The Beaver Trilogy (Trent Harris, 2001) provides endless mirrors onto itself and the real person known as "Groovin' Gary." A film made of three short films, Beaver starts as an actual documentary, with Harris meeting Gary for the first time, and following him around the town of Beaver, UT, until he performs as Olivia Newton-John in a local talent show that Gary put on.
The second short is a fiction version of the story starring Sean Penn, and gives more backstory, portraying Harris as a filmmaker interested in Gary in a slight case of shock value, although he is quite endeared to the kid. They film recreates parts seen in the doc, but also shows a sadder aftermath as Gary is ridiculed in the small town and contemplates suicide. The addition of a known star actor adds another layer of identity to the film, moving it away from reality. At the time, Penn had filmed Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but it wasn't released yet, which would make Penn a star. After making the doc, Harris had moved to Hollywood and tried to make the unique story into a bigger film.
The third short, also known as "The Orkly Kid", changes the names and places but again recreates the original doc as a fiction film, starring Crispin Glover. The characters, dialogue, acting and filmmaking are more refined than the second, giving the audience another layer of "believability" to the story with the higher production value, while retaining the original, fascinating real guy and unusual story of the doc.
Trent Harris interviews:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQJRpinQ1RQ
at Viceland, click here
episode of This American Life that talks about Beaver Trilogy:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/226/reruns
