Duke School Under the Oak Magazine, Fall 2017

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The Duffer Brothers – Looking Forward, Looking Back By Laura Thompson, Duke School Alumna It’s early June. Matt and Ross Duffer, Duke School Class of 1999, have just returned to Los Angeles after spending much of the spring in and around Atlanta, Georgia, filming the second season of their hit Netflix series Stranger Things. The past year has been busy and a bit surreal for the twins—known professionally as the Duffer Brothers. The first season of their 1980s-inspired science fiction series gathered a worldwide following and has collected a bevvy of industry awards and nominations. Now the brothers are immersed in editing the second season’s nine episodes after writing the scripts and overseeing production days that often began at 5 or 6 a.m. Visual effects sequences are being created, and soon sound mixing, coloring, scoring, and publicity will be in full swing in advance of the series’ October 27 global release. But in some ways, not much has changed since the brothers were kids growing up in Durham. It’s summer, and the Duffers are making a movie. ‘More than a hobby’ Photo Credit James Minchin/Netflix Long before the Duffer Brothers introduced audiences to the residents of Hawkins, Indiana, and the Upside Down, Matt and Ross told stories in their own backyard. Their film career began in the third grade when their parents, Allen Duffer and Ann Christensen, gave them a Hi8 video camera for Christmas. Their earliest efforts mostly starred their stuffed animals. Soon they moved on to “feature” films of about an hour long, filmed over the summer with their Duke School classmate and neighbor Tristan Smith. “Our summer movies in middle school were all generally comedies because we didn’t think we had the chops to make something serious,” said Ross. Editing was rudimentary, with the young filmmakers cutting scenes together in camera. They played cassette tapes over the action as a soundtrack. 26 UNDER THE OAK
“The movies we made—I mean, they were pretty bad,” said Matt. “And then in seventh grade we made a movie that wasn’t so bad. That’s when the parents in our lives were like, ‘oh, OK.’ They started to see that we were learning what we were doing and maybe this was actually going to be more than a hobby.” While some of their classmates spent summers away at camp, the Duffers stayed in Durham to create their movies. They sometimes engaged in what Matt called “guerrilla filmmaking,” stealing shots at locations around their hometown—and at least once getting shut down by management at a local mall. Their parents followed up the gift of the camera with an iMac computer, with which the boys learned to edit their movies digitally. They made movies for school projects in addition to their summer films. “In high school, when grades were introduced, [a video] was an instant ‘A,’ we realized,” said Matt. Their classmates realized it, too, and soon the brothers were highly sought-after directors at Jordan High School. “Then it became like every weekend we were doing a video for somebody.” In 2001, their short thriller Mad Cell, created with Tristan, took home top prize in the under-18 category at the “Real to Reel” festival in Shelby, North Carolina. By now, inspired by some of their favorite John Carpenter and Stephen Spielberg movies, they had waded into the horror-suspensescience fiction genre that has defined much of their work since. They also knew they wanted to be professional storytellers. ‘Extremely determined — and a little delusional’ After high school, the brothers attended Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California. “I remember talking about going to California for film school back in at least sixth grade,” said Ross. “So it’s been quite a time that we realized this is what we want to do.” “At that point we were just extremely determined—and a little delusional,” said Matt. “Which is good. You have to be, a little bit.” Although filmmaking was an uncommon pastime among their peers in Durham, the Duffers quickly realized that was not the case in California. “You move out here and you realize, ‘Wow, a lot of people want to do what we want to do,’” said Matt. “Meaning a lot. So it’s super competitive and really scary.” The Duffers studied directing while also writing and editing film projects. Their senior thesis film, Eater—about a man-eating, shape-shifting creature that might foreshadow Stranger Things’ menacing Demogorgon—is full-on horror. Their parents are credited as executive producers. “I think our parents always believed that we were serious,” said Ross. “And we were.” After leaving the supportive bubble of film school, however, things got harder. “We got an agent right out of film school, so it felt like you’re doing everything right,” said Ross. “But to actually get paid to tell stories is a different challenge entirely.” The brothers worked on some short films, but success did not come easily. They saw many of their film school classmates leave the industry after a few years. “It’s hard to pay your rent, you can’t order a Coke with your meal,” said Ross. “It’s a bit of a struggle.” “It’s kind of like a clubhouse,” Matt said of the Los Angeles film industry. “It’s really hard for them to open the door to you to start getting paid work. It UNDER THE OAK 27
Page 1 and 2: Under the Oak FALL 2017 VISION 2022
Page 3 and 4: INSIDE this issue MESSAGE FROM HEAD
Page 5 and 6: from the desk of... Harvey “Smoke
Page 7 and 8: A DIVERSE SET OF VOICES Throughout
Page 9 and 10: staying true to what makes Duke Sch
Page 11 and 12: Same Fund, New Name - Dragon Fund:
Page 13 and 14: A. To create the physical animation
Page 15 and 16: CREATING... PROBLEM SOLVERS Since g
Page 17 and 18: for the creation of new circus work
Page 19 and 20: finally converted to a software eng
Page 21 and 22: 4. It’s not just okay to show off
Page 23 and 24: Shan managed the Rainwater Harvesti
Page 25: Alumni Connections: Destinations of
Page 29 and 30: “It’s kind of scary,” said Ma
Page 31 and 32: “I like that we actually ended up
Page 33 and 34: Friends share their experiences abo
Page 35 and 36: 2016-17 DRAGON FUND HONOR ROLL OF D
Page 37 and 38: Dr. Vasudha Gupta and Dr. Bhupender
Page 39 and 40: Shelby and Stephen Reed Helen and B
Page 41 and 42: Sarah Wessell and John Bley Megan W
Page 43 and 44: Mr. and Mrs. Donald Schoene ICO: Ha

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