Graffiti: Dreams & Knightmares

***Graffiti: Dreams & Knightmares*** (otherwise known as ***Graffiti: Dreams & Knightmares – A YouTube Superhero Fan Film*** or simply ***Graffiti***) is a 2013 superhero film / fan film written, directed and produced by David Ragin under Ragin Productions. It is the first film in the *Graffiti* film trilogy. *Graffiti: Dreams & Knightmares* is Ragin's directorial debut and his first project outside of his music. The film adapts the *Dreams & Knightmares* arc of the *Graffiti* story.

The film stars Ragin (credited under his former musical alias "Lil Ray Ragin") as Dylan Johnson / Graffiti, Ariel Ragin as Melrose Hawthorne, Miniece Ragin as Evangeline Carter / Evamore, Cortez Andre Crawley as Switchblade, Alyssa Crawley as Natasha Jones, Dante Rionda as John Duncan and DK Williams as James Boom (credited as "the robber"), and includes a special guest appearance by Yavez Fuller as Virgil Hawkins. The release date was set for October 18, 2013, but was pushed back to December due to filming difficulties. It was finally released on December 20. It was followed by two sequels: *Welcome to Foxworth Enterprises* in 2015 and *Heroes and Villains* in 2017.

## Synopsis

The film tells the story of an ordinary teenage superhero-aficionado, Dylan Johnson, who learns that he is a superhuman capable of teleporting. Upon being challenged by another superhuman named Switchblade, he sets out to be a superhero under the name "Graffiti". However, when he is tortured by his failure to protect the one thing that he cares about the most, he begins to question whether or not he could ever live up to the challenge of being a true hero.

### Plot

Superhero fanatic Dylan Johnson goes to buy a comic book but is soon robbed by a low-level thug. He then visits his girlfriend Natasha Jones for a bit, and then after a brief conversation leaves. The next day, he discovers that he is a superhuman with the power to teleport. He immediately returns to the shop to confront the robber and retrieve his book back. Later, he is attacked by a superhuman named Switchblade, who murdered his girlfriend, and is almost killed before his sister Melrose Hawthorne saves him. Wanting revenge, he becomes a superhero under the name "Graffiti" to bring him down. During a "training session", Switchblade challenges Dylan to a rematch, and Evangeline Carter informs him that she can find Switchblade easily due to her powers. When arriving at his hideout, Dylan confronts Switchblade's partner James Boom, who turns out to be the criminal that robbed Dylan before. James is revealed to not know where Switchblade is, and with no reason to stay, Dylan and Evangeline leave. Switchblade reveals himself to James and chastises him before killing him, despite following his orders.

Dylan begins to have nightmares and hallucinations about his failure to protect Natasha, but he's motivated to continue after an inspirational conversation with Melrose and Virgil Hawkins. Later, Switchblade re-appears to fight, but surprises Dylan by revealing that he never killed Natasha, but instead that she was a superhuman called "Knightmare", and that she conspired with Switchblade to get Dylan to renounce his powers, though Switchblade had planned to kill them both. Dylan attacks Switchblade before he can kill Natasha for real, and eventually, Dylan defeats Switchblade, who escapes promising to fight him again. Natasha officially breaks up with Dylan, unwilling to date another superhuman, and Dylan decides to fully become a superhero, determined to find, and protect any other superhumans from Switchblade.

Sometime later, a man receives a phone call, and responds "perfect" before emphatically closing his trunk.

## Cast

* Lil Ray Ragin as Dylan Johnson / Graffiti
* Ariel Ragin as Melrose Hawthorne
* Cortez Andre Crawley as Eljanan Brown / Switchblade
* Miniece Ragin as Evangeline Carter / Evamore
* Alyssa Crawley as Natasha Jones / Knightmare
* Dante Rionda as John Duncan
* DK Williams as The Robber / James Boom
* Yavez Fuller as Virgil Hawkins / Static
* Emmanuel Riggs as Lucius Foxworth
* Alieya Crawley as Brianna
* Alexis Crawley as Girl at Comic Book store
* Don Bodus as Comic Book store clerk
* Ashley Mays as News Reporter
* Buddy Ragin as Sebastian
* Patricia Ragin as Woman Driving the Car / Woman on Porch (uncredited)

