Film
“Everyone has a story.“
– Neil LaBute
Screenwriting and filmmaking are another powerful way to tell a story. I found that teaching myself how to write in the script format, with its length restrictions and structure, and taking courses, gave me skills that I could use in other forms of writing.
By attempting to make short films, I challenged myself to see if I could pull it off. Along the way, I had THE most fun I have ever had as a creator.
Maurice, 2017 –
Urged to by his eccentric friend Pearl to embrace life, and armed with dubvious instructions from Carmine Mantovani’s “How To Cut Hair in Five Easy Lessons” video, Maurice takes a job at the local beauty salon.
This short film, with the working title ‘Maurice’ is a project with Shannon Bell. It was inspired by a clipping she found in the newspaper about an employee who was no longer working at a hairdressing salon. It inspired us to work on a script over several years – trying full length and eventually returning to a short.
We pushed ourselves to to to actually make the film. In the winter of 2017, we started pre-production and filmed it in May of that year. All with a budget of about $1000, mostly for editing software, food and costumes. We were very lucky to have the help of an outstanding cinematographer, Catherine Bussiere, and experienced sound person, Ron McNutt. Volunteer crew and actors rounded out the team. Special thanks to the effervescent Eric Mosher and good sport, Lee Fleming. Big thanks to Shannon Leclerc for the use of her beauty parlour for a weekend, and the Seitl’s for letting us invade Monty’s.
It was tremendous fun, and we were thankful to everyone who helped us. The final product is still in post production.
Urban Myths – 2006, 16 min.
Intrepid treasure hunter, Lloyd Williamson, investigates what he thinks are secret underground tunnels running from Georges Island to Halifax. Is it true or is this just another urban myth?
In 2006, I had the opportunity to take part in the Centre for Art Tapes Scholarship Program. I wanted to learn about editing digital media.
Besides the editing experience, I really enjoyed filming with the help of many friends. No one had acting experience, so I developed a version of improv, where I fed the actors the intent of the scene from my rough script and let them run with it. Some of the best parts of the film were a result of their ad libbing. It was also fun finding locations that strangely fit with the story line.
Saving the Best for Last – 2005, 1 min.
When young Maude gets creative with her food at a family supper, a stolen cherry becomes the crowning glory, and the luscious treat she saves for the last, juicy bite.
I have always had a love of movies and in 2005 I took the leap and applied to the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative’s One-Minute Film Program. The result was a black and white, silent one-minute film about a young girl who was playing with her food at a family party.
I loved the experience of planning and executing this project, with the support of many friends and family members. Hand-wound cameras, manual light meters, splicing black and white film by hand – you can’t get a more fundamental and accessible first filmmaking experience than this! I did not enjoy the task of splicing film by hand and vowed to learn how to edit digital media if I was ever to do it again.
Fooling Around with Film at Every Opportunity
PUGWASH PEEK-A-BOO, 2013
Faucet Media Arts Centre, Sackville NB
Super 8 Program – 3:13 min., B&W
MONDAY DANCE CLASS, 2013
Faucet Media Arts Centre, Sackville NB
Super 8 Program – 3:29 min., B&W
JUST SAYIN’, 2017
NSCAD Extension Program
Digital Documentary video – colour
