The Making of Scientific Method

The Making of Scientific Method – HD (2012)

Director – Cinematographer – Editor

This October I attended my fourth straight year at the Flyway Film Festival in beautiful Pepin, Wisconsin. It’s an intimate, cozy little festival created by festival director (and Pepin resident) Rick Vaicious and run by a team of dedicated volunteers. Last year I was at the festival with Beauty Day and Rick asked if I might be interested in shooting an opening night film specifically for Flyway. Immediately we both knew Reed would be involved as I’d previously screened both Cooking With Gerry and A Very Gerry Xmas, cementing Reed Farrington’s status as a Flyway favourite. So, after taking about half a year to think it out, it was decided that Reed would actually take over the duties of filming the opening night short, and I would document the process. The result is a behind the scenes look at the making of ‘Scientific Method’, a remake of a short film Reed made 20 years ago (originally titled ‘The Experiment). Well, last weekend we screened the short to a packed house on opening night and it was met with lots of laughs and plenty of love. So, sit back and enjoy ‘The Making of Scientific Method’!

The Politics of Competitive Board Gaming Amongst Friends

The Politics of Board Gaming Amongst Friends – HD (2012)

Director – Cinematographer – Editor

Here’s a new short that I filmed with some friends over the past month. It’s a 10 minute documentary called “The Politics of Competitive Board Gaming Amongst Friends”; a title that pretty much sums up the content.

From a technical standpoint, I wanted to shoot this short as a sort of dry run for the recreations in my upcoming feature documentary, How to Build a Time Machine. Although the content and approach will be pretty different than what’s presented here, I just wanted to take on a small project that would allow me to play around with re-enactments. I shot this with the Panasonic AF100, using the following lenses: Nikon 50mm, Nikon 35mm, Panasonic Lumix 14mm. I didn’t do a whole lot for lighting aside from assisting some of the practical lights in Matt’s apartment (a 650 bounced off the ceiling), and stringing some coloured Christmas lights in the background for some visual points of interest. For the interviews, it was simply a single bulb cool light hung directly overhead the subjects.

Check out my blog post for more information on this short.

How to Build a Time Machine

HOW TO BUILD A TIME MACHINE – HD (In Production)

Director – Writer – Cinematographer – Editor

The year is 2036. Decades after the global nuclear war, an American soldier named John Titor is assigned to travel back to 1975 and retrieve an IBM 5100 computer. During this mission, John makes an unexpected stop in 2000 “for personal reasons.” He connects with his family – and his 2-year-old self!  And he interacts online with a group of time travel enthusiasts, sharing information about the future and a detailed description of how his time machine works.

Today, many think John’s tale was a hoax. But he also has die-hard followers who strongly believe they spoke with a man from the future.

HOW TO BUILD A TIME MACHINE will be a genre-bending, true life sci fi mystery that will tell John Titor’s story through interviews with the incredible web of people who were drawn into it, and through a recreation of his journey.

Beauty Day

BEAUTY DAY – HD (2011) 92 min.

Director – Cinematographer – Editor

Before the body-threatening antics of Jackass came crashing into public consciousness, there was Ontario’s Ralph Zavadil, aka Cap’n Video, who cascaded off roofs into snowbanks, jumped off ladders into half-empty swimming pools, and drank eggs through his nostrils. Beauty Day is a rambunctious documentary about this irrepressible pioneer of local-access cable shenanigans who entertained and outraged viewers in the small city of St. Catharines—until a special Easter Show, featuring a fat rabbit and adorable puppies (none of which were hurt), got him kicked off the air for good. With a nod to Werner Herzog, Cheel follows the life and times of Cap’n Video and finds that the Cap’n is still quite a firecracker. — Laurence Kardish, MoMA

“The best documentary about filmmaking since American Movie.” – Criticize This

The Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) Video (Unofficial)

The Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) Video (Unofficial) – 16mm (2005)

Director – Editor

This was a film school project that called for the production of an original music video. At the time, The Arcade Fire had just releases their album Funeral. I thought i’d try and contact them for permission to use one of their tracks for the assignment, and they kindly gave me their blessing. This was before they had access to somebody like Spike Jonze, whose work was a direct influence on this video. In the end, the band enjoyed it but it remains an unofficial video.

The Goblin Man of Norway

THE GOBLIN MAN OF NORWAY – HD (2008)