Five Minute Interview Dane Scott ’16: Senior Dane Scott was granted a winter cocurricular exemption to complete his feature-length film, Novocaine, which he wrote and directed, and filmed mainly on campus with the help of more than two dozen other Deerfield students. Academy alumnus and Golden Globe nominee Matthew Fox ’85 also lent a hand with the project, which was supervised by fine arts teacher Timothy Trelease. Currently, Dane is reediting his film to a new soundtrack featuring several “underground” musicians and original music. He is planning on submitting it to various film festivals, including Cannes. Watch the trailer: vimeo.com/danescott. What was your inspiration for Novocaine? I was inspired by everything, which is vague but true. Sky Ferreira’s record Night Time, My Time, Donna Tartt’s novel—everything. Something that really inspired me was reading articles by adults talking about how bad and lazy the millennial generation is—I used quotes from some of those articles in the trailer. One said millennials are ‘fame-obsessed’ and the ‘me me me generation.’ I wanted to make a film with friends, and I thought it’d be natural for us to tell a story from our perspective . . . How long did it take you to write the script? I wrote the first draft of the script over one weekend in the fall term when I went home—writing pretty much nonstop in a cafe down my street— basically from when the place opened to when it closed; ridiculous amounts of lattes! I then edited it for a bit back at school, tweaking things, and when we were shooting I encouraged improvisation a lot, as well. I wanted it to feel authentic, above everything else.
You deal with some difficult subject matter— death, drug abuse, depression, and more—and Novocaine clearly takes place at a prep school; were you at all concerned that people might assume it was biographical? I mean, aspects of it are, in a way, biographical. It’s cool if people assume that, too. I think we made a very honest film, even though there are dark elements. There are also positive moments, funny moments, and, hopefully, illuminating moments. One line in the film is, ‘Being a teenager and being bored is like bathing in gasoline, and then walking down a road of matches. We’re all waiting for something to start, for something to spark.’ That’s a universal feeling—at least I think so— that’s just as much felt by Deerfield kids as it’s felt by kids in Paris and Detroit. These issues— addictions and obsessions, societal pressures and intense boredom—touch everyone when they’re growing up, in some way. And I think that’s important to realize—that no one is immune to these kinds of struggles. What was it like working with Matt Fox—someone who has had so much success professionally? Well, predictable answer, but it was completely unreal. He was really supportive, and asked a lot of insightful questions during the shoot, and didn’t treat any of us like kids but as genuine collaborators. And even though he’s my best friend’s dad, it was definitely kind of intimidating, too. But he’d intimidate me if he didn’t have any success, I think, because his acting feels so real, and he’s completely unpretentious in his process. He’s an actual artist. What’s your next project? I’m shooting my first short film this spring, called Cherry Frosting, which I’m really excited about. I’m making it with some of my friends who also worked on Novocaine: Caroline Fett, who’s an amazing producer, and Tia Jonsson, who’s again the project’s lead actress. It’s about a group of vengeful runaways travelling across America, led by a girl who goes by the name Marie Antoinette. It’s a really dreamy, weird story. I’m also doing some film photography, and I’ve been working on a novel. //
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