‘Time’ named Best Drama in CEC Shorttakes film festival

For Daniela Arguello, inspiration for her short film “Time” came from an unexpected place.

“It was just as if a brick fell from the sky and hit me in the head, and I was like ‘Wow, I want to do this,'” said Arguello, a first-year film student. “I saw the whole film in my head before I even wrote it.”

Inspired by the song “Time” from the film “Inception,” Arguello wrote and directed the eight-minute science fiction drama, the winner of the Best Drama Award at the Undergraduate Students Association Council Campus Events Commission’s Shorttakes Student Film Festival Thursday.

“Time” follows a young man’s journey to build a time machine and go back in time to fix an error that changed his life.

Arguello said she loves the concept of time travel and wanted to explore the consequences of having the ability to change something by going back in time. She said writing the script was easy because of how clear the idea was in her head. All she had to do was find the character’s motivation to travel to the past.

Told non-linearly and absent of dialogue, the story switches back and forth between the present, in which the main character Tim blueprints and builds his creation, and flashbacks. Each cut to the past helps explain his desire to go back: a fight between him and his girlfriend that divides them over her drug problem.

Born in Guatemala City, Arguello said she believes she was born with a little bit of a spark for filmmaking. She said her interests were kindled from her childhood, when her parents often took her to the movies and when she started making her own films at 6 years old.

At the age of 13, Arguello moved to Florida and furthered her hobby in high school through a TV production class. In her sophomore year of high school, she started her own production company, Twenty-Four Productions, through which she has released several award-winning films, including “Time,” that have gained recognition in over a dozen film festivals and contests such as the Starlight, Sidewalk and Palm Beach international film festivals.

Arguello said that as a newcomer to Los Angeles, the most difficult part of the filmmaking process was finding her crew.

She scouted her classrooms for potential partners interested in the project. It was in her Language of Filmmaking class that she met David Escobedo, a UCLA Extension student who decided to take on the producer role. With Escobedo’s help, Arguello found her director of photography and began to piece her crew together.

With the producer and a photography director secure, Arguello said finding the right actor for the lead role was a stroke of good fortune.

In Guatemala, Arguello’s mother had met a woman whose son was also in the film industry. The two exchanged contact information, and in the following months, Arguello connected with the actor, Carlos Aylagas, through Facebook and email. The two maintained contact through her first few months in Los Angeles.

When Arguello wrote her script, she sent it to Aylagas, who said he was immediately interested.

“I thought it was amazing,” Aylagas said. “(From) the first time Daniela showed it to me, I was very excited to work with it.”

Aylagas said he particularly relished the story arc his character went through and the challenges each scene posed.

To better adjust to his role, Aylagas said he created a backstory and internal monologues for his character to help inform his movements throughout the film, which has no dialogue.

Aylagas also said that as an actor, the process was very enjoyable with Arguello at the helm.

“She gives amazing directions, she gets along with the whole crew and she knows how to treat an actor,” Aylagas said. “She understands them.”

Tommy Brooks, one of the student judges for the festival, said the judges selected “Time” as the best drama entry for its original concept and its holistic excellence.

“I thought the camera work was really good and (the film) posted a lot of emotion,” Brooks said. “The judges thought it really drew you into the story.”

Arguello said the award was refreshing because it meant people enjoyed her work, reaffirming the days and hours she spent doing what she loved.

“There has never been any doubt in my mind, this is what I love to do,” Arguello said. “I would do it every day.”