquor store clerk to sell her alcohol. Sara, and Chad to a degree, are apprehensive to this but Melanie says she is cool with it. As everyone watches on nervously, it is a success and the party is on.
At the after-party at a friend's farmhouse out in the country, Evan and Ashton put Cheese to bed as he still feels ill. Chad and Sara passionately kiss in private but he can’t seem to get in the mood. Sara storms off, upon which Chad wanders off and finds Melanie drinking by herself. Chad approaches her, taking her hand to guide the bottle down, and passionately kisses her. She tells him she can’t even remember how long she’s been waiting for him to do that, making him laugh. When he spots Ashton alone in the kitchen, he promises Melanie he will be right back.
When Chad tells Ashton that he just kissed Melanie, she tells him she obviously knows – as does anyone else in the vicinity. When he asks her what he should do next, she runs her hand through his hair, messing it up and emphasizes that he be himself. He gives her a hug then makes a detour to the bathroom before heading back to Melanie.10 It is locked so he goes outside to do his business and is shocked to find Sara making out with Evan. He pushes his friend and asks him what the hell he’s doing – prompting an upset Sara to go back inside. Evan tries to calm Chad down and insists that he doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. He says he knows Chad doesn’t want to hear it now but he has to make up his mind about what he wants – if he likes Melanie, choose Melanie but don’t string Sara along as he does it. Plus, she’s the hottest girl in school – so when she wants to make out, you make out (a line that does not soothe Chad’s anger much).11
10Once again, Haley does some of my favorite work in the film in this scene. Having to give dating advice to the person you've always had feelings for is something that Ashton is grappling with in the moment but plays it off with a casual charm.
11At the time of filming, Harry had only done two films I believe: Dunkirk and Welcome to Paradise at LRF. So this was a bit of test but I think this scene shows why he was the right fit for Evan in how he contrasts from Chad. Additionally, I wanted this scene to create a bit of a distance between Chad and the audience. You're not supposed to totally support him in this moment. By directly cutting from Chad-Melanie to Evan-Sara, I wanted to show Chad's hypocrisy in his anger towards Sara and Evan in the moment. Even if we're led to believe he has more chemistry with Melanie, him stringing Sara along is still hurtful.
They hear a commotion inside and it turns out the cops have arrived. Evan panics and tells Chad to run with him as they go out into the barren cornfield behind the house.12 They lay flat on the ground and it works as the cops check the backyard but can’t see much beyond that. As they lay trying to stay silent, Evan whispers an apology to Chad. Everyone underage inside the house gets citations from the police.
12*Sigh*. I know this may seem contrived but I wouldn't have included it if it hadn't been something that actually happened (rural parties, what can you do?). At the very least, it did allow for my cinematographer to get some good-looking long shots of the landscape at night.
Sara’s parents scold her about what this will look like for her college applications and she points the blame to Melanie for buying the alcohol. Although Melanie denies that any of it was her idea, she admits that she bought the alcohol and Sara’s parents are furious. Worried about the bad influence she is on their daughter, the family make an arrangement for Melanie to move in with Ashton’s family for the remainder of her stay (only a couple of weeks at this point).
Chad is preparing to confess to Sara about kissing Melanie but she breaks up with him before he can. She apologizes about the Evan incident and echoes pretty much every sentiment Evan had already laid out. Chad apologizes to her for trying to figure out both who he is and what he wants – and leaving her tangled in the middle of it all. She says she’ll see him around and they go their separate ways.13
13While the actual set-up was not too difficult, this was something we had to shoot multiple times to get it just right (along with the next scene). Again, this is a moment that we'd been on a collision course to for nearly the entire film so it was important to pull it off right. And we ended up deciding that it would be best if the relationship did not end with a bang but with a whimper. At this point, both parties had come to an understanding that this wasn't going to work so this is quieter than your typical break-up scene (which was a conscious choice).
