First look at Jesse Thunderwake’s lyrics

In tandem with the Jesse Thunderwake movie (which begins filming July 1st by the way, more info on that soon) Don and I have been working on a Jesse Thunderwake album. This album will provide the soundtrack for the movie while functioning on its own as an entirely different project. We’ve recorded a few songs and they’ve come out really fantastic (in a god-awful “Jesse Thunderwake” kind of way). My singing voice is a lot like that of a wild hippopotamus having it’s testicles twisted by a rope attached to a windmill, but Don is a damn wizard with auto-tune so the vocals don’t even sound too bad. I really can’t let you hear the recordings yet, but I can show you some lyrics I just wrote.

For the most part, I write the lyrics and Don writes the music. I’ve had the line “Let me introduce myself, I’m Jesus fucking Christ” stuck in my mind for months and I wanted to write lyrics for a metal song that started that way. Mostly, it’s just because when “written and directed by Greg Sisco” comes up on screen, I want the speakers blaring “Let me introduce myself, I’m Jesus fucking Christ.” Not that I’m a cocky person or anything, I just have a very serious God-complex.

Anyway, I just threw these together. It’s a rough draft. Needs punching up and maybe a bridge. My initial thought was just to make them as vain and blasphemous as possible, but for some reason the last verse fell into place which actually kind of turns it a bit philosophical. I’m not sure I like that because Jesse wrote the song and in case you haven’t noticed he’s kind of a dumbass. Still, I find it interesting the way something this sacrilegious turns almost religious at the end. I just wonder if it kills the humor or strengthens it.

Ugh, I don’t know. I’ve been up all night. I’ll look at it for a few days before we record it. In the meantime, here are the rough lyrics to “Call Me Jesse”:

Let me introduce myself, I’m Jesus fucking Christ
Captain fucking Legend, when you’re born fate rolls the dice
And fate rolled seven
Gave me everything I need
My own sweet Heaven
With a lifetime guarantee

But don’t be jealous that the angels chose to bless me
And call me Jesse

Let me set the record straight, the only god is luck
Short or fat or gay or black, in some way we all get fucked
With one exception
Every couple thousand years
A freak perfection
A new son of God appears

My life’s my rapture, and no setback can suppress me
Just call me Jesse

Let me leave you with a thought, your life is just a dream
Barely comprehensible and oftentimes obscene
But if it’s lucid
Then you’ll see you’re Jesus Christ
And you are stupid
If you cannot solve that plight

No need to thank me, but if you must address me
Call me Jesse

Casting call for Jesse Thunderwake: American Icon

Auditions are going to start next Tuesday and Wednesday. Any ethnicity may apply for any role.

THE MOVIE

“Jesse Thunderwake: American Icon” is a mockumentary comedy scheduled to film in Austin, TX in June and July. The movie is about young people trying vainly to break into show business. It follows the production of a doomed film being made by a clueless director who hires a terrible producer. Over the course of the story, we’ll be making a mockery of the movie industry, America’s obsession with fame, the music industry, stand up comedy, independent film, bad horror movies, bad indie dramas, bloggers, reality TV, romantic comedies, me personally, and so much more.

MAJOR ROLES:

(Awkward note regarding all major roles: This is an R-rated movie with a couple scenes of crude sexual dialogue, but there is no on-screen sex and none of these roles require nudity. Each of the three, however, has a kissing scene with a member of the same sex. If these things make you uncomfortable, this probably isn’t the movie for you.)

FOXX (20′s-30′s, female lead)

Foxx is a strong-willed, angry lesbian feminist and a failed actress/painter/poet. She’s spent her entire life vigorously pursuing fame and hasn’t achieved it, but she’s never lost her determination. She’s crass, crude, not afraid of making other people uncomfortable, always knows what she wants,  and will do everything in her power to get it.

STAR (20′s, female)

Star is free-spirited, fun, and bubbly. She’s dresses like she’s living in the seventies and her big determination is to make a sex-tape with a fledgling celebrity, release it after he becomes famous, and ride the coattails to fame. In order to accomplish this goal, she has made herself very available to anybody even attempting a career in show business.

BUG-EYES (any age, male)

Bug-Eyes’ background is never made fully clear, but he has likely spent the last ten years begging for change, huffing paint, and trying to find work in local independent films. He’s generally in very high spirits, but always seems like he might suddenly kill somebody for no particular reason.

