Eight years before Heather, Josh, and Mike were lost in the woods pursuing the Blair Witch, I met a guy by the name of Michael Phillips. Mike was heavily involved with the school theater program, quick at improvisation, and very creative. He got a group of friends together one night with a video camera and made a film that changed my life.

"Basket-Head Murders" told the story of a mad man with a laundry basket on his head, running amuck killing innocent (and not-so-innocent) men and women. It was completely ad-libbed, and terribly funny. I knew it was something I would have to try someday.

Four and a half years later, I gathered a few Dramamaniacs and a number of their friends on a summer evening to film "Psycho Killer from Outer Space." This short science-fiction "classic" not only included the crummy dialogue and cheap-looking UFO effects you expect from a bad alien movie, it ends with the message of the Gospel. We threw in references to a number of sci-fi movies and the X-Files. Most of these were intentional, but a few were completely accidental, such as the names Fox and Dana appearing in Scene One.

Although the film was scripted, nobody bothered to learn their lines. Most of what appears on the final project is improvised, and to the actors' credit, funnier than what I wrote. My only concern was that the ending message of the film be preserved. As for the rest of the film, I was more concerned with everyone having fun.

Since then, we've undertaken a few other film projects. I went out one afternoon with a guy named Lachlan and filmed a documentary on signs, such as "Drive Thru Window" and an incredible sign we found at the Salvation Army, "All Donations Received in Rear." We also created a mock-documentary about the Dramamaniacs and a parody of The Real World. Another group of kids filmed a soap opera that lasted for a four week series on self-esteem.

In filming with the home video camera, I can share three important pieces of advice. One, give yourself five seconds lead-in time before filming a scene, especially if you plan to shoot out of order and edit the scenes together later. Hit the record button, count five, then signal your actors to begin.

Second, when shooting outside at night, make sure you have plenty of light. One of the actors I worked with had a set of flood lights which gave us just enough light to see the actors. The night was plenty dark enough that the night-atmosphere was not destroyed.

Third, if you need to make a UFO, take two paper or styrofoam plates, turn one upside-down on the other, and glue them together. Paint it silver. It looks really cheesy, and it's the technique used by the master of film disasters, Ed Wood, Jr.

Video scripts like "Psycho Killer", "Not 60 Minutes", and "The Sloth Hunters" are listed on the Skits Page.

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