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UNDER THE SURFACE OF THE MOON (2009) experimental animation, final post
Currently in final sound and music mixing, this new film explores and refines the photographic animation techniques used in “Outside In”. The film combines images from Hubble and space missions with macro photography I shot of a nude model with the camera very close to her body. The photographs were then worked on extensively to build the complex mosaics and finally camera movement through the images was animated frame by frame.
under the surface of the moon (2009) animation
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LIGHTS (2009, 4 min.) Experimental Live-in Camera animation
“Lights” is truly an experimental film in every sense. One night, shortly after getting a HD projector for previewing shots in “Outside In”, I decided to plug a little HD camcorder into the projector and shoot the camera’s image on the screen. I expected to get that effect when you look in a mirror with a mirror behind you. Which I did -- but something else wild started happening.
After about an hour, I finally figured out it was a “Light Harmonizer” feature in the projector (adjusting for ambient light in the room) that was causing “light feedback” very much amplifier feedback with an electric guitar. So then Marie and I started messing around creating this patterns for a couple of hours.
I then took the footage, messed around with mirrored images, wrote a song and this is the result. HD version is at Vimeo.
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STILL LIFE (2008, 6 min.) Human Stop-Motion Animation Narrative Short
This started as a camera test for “Outside In” to see if I could use my photographic animation technique to capture human emotion with an actor. As Sheila Duell and I discussed the test, it started to evolve into a short film. This was shot with a Pentax K10D DSLR camera as a series of still shots in continuous shooting mode. Sheila acted in very slow motion under my direction to approximate 1/8th speed.
Then in post-production, I used my techniques to refine and animate the motion. The film has screened at festivals and screenings around NC winning recognition at several. It has also been widely viewed online with very positive feedback. Watch here or go to Vimeo to watch in HD.
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LOST SOULS (2005, 4 min.) Narrative Short
Lost Souls began as an entry in a 3-minute online film fest which felt too restrictive. This is a re-edited nearly 4 minute version that has screened at various festivals and events around the area. I personally love this film although it was not until I saw it a packed screening with 200 people that I realized it totally worked. I’m currently working on a feature film script loosely based on this short.
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PLUG WARS (2004, 3 min.) HD Stop Motion
I love stop motion, I love Star Wars, I love Marvin the Martian, I love satire, so this was a blast to make. It was created for a local film festival and shot with a $50 digital camera to prove that hiqh quality HD filmmaking could be made in your house using stuff you have lying around. It has a nice little following online from stop motion and Pez fans…
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THE GOLDEN GIRL AND THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY (2004, 8 min.)
An experimental film created by embedding a previous short film that I had shot and edited in camera with a home camcorder in a single day in 1993 called “Sea of Tranquility”. I added extensive color processing, new animation, a new narrative layer via actor voice-overs, new music, sound design and titles.
The film treats the original embedded film as fragments of a dream recounted to a lost love in England on her answering machine. It screened in competition at Riverrun Film Festival and was selected for “Best of Riverrun Shorts” in 2005. It also screened at a number of other film festival/screenings.
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CRISP YELLOW FLOWERS (2003, 1 min.)
The first film I did using my discovery of a new animation technique for creating full 24 frames per second motion from still photographs. At the time, I only had a film camera which was limited to 36 photographs on one roll of film – which means 9 seconds of footage when animated. I did all the work on the film – camera, animation, music and sound. Fortunately, there was a 10 second film festival in town that year and this work was created for it.
This film is created from 36 photographs animated into 240 frames. The film has inspired several other filmmakers including a Hong Kong filmmaker after I posted the film online with a discussion of my discovery of this technique. Watch in HD here.
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LUNATIC (2003, 8 min.)
In 1990 I almost finished a Super 8mm short that won an award at the 1991 Carolina Film & Video Festival. But the sound track was never done and mirror effect missing. The Super 8mm print was lost. In 2003 I decided to finish the film from a VHS copy. I had to remove the tape splices, restore the color, clean up the image as well as compose, perform and mix the soundtrack.
Lunatic has screened at a number of festivals and events around the area.
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SOLILOQUY (2001, 29 min)
After leaving corporate American in late 1999, I was dying to make a film. I eventually wrote, produced, directed and edited “Soliloquy”. It was a great learning experience for sure but the final film was not the most watchable work I’ve created. It was available on DVD and might end up as an extra somewhere at some point. It’s too long for comfortable online viewing.
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48 HOUR FILMS
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THE SHELL COLLECTOR (2009, 7 min.) narrative short
I’ve entered in Greensboro’s 48 Hour Film Project for 5 years and each year have attempted something different to challenge myself. This year, for my 6th time, I decided to complete a film entirely solo -- alone. I had no one even to help carry gear or run errands -- at first it was pretty unnerving and a little lonely, but ended up a great experience.
Unfortunately, due to a snafu, my film was lost by the festival organizers and never made it in competition, but it did screen at the festival. Watch it here or go to Vimeo to watch in HD.
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GRACE NOTE (2008) Narrative Short, 48 Hour Film Project
This was my 5th time entering a team. This year I was the director, DP and editor. Had a great team (Summer of Love) -- Marie produced the project and we had a great time making it. We took the wild card again and drew “Ghost Film” and decided to NOT do the expected thing.
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CATASTROPHE (2007) Narrative Short, 48 Hour Film Project
For year four on team Summer of Love, I was c0-writer, director, DP and editor. We took the wild card and got a brand new genre “animal film”. At first we struggled and actually threw away our first script at 1:00 am Saturday and started anew. But the end result was a winner -- literally, winning several awards.
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THE DAISY DUKES (2006, 7 min.) Comedy Short, 48 Hour Film Project
I’m a big fan of Christopher Guest’s films and this year I decided to do an improv film using his basic methods that I had gleaned from his interview and behind the scenes commentaries. The result was The Daisy Dukes that proved to be a crowd-pleaser winning a number of awards and getting over 12,000 views on YouTube. However, much of our best material could not be squeezed into the time limit, so every year or so we threaten a longer version, but no one has time to edit it 
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THE LOWERING (2005, 7 min.) Narrative Short, 48 Hour Film Project
The first year for Team Summer of Love. We drew “horror” and ended up canceling our first film at 12:30 am Saturday due to safety and a weak script. We were very happy to turn this film in on time, and we went against genre again. Shot entirely with available light as well.
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FOILED (2004, 7 min.) Narrative Short, 48 Hour Film Project
This was Greensboro’s inaugural year for the 48 Hour Film Project. I was a member of “Team Lens Wide Shut”. We missed the deadline that year, but had fun making a film called “Foiled” and learned a lot about making a film in 48 hours. It’s not available online.
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