Ask the Actors - Favorite Costumes

Here at Sine Fine Films we don't have much to make us stand out beyond our talented actors and fun scripts - no fancy equipment, no custom designed sets, etc.  


But we do have access to a butt load of awesome costumes and over the years the actors have worn everything from the ordinary (often their own clothes) to the elegant to the seriously bizarre. 

Morgan Thomas and Brittany Ann Whalen
in three different costumes from various episodes of Eidolon

Recently I asked the actors in the Sine Fine Group on Facebook to answer me this question:

What was your favorite costume that

you've ever worn in an SFF production?

Short Films - 2011-2013

These short films were produced after 2010 and unlike Twisted Tales and Fortunate Ones, they are stand alone shorts. 

Visit the Short Films Gallery for more photos.

Ghosts at Play

(in Post-Production)

A sad story of a mother thinking about her children who died in a tragic accident, and the ghosts that still linger in the backyard.

Date Filmed: 2011

Cast:

Mother — Genevieve Graaf

                         Little Girl — Grace Graaf

                         Little Boy — Henry Graaf

Written and Directed by Eleanore Stasheff

Goddess Anonymous

Every goddess is immortal, but not every goddess is well known. Take a glimpse into the world of the less-remembered and nearly forgotten goddesses who get together once a week at a support group.

Date Filmed: 2012

Cast:

Fulla — Rachel Anderson

Uni — Syndi Eller

Angerona — Nina Samii

Anat — Jen Weber

Nehalennia — Brittany Ann Whalen

Written and Directed by Eleanore Stasheff

C²

Courtney and Caden Caldwell are sisters, and the best bounty hunters in the Criminally Cute Division of the Erinyes Agency - an organization that polices the mythic and folkloric communities.  Their target is Kasimir - a crazy and eccentric Leshy. 

Date Filmed: 2012

Cast:

Courtney — Brittany Ann Whalen

Caden — Syndi Eller

Kasimir - Dan Zangerl

Written and Directed by Eleanore Stasheff

Mary Contrary

When Mary gets a letter in the mail offering her a job in London, she has mixed feelings about accepting it. That's when the different parts of her personality decide to offer their advice.

 Date Filmed: 2013

Cast:

Mary - Jen Weber

Written by Kate Weber
Directed by Eleanore Stasheff

Eidolon

Zelda Graves is a vengeful teenage Ghost Hunter whose foolish actions lead her to get cursed by a powerful, Native spirit. Her curse? “Live to die another day, the Hunter is now the Prey.” Her body lies in a coma while her spirit is damned to wander the earth as the thing she hates most of all: a ghost.

In the end, Zelda must turn to only person who is willing to help her: her legal guardian, Maria Sanchez. With the help of an ex-sorcerer, a rival ghost hunter, and a gifted student who is prone to being kidnapped they embark on an epic adventure to resurrect Zelda and lay Maria’s own ghosts to rest.

Eidolon is a sequel to Dream Chasers and The Curse.

Number of Episodes: 13

Date Completed: May 2005

Airdates:

This series has yet to be aired

Main Cast:

Zelda Graves – Brittany Ann Whalen

Maria Sanchez – Morgan Thomas

Mordecai – Adam Herricks

Namtaru/Morpheus – Bryan Kieft

Terri Madison – Jen Weber

Skyler Jackson – James McKinley

Crew:

Executive Producers: Eleanore Stasheff 
& Brittany Whalen

Producers: Morgan Thomas & James McKinley

Main Writer: Eleanore Stasheff

Associate Writers: James McKinley, 
Morgan Thomas, Brittany Whalen

Directors: Eleanore Stasheff, Brittany Whalen,

Andy H, 
James McKinley, Morgan Thomas

Assistant Directors: Russell Martin & Jen Weber

Editors: Eleanore Stasheff & Brittany Whalen 

Production Notes:

Filming began in May, 2004. Over twenty-five actors between the ages of 18 and 30, some in college, others recently graduated, participated in the production of Eidolon. Scattered across the state with home towns such as Lake Bluff, Pekin, Sherman, Champaign-Urbana, Carbondale, and Saint Louis, the actors traveled as much as five or six hours to film on weekends that consisted of lots of work and little sleep.

Major filming locations included houses in Champaign, the beaches near Lake Bluff, and the caves at Goreville. Due to time constraints and school and work schedules resulted in the cast and crew only being able to film once a month. The cast, however, is formed of very talented and devoted actors who simply want to participate in an exciting opportunity to be a part of producing a 12 episode mini-series. From the beginning the project has been a collaboration of multiple individuals who have the common vision of creating an enduring and exciting opportunity to express their creativity.