He talks to Melanie after school, them both holding hands. They kiss again but she pulls away, looking sad. When he asks her what’s wrong, she opens up about how afraid she was to leave home for somewhere 4,000 miles away, where she would always be an outsider. Then her clash with her host family only exacerbated those worries. And now she has feelings for Chad but even then they must confront the impracticality of loving someone thousands miles away with an ocean in between. When Chad tears up and tries to reason with her that they could work it out, she tells him no but caresses his cheek and says they should be happy they met. She reasons that Chad was always more attracted to the idea of Melanie than the actual person, as it allowed him to embrace his true self and break out of chasing something he was not. Chad denies this, telling her his feelings are real, but he comes to realize she has a point because of how he thinks of Sara. He was always attracted more to the idea of the beautiful rich girl for what it meant to his social status – never caring about Sara as a person. And now it has taken Melanie to realize that is not what he truly wants. He has always admired Melanie’s ability to not care what anyone else thinks, the opposite of his own feelings. She smiles and tells him none of that changes how they actually feel about each other. She says she loves him and he responds “Je t’aime” – his first attempt at French, and butchering it a bit. They laugh at his feeble attempt, agree he stick to English and kiss.14
14The emotional climax of the movie was something I knew we needed to execute well. Similar to Chad and Sara never discussing the Melanie of it all, I wanted this to act as a mirror image in that Chad and Melanie never discussed the impracticality of their relationship. It establishes Chad as someone who avoids those type of conversations, allowing for Garance to really take this scene by storm (even if Alex is the one showing off his emotional turmoil). It was a moment that allowed for a character to finally address Chad's contradictory actions and for him to fully come to terms with it (and what Melanie's arrival meant to him). This was the coming-of-age realization that was always needed.
One month later, in December, Chad and friends are at the airport as Melanie is set to go back to France. When they get a moment of one-on-one time, Chad and Melanie embrace for an extended period of time. She tells him how wonderful he and his friends have made her time in America and how she’ll never forget him. He vows the same. From his back pocket, he reveals that he has a Christmas gift for her. After opening it, he explains that it is a CD that he burnt with some of their favorite songs and a special surprise on the end. She is mad at herself for not getting him a gift but does leave him with one last message – perhaps he should start to consider Ashton as someone who could be more than a friend. He seems opposed at first, but smiles when looking towards Ashton’s way and realizes she might be right – given how similar she is to Melanie rather than Sara. They kiss goodbye one last time and she promises they will meet again some day.15
15The obligatory "she's been right in front of you the whole time" moment. Did audiences expect Chad and Melanie to end up together? That is something that I am generally curious about (and if any of you listeners want to share your opinion, drop a few words in the "LRF NOW" thread on the LRF forum. The plan was always for Melanie to be this temporary element in Chad's life - someone who passes through and is a catalyst to self-realization but never the true love of his life. Or is she? It's something that I did grapple with while writing but I like where we ended up because of the outstanding work that Haley put in to the role of Ashton.
The next day, Chad fixes his MySpace Top 8 (a collection of eight friends the person chooses to display on their profile – indicating how much you like them) – removing Sara altogether and adding Evan back in to the top row to join Cheese, Melanie, and Ashton. He clicks save but then goes back to it and puts Ashton in the number one spot and saves again. He then clicks on her profile to send a message. As he usually relies on her to help him talk to girls, he is stuck on what to say – but smiling while he thinks. As he contemplates, he picks up his guitar and starts to play an acoustic cover of the song Melanie awkwardly played at the party. We see cross-cutting shots of Melanie in France, listening to the final track of the CD with a smile on her face.16
16Based on test screenings, I think we stuck the landing here. The technology returned (which I felt the need to explain a bit). There is a callback to all the times that Chad asked Ashton for relationship advice, which was necessary for this very moment. And then there is the cross-cutting from the U.S. to France as Melanie listens to a recording of Chad playing a song for her. And that does it for this director's commentary. This was a lot of fun! Maybe I will return to it one day for an Orchid commentary (a film that doesn't seem as well-liked as this one but I am proud of my work on). Speaking of pride, I am very happy that I chose this to be my first film as a director. It is not something I want to do often and so the project has to be just right. I like the characters crafted here, even if some parts could use improvement. Who knows - maybe one day you will see them return for a high school reunion in Season 28 or 38 or something like that. In terms of stuff that is actually happen, I like to use these commentaries to break some news from time to time. And with this one, I just want to say that I have formalized plans to return to the directing chair for my third feature in a future season. See you then!
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