MINOR ROLES:

JOHNNY IDAHO (20′s, male)

Johnny is a film blogger with a big ego who thinks he knows everything about the movie industry. He lives in a cheap apartment he can barely afford, but he tries to act a lot bigger than he is. He’s not quite cool, but he tries very hard to be.

NICKEL-EYE (any age, male)

Nickel-Eye is a professional con-artist with total confidence and rightly so. He is extremely effective, fast on his feet, and very intelligent. The character agrees to an interview for the mockumentary only with anonymity, so your face will be blurred and you will not actually be seen on camera.

VERY MINOR ROLES:

We will also need several people to play characters with only a line or two of dialogue. Some are interviewees picked off the street, some are actors who come in to audition the movie within the movie, there is a young child (whose parents must be comfortable with him/her using the “f-word” in a movie), a topless screaming girl who gets her head split open for the horror movie, a young upper-class smartass, a middle-aged woman who is upset with her son’s desire to make movies, an middle-aged man who works in a tanning salon and flirts with young uncomfortable customers, and several adorable elderly people who are victims of a con artist.

If you’re interested in auditioning, let me know what role(s) interest you, please include a headshot (resume is not required, but nice) and send me an email at thunderwake@gmail.com

See you at the Oscars (well, hopefully at least some bullshit ceremony like the MTV Movie Awards),

Greg Sisco

The 3 main themes of JesseThunderwake.com

Alright. I’ve got a movie in pre-production, I’m running videos on the web to lead up to it, I’m trying to stir up a social media buzz, and now I’ve got to play blogger.

I’ll level with you. I don’t really know what I’m doing. I don’t follow any blogs yet, I don’t read blog posts very often, and I only have a vague idea of what I’m going to do with this blog.

I have been using Youtube, Facebook, MySpace, and a few other sites to try to get a fan base in place for my movie, and to allow me a platform to communicate with the fans. This has been going on for seven months or so. The mistake I made was spreading myself out over all of those sites, so I’m going to try to use this site as a home base. As I enter production on the film, it’s going to be harder and harder for me to maintain all those different pages, but I will try to post on here as often as I can, and I’ll try to field any questions or comments you post here.

Like I said, I have a vague idea of what we’ll be talking about, but I should be able to cover the overall theme. Here is what we’ll discuss:

1. JESSE THUNDERWAKE: AMERICAN ICON

This is the movie I am directing right now. As of this writing, we are drawing up a production board and looking to start auditions very soon. This will be my second feature as director, and I want to keep everybody updated on how it’s doing. As we move farther along, I’ll post set photos, cast biographies, trailers, and what have you. I have posted over 150 videos based on this character and counting on my Youtube page. These videos will continue to be posted as often as I am able to make them. I won’t necessarily be posting new ones to this blog, so I recommend subscribing on Youtube if you’re interested in them.

2. HOW TO MAKE A FILM ON POCKET CHANGE

If you’ve become interested in this project, I assume you are interested in movies in general, and I’d like to talk about making them. I made my first movie, “Gunslinger, P.I.” on about $6,000, most of which went to purchasing equipment I’m still using. I’ve been making movies on camcorders since third grade. Along the way, I’ve picked up a lot of cheap ways to get the footage you want. Did you know that by mixing syrup and red food dye with crushed bananas you can create brain matter? Put it in a zip-lock bag and have a character who is lying down slam his head into it and you can create an inexpensive “gunshot to the head” effect. I’ll offer you tidbits like this and all the know-how that I have as far as how to make a good movie is concerned.

3. MOVIES IN GENERAL

I love movies. I make them, but I’m a film lover first and foremost. I work in a movie theater,  I have an enormous DVD collection. I probably watch at least 300 movies a year, and I love talking about movies. I will make snobbish, negative comments about most of the movies I see, but I usually enjoy even the worst of them. I’ve never walked out of a movie and I hate having to stop for any reason once I’ve started one. Even a bad one. I’m sure that I will be talking often about movies that I like, bitching about ones I don’t like, tearing into remakes and sequels, and other things of that sort.

That probably sums it up. Everything talked about on here will probably tie back to one of those three main themes. I’ll be trying to post as much information as I can on Jesse Thunderwake as fast as possible to get started. See you soon.

-Greg Sisco (writer, director, star)