Visit The Eidolon gallery for more photos!

Episode List

Episode 1 – Beyond the Grave

Zelda Graves, a young and foolish ghost hunter, gets cursed and has to turn to her estranged guardian, Maria Sanchez, for help.  However, she is stuck in a form of a ghost and convinces one of Maria’s students – a woman named Terri Madison who can communicate with ghosts – to help her talk to Maria.

Episode 2 – Consequences

Zelda’s cursed and comatose body gets kidnapped and when Maria, Terri, and Zelda’s ghost return to the burial mound to find it, Terri ends up being kidnapped as well.  With help from an old friend, Maria tracks them down but will it be too late to save the helpless pair from a trio of serial killers?

Episode 3 – The Living & The Dead

With Terri in the hospital and Zelda’s ghost on a rampage, Maria is forced to turn to an old enemy for help. But when she discovers that he’s now a major movie/TV star, can she fight through the fans to see him? And will he give her anything more than an autograph?   Who is Terri’s mysterious classmate who can also see Zelda and why is he stalking a ghost? Meanwhile Morpheus is determined to find out who is really pulling Zelda’s strings.

Episode 4 – Satan’s Ferryman

Maria and Mordecai strike a deal and Terri offers her help to deal with Zelda.  Zelda, however, has disappeared since being evicted from Maria’s home, and after running into numerous ghosts who are all too eager to exact revenge against a notorious Ghost Hunter finally gains the protection of a powerful ghost named James Ford.  Ford agrees to help Zelda find a loophole in her curse, but can she really trust him?

Episode 5 – Devil’s Advocate

When Zelda’s soul is in danger of being dragged to hell by a demon, Maria puts her skills as a Dream Chaser and Demon Hunter to the test.  But saving Zelda is only one part of the problem when Terri is also taken hostage by the demon.  Can Maria figure out who really ordered the demon to attack Zelda and why?

Episode 6 – Soul Searching

Maria and Mordecai seek help from Life and Death in order to find a way to remove Zelda’s curse.  Meanwhile, Zelda and Terri get into an argument and Zelda storms out, turning to another man who can also see and hear ghosts for help.  But when he turns out to be a Ghost Hunter and traps Zelda, will Maria and Mordecai find her in time to set her free or will her soul suffer the fate she inflicted on so many souls herself?

Episode 7 – Dreams

With everyone together again, but still no closer to finding a cure for Zelda, Maria and Mordecai discuss their options for how to deal with their troublesome ghost and her curse.  After dealing with kidnappings, serial killers, ghost hunts, and demon battles, everyone needs a good night’s sleep.  But someone in their group is secretly working for Namtaru and drugs everyone into a dangerous sleep while Namtaru confronts Zelda.

Episode 8 – Illusions

With no other options left but to find the powerful spirit who cursed Zelda and ask her to remove the curse, Maria and Mordecai prepare to cross into the Dream World to start their search.  But something goes wrong during the spell to send them there and Mordecai ends up in the Dream World, alone and venerable to Namtaru’s evil schemes.  Meanwhile, Maria isn’t quite sure where she ends up.

Episode 9 – Lost Souls

Maria is tricked into letting a demon possess her and Mordecai makes a deal with Namtaru to release Zelda’s soul from his control.  He soon discovers he’s been tricked after he ends up locked in a room with a very drunk Maria.  Meanwhile, Maria’s body, now possessed by the demon-ghost of a serial killer, seeks vengeance and wrecks havoc among Maria’s friends, hunting down an angry Zelda and taking a frustrated Terri as a hostage.

Episode 10 – The Other Side

Maria spends several days catatonic after being forced to kill the man she has fallen in love with in order to banish Namtaru back to the Dream World.  Morpheus takes on a legal battle with the Sorcerer’s Council over the fate of Mordecai’s soul and comes up with a plan to resurrect him.  Meanwhile, Terri must convince a reluctant Skyler to help Zelda cross into the Dream World to find the spirit who cursed her.

Episode 11 – Till Death

After Morpheus places a curse on Skyler, he suffers the same fate as Zelda and is forced to help her cross through the Dream World in order to get his curse removed.  Skyler and Zelda declare a truce until their mission is complete.  Meanwhile, Morpheus and Maria perform a ritual to bring Mordecai back to life.  But when they succeed in reviving him Maria soon realizes that Mordecai is not the man she thought she knew.

