Lodgers of Euclid is a slow-burning thriller about an occult motorcycle club that travels around the United States, taking contracts from an unnamed splinter organization inside the government, performing macabre rituals across an industrial port city. In each town that the Lodgers pass through, the main crew — consisting of The Boss, The Rider, and The Magician — build up their ranks with local recruits who are typically used to carry out contracts, which include targeted hits and public displays of violence. Our protagonist, The Rider, finds himself with no sense of why he is doing the work, or what his purpose is in the chain of command. Having been involved with the club so long that he's not sure of his own memories, The Rider tries to decouple from the gang for good. Things ultimately come to a head during a particularly violent home invasion. The fallout threatens to destroy the entire operation if the agency can't tie up loose ends.

Still renders from Lodgers of Euclid.

Why tell this story?

Most of my narrative work deals in some way with social alienation, conspiracy, and paranoia—primarily as these things relate to individuals who may not be equipped to unpack the forces that cause their ailments, but still feel the side effects very deeply. The film responds to constructed spectacles of domestic terrorism and accelerated symptoms of conspiracy thought as contemporary alienation becomes ever more acute. Lodgers of Euclid is, above all else, a movie about reckoning with abstract fears that are difficult to identify clearly. It's about treating these fears, not as nightmares, but as something very real. How do we live our lives knowing there’s an invisible hand and parallel worlds that run alongside polite society? How do we continue about our daily lives despite this understanding? What’s inside the van parked down the street or the strange house on the block? Or beyond the tree line out of view?

–– Tanner Masseth

Still renders from Lodgers of Euclid.

How did this project come to be?

About four years ago, I realized live action narrative filmmaking was not something I could afford to do on a regular basis. I subsequently fell in love with animation and virtual production, which I had been exploring around the same time. This practice has allowed me a pretty steady output the past few years. My process of blending live action and CG animation is not dissimilar to rear projection techniques that have been around for nearly a century. I like to shoot real environments that I then bring in to Unreal Engine so that I can assemble 3D modeled actors into the scene. The CG layers then get rendered out and composited onto the live action plate on the back end of the process.

Lodgers of Euclid was initially conceived as a music video in which I was very simply going to experiment with using the aforementioned methods with a moving camera, something I wasn't used to. The commission fell through, but the potential world had grown on me and I didn't want to move on. I was left with all these plate shots and character designs that inspired me to continue forward in a bigger way. Little by little, a narrative formed into what is now an ambitious 25-page script.

–– Tanner Masseth

Character renders from Lodgers of Euclid. Characters, clockwise from upper left: The Boss, The Rider, The Magician, and The Girl.

How will the funds be put to use and what stage is the project at?

We are currently in pre-production for our shoot and designing digital workflows. Due to the expansion of the project, only about half of the film will be rendered with a combination of live-action and virtual elements. Half of the scene locations will be crafted entirely virtually. Building these fully virtual environments for the characters to walk around in is not only very time-consuming, but also expensive. A fair portion of the budget is going to pre-built environments and 3D assets to expedite this process. Additionally, this will be Tanner's first project that fully utilizes motion capture performance for every character. Paying all the actors and securing a space large enough to do motion capture inside will comprise another fair portion of the funds we're trying to raise. Beyond that, post sound and coloring take care of the rest.

The film has been fully cast with creatives from the Chicago film scene, including actors and directors. All of them will be performing in full body and facial motion capture for the first time — a complex, but liberating process that Tanner has been ironing out during pre-production. The film has been rigorously planned with full storyboards and environment designs being completed before we move on to motion capture at the end of summer.

Lodgers of Euclid has a phenomenal cast and crew who will bring to life our characters and shape the film's sonic world. Check out our Team page for updates and to meet our people in detail!

Our director, writer, and animator is Tanner Masseth, a Fargo, ND native who spent nearly a decade working in Chicago's film production industry. His practice emphasizes the experimental application of compositing virtual environments, 3D modeling, and CG animation with live action footage.

Playing The Rider is video artist and performer Elijah Valter (Left). He has been keeping a detailed record of his experiences with the phenomenon known as déjà vu for about 16 months; it has occurred 17 times in that time span, including three instances in June of this year. Playing The Boss is director and artist Derek Spencer (Right). He likes being the last person left at your party.

Playing Paramedic Craig is Craig Hard (Left), an intuitive, integrative artist who has a foot or hand in painting, writing, photography, sculpture, music, clothing design, and performance art—all funneled toward filmmaking in which all are infused. Playing Highway Patrolman Steve is Steven Klaiman (Right) an actor with a passion for farming and organic agriculture. Having wanted to be a painter, acting is his main preoccupation currently; he is often saying, "Now I feel like I'm the paint." 

Our producer, who will also perform as The Girl, is Elise Schierbeek (Left), a writer, film programmer, and media archivist. Zes Schierer (Right) will compose the film's score. She follows the 33 senses, sometimes down holes, and sometimes down many at the same time.

Your contribution, no matter the size, will bring this film to life piece by piece. Our campaign is essential to both production and post-production, which are uniquely entwined in this project. With your help, we can finally push Lodgers of Euclid into production, pay our cast + crew, and move smoothly through post-production before hitting the festival circuit. 

We need roughly $7,500 to cover the cost of our film!

• $300 to feed our wonderful cast and crew while filming
• $600 for motion capture equipment and ample space in which to perform
• $600 for post-production and virtual assets
• $6000 for crew and cast stipends

We will shoot the film in late August 2025, enter post-production in September, and complete the film in mid – late fall 2025. We plan to pursue an experimental film festival run and numerous screenings at alternative venues and microcinemas throughout the year to come.

Follow us on Instagram @tanner_masseth and @carbon.lake!

Still render from Lodgers of Euclid.