The film also features many of Ragin's family and friends as superhumans on John's computer, including Ryan "BM" Brockman, Jackie Harding, John Ragin, Evan Lucas, Peyton Morgan, Patrick Morgan, Aja Foster, Jay May, Joanna Reeves, Nicole Johnson, Gabby Williams, Christian Parker, Tom Brown, Michael Stanford, Tyler Hill, Aundray Cornish, Christopher Chamberlain and Darrin Cook. On John's computer, Floyd Johnson, Jr., Key Jones, Reggie Johnson and Robbie Johnson cameo as Isaiah Cooper, The Assistant, Max Taylor and Jake Taylor, respectively.

## Production

On March 20, 2013, David Ragin announced on his Facebook fan page that he had begun production on his first film, planned for release by the end of the year. The first teaser trailer, featuring Ragin as the main character, was released April 15, with Ragin and Ariel Ragin being casted as Dylan Johnson and Melrose Hawthorne on May 1 and May 3, respectfully. On May 8, a second teaser was released, featuring Cortez Andre, with him, Miniece Ragin, Alyssa Crawley and Dante Rionda being revealed to play Switchblade, Evangeline Carter, Natasha Jones and John Duncan, respectively. DK Williams was also brought on to play a criminal, and Yavez Fuller agreeing to film a cameo as Virgil Hawkins, reprising his role from his own film *Static Shock Phenomenon.* Yavez filmed his part in October, mere weeks before the film's initially planned release.

The film's production officially started in June 2013, with a majority of the filming being done in Detroit, Michigan. On June 26, 2013, production moved to Wayne to film at *Warriors 3 Cards & Games*, a location that has since permanently closed. On July 7, Miniece and DK completed their scenes. On August 23, the first official trailer was released. On September 5, Ragin revealed that the majority of the film's footage had been lost when his computer crashed; regardless, the film resumed production on October 9. The second trailer was released on October 28, with the film's initial release being delayed. It was announced on December 13 that the film would finally be released on December 21, 2013.

## Media

### Posters

*Promotional Poster**Promotional Poster**Official Poster**Official Poster**Release Date Announcement Poster**Graffiti Character Poster**Melrose Character Poster**Switchblade Character Poster**Evamore Character Poster**Natasha Jones Character Poster**John Duncan Character Poster*
### Videos

* Teaser Trailer #1
* Teaser Trailer #2
* Official Trailer #1
* Official Trailer #2
* Blooper Reel
* "Dylan Meets Switchblade" Clip
* "Tortured by Failure" Clip
* "Static's Message" Clip
* Full Film on YouTube

### Other

*Official Movie Logo*Cortez Andre, Miniece Ragin, David Ragin and DK WilliamsCortez Andre and DeShaun "Kid Spade" Lacey*Flyer for JAWS Fundrasier (2015)*
## Trivia

* Lorenzo Oliver, Jr. and Kyla Jones were originally set to portray young versions of Dylan Johnson and Melrose Hawthorne, respectively; Also, Key Jones and Danielle Jones were set to portray their parents.
	+ Lorenzo Oliver would go on to portray Danny Jones in *Graffiti: Heroes and Villains*, and Key Jones would portray The Assistant / The Informant in *Graffiti: Welcome to Foxworth Enterprises* and *Graffiti: Heroes and Villains*.
* Patrick Morgan, Ryan "BM" Brockman and Ashley Mays were set to play early versions of Frost Hamperson / Genesis, John Armstrong, Elsa Divine / the Elementress before the characters were cut.
	+ Elsa Divine and Frost Hamperson would later appear in *Graffiti: Heroes and Villains* portrayed by Linise Washington and Patrick Morgan, respectively.

* Yavez Fuller appears in the film as Virgil Hawkins, better known as **Static**, reprising his role from his own fan film *Static Shock Phenomenon (Ep. 1)*. The special guest appearance of Static was a favor done by Yavez for David, as the two had become friends sometime before production on *Dreams & Knightmares* started. In the original *Graffiti* story, Dylan receives a message from "a local hero with similar aspirations", and the superhero is never mentioned by name.

## External Links

* Graffiti: Dreams & Knightmares on YouTube
* Graffiti: Dreams & Knightmares on IMDb