There is a pivotal scene in Lance T. Karasti's innovative new movie "Hyper Dark" in which the increasingly paranoid main character Clark, played by Karasti, is trying to explain something odd he has just been through to his best friend Mark, played by Ian Vincent.

Clark grows agitated; Mark seemingly grows mellower, robotic, threatening.

Neither actor knew what was going to happen or what was going to be said when they squared off on the fifth level of the DECC parking ramp to shoot the scene.

Karasti said he offered just the roughest information to Vincent: Clark would tell him a story; Mark would become aggressive with him; Clark would get scared and leave.

But what about the script, a person with even the smallest inking of the filmmaking process might wonder. Nuh-uh. No script. Not a chance.

"The actors were intentionally kept in the dark," the 28-year-old filmmaker said. "They knew nothing about what they were doing."

Karasti has coined his style as "hyper-naturalism." His third feature-length film was created entirely through character improvisation - including his own - and was filmed at 60 frames-per-second to increase the feel of an alternative reality. The lack of a formal script gives it a messiness that he likes, Karasti said, and turns the story into a sort of diary.

"Hyper Dark" gets a screening at 7 p.m. today at Zinema as part of Duluth Superior Film Festival, which opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the Zeitgeist Arts Building and AICHO.

Matthew Dressel, who is one of the organizers for this year's festival, said Karasti's film is one that he is most excited about screening.

"It's such a unique project," he said during a recent episode of the News Tribune's Pressroom Podcast. "It's one of those projects, he figured it out as he was making it. There's a lot of improving. It's got its own unique style.

"(Karasti) calls it more of an album than a movie. And then someone else calls it an anti-movie. I say its genre-bending because I can't think of what to say. It's definitely an experience."

'Make it more real'

"Hyper Dark" is a quick-hit bit of sci-fi - a story that centers on Clark and the inexplicable thing that happens to him when, while at a bonfire with new friends, he wanders off. He comes into consciousness on the beach days later with no recent memory.

He spends much of the 57-minute film in search of answers, or at least empathy, and unable to trust anyone - including himself.

The idea came from working for Solve Entertainment, Karasti said. While there, he had to be in character and run the escape room at the same time.

"This carried over into my filmmaking process," he said. "I wanted to make a movie I could act in, where I was directing through my acting."

Karasti is a life-long filmmaker, he said, starting as soon as he was able to hoist his parents' video camera. He went to Los Angeles Film School, where he said he learned the classic way to make movies - then he came home and did that.

His first feature-length film, "Cult" (2014), is a black-and-white movie about the leader of a youth group who is in primo manipulation mode and the two kids who go rogue to stop his master plan. He followed that with "Artificial" (2016), a sci-fi thriller about a photographer who is recruited for an unusual project.

The former, Karasti said, was filmed using all the things he learned in school.

While working on the latter, he began deviating from the plan.

"Halfway through, I started realizing that my script and my preconceived ideas weren't reaching what we could be doing," he said of "Artificial." "I became frustrated with the process. I knew we could do better and make it more real."

By his most recent film, he had abandoned the script entirely.

"I think I was shown 'The Matrix' at too young of an age," he hypothesized. "It was all uphill from there."

Goodbye, comfort zone

"Hyper Dark" was filmed in the Twin Ports and includes where-the-heck vistas and an extraordinary eye for light. With a DIY project like this, Karasti said, he was able to spend time preparing: scouting locations, sitting in the space, eyeing it from different angles.

Midway through the movie, in a serious back-and-forth with Margot, played by Karasti film regular Henriette Soderlind, the actors argue outside a car parked beneath Lake Avenue. Clark wants her to come with him; Margot wants him to take her home. The camera faces the sun as it sets between downtown buildings, and both characters are in shadow with their hair seemingly glowing.

"I spent all day under that," Karasti said."It added intensity to the scene. We're on the sun's deadline."

Soderlind, who has now starred in two of Karasti's films, said she didn't even fully know what "Hyper Dark" was about until she finally saw it in its entirety during a screening in March. His style, she said, can be a touch nerve-wracking for an actor - the whole "what if I say something weird" thing.

"He just really appreciates the rawness that comes with improv," Soderlind said. "There will be mistakes somewhere and weird, awkward pauses. That's what he's striving for - everyday human interactions."

In fact, Soderlind said, the more awkward pauses, the better.

"It gets the viewer out of their comfort zone," she said.

READ MORE: Other films of note in the festival

IF YOU GO

What: Duluth Superior Film Festival

When: Started Wednesday, runs through Sunday

Where: Teatro Zuccone, Zinema and AICHO

Tickets: Free, open to the public

More info: www.ds-ff.com

SCHEDULE

Today

7 p.m.: "Hyper Dark," Zinema 2

7:30 p.m.: "Lake Over Fire," Zinema 2

Friday

5:30 p.m.: EDU program, Teatro Zuccone

7 p.m.: "Tater Tot & Patton" Zinema 2

7:30 p.m.: "Firecrackers" Teatro Zuccone

9:15 p.m.: IPR Program, Zinema 2

Saturday

3 p.m.: "First Person Plural," Zinema 2

3 p.m.: Filmmaker Panel, Teatro Zuccone

4 p.m.: Midnight Movies at 7 Presents "Crocodile Fury" Teatro Zuccone

5 p.m.: Catalyst sneak preview, Zinema 2

5 p.m.: "Blood Memory"

5:30 p.m.: For Legal Reasons We Can't Call this a TED Talk, Teatro Zuccone

7 p.m.: Regional shorts, Zinema 2

7 p.m.: Saltless Sea Cinema, Teatro Zuccone

Sunday

1 p.m.: "Singing in the Grain" Zinema 2

3:30 p.m.: "Right to Harm" Zinema 2

5:30 p.m.: "International Falls" Zinema 2