Episode 12 – Catharsis

Although Zelda finally gets her curse removed, Terri finally ditches the crutches, and even Skyler’s curse is broken, Maria’s life has officially gone to hell.  After her true love tries to kill her, then succeeds in killing the only father figure in her life, Maria spirals into a depression, broken only by her determination to get revenge on Mordecai.  But Life isn’t done surprising Maria when she turns up pregnant and Mordecai is forced by the laws of the Sorcerer’s Council to either marry her or kill her.

Episode 13 - Deliverance

Mordecai has been ordered to marry Maria or kill her and she wants nothing to do with him after everything that’s happened.  He doesn’t want to kill her, but can he convince her to give him one more chance?  Meanwhile, Maria and Zelda discover hidden secrets about each other when they’re forced to fight in a nightmare created by Namtaru.  In the end the only one who can defeat Namtaru for good is Zelda, but can she kill the man she has loved for two lifetimes?

Character Bios

Zelda Graves

Zelda is the daughter of Zandra Anderson and is the reincarnated soul of Zoey Zurrell.  Between her past life as a Ghost Hunter and her mother being cursed to see ghosts, Zelda’s ability to communicate with the dead was almost guaranteed.  After a traumatic childhood being frightened by ghosts and often abandoned by her mother, she grew into an angry, spiteful teenager who hunted down ghosts just for fun.

Maria Sanchez

Maria is an Anthropology professor and Archaeologist.  She was once known as Marian Smith before meeting her best friend and taking her name after the original Maria died.  Years later she was befriended by some fellow students – Zandra Anderson and Cory Devro, and through them had many adventures and met many people, including a thousand year-old sorcerer Zandra resurrected from the dead named Mordecai.  She had never married or had children, but when Zandra died Maria was named the legal guardian of her daughter, Zelda.

Terri Madison

Born with the ability to communicate with the dead, Theresa Madison has struggled all her life dealing with ghosts and spirits. But when she meets Zelda in drastic and dangerous ways.  Poor Terri seems to walk around with an invisible target on her back and constantly gets wounded, kidnapped, and held hostage.  However, she stays by Zelda and Maria’s side, determined to help them simply because it’s the right thing to do.  And it’s better than homework…well, it would be if she wasn’t disaster friendly.

Skyler Jackson

Skyler is a classmate of Terri’s and a student in some of Maria’s classes.  He likes to stalk ghosts in his spare time, having had a few terrible encounters with some of them.  He didn’t become a hardcore Ghost Hunter, though, until his wife was murdered by a serial killer.  Then he hunted the killer down, shot him, and trapped his ghost forever in an ancient demon bowl, condemning him to a silent hell.  Now a vengeful Skyler hunts down ghosts and humans alike and delivers his own brand of dark justice. 

Morpheus

Morpheus is the God of Dreams and is the father of the original Maria Sanchez.  When Maria passed away, he sort of adopted Marion Smith and assisted her from time to time.  He returns to visit Maria for the first time in years because he has a feeling that his old friend and worst enemy – Namtaru – is trying to stir up trouble for Maria once again.  He couldn’t save his own daughter, so he’ll do anything he can to save Maria’s life and soul.

Namtaru

Namtaru is the God of Nightmares, and really enjoys being a great big jerk.  He is at his happiest when making other people miserable. Once he and Morpheus were friends, then rivals, and finally became enemies when Morpheus married the woman Namtaru was in love with.  Namtaru became bent on revenge by tormented Morpheus’ daughter, the original Maria, but his ultimate goal was thwarted by Marion Smith and he was banished to the Dream World for five hundred years. 

He has spent years crafting a painful and bitter ending for Marion – who has now become Maria Sanchez – and will use anyone and everyone to get her into his clutches so he can personally destroy her in the most painful way possible.

Namtaru copies Morpheus’s physical form no matter what Morpheus decides to look like, just to annoying Morpheus and confuse anyone Morpheus befriends or protects. 

Mordecai

Once an all powerful sorcerer who traded a thousand years in a comatose state for the chance to be resurrected and gain immortality, Mordecai has since lost his powers.  He tricked Zandra Anderson into resurrecting him, but failed to follow through on the Sorcerers’ law that said he had to marry or kill the person who revived him.  Instead of being killed himself, the traditional punishment, he simply lost most of his powers and became mortal.  He spun the more fantastically parts of his life into a very popular television show called The Sorcerer, and cast himself as the star.  Now he is a major movie and television star and life is looking pretty good, at least until he gets involved with Maria once again.

 ©2005 by Eleanore Stasheff