The answers, I think, revolve around the fact that Dream of Life is essentially a music video. The plot isn't important. In fact, you could argue that Meaney and Jordan Rennert aren't all that concerned with it from the beginning. They want to shoot cool stuff, and this gives them a reason to. The fact that it doesn't make any sense whatsoever is meaningless to them.

The problem lies in the fact that it isn't meaningless to their potential audience, who will require things like story and character development and acting. There's no question that these guys can create nice images. In fact, these images are very, very good. But, there's no reason for them to exist in the films. They just look cool.

From here, Meaney has two likely career paths. He could rather easily become an interesting music video director, and there's nothing wrong with that. His talents seem perfectly suited for it. But, if he wants to move into features, if he wants to become a filmmaker, he's going to have to do a lot of work on storytelling and working with actors to create characters that are more than cardboard representations of real people. Is he willing or able to put in the work? Time will tell.

Starring: Lauren Katz, Steve Deluca, Jon Cimmino, Robert Cutts, and Jordan Rennert
Cinematography by: Patrick Meaney and Jordan Rennert
Written and directed by: Patrick Meaney and Jordan Rennert
6 min/Mamaroneck, NY

You can check out these and other films by Patrick Meaney at the Respect Films official webpage and MySpace page.

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