Buick to the Future: Promotions (2008)

In marking the 2 years since the original Buick to the Future debuted here on Editing Luke, I've taken it upon myself to finally write the full scale posts associated with these movies like I have with so many of my other projects. These posts include the Buick to the Future Promotional Edits, the Buick to the Future Trilogy from 2007, and Buick to the Future: The Conclusion (Episode 4) from 2008.

The bulk of the promotional edits I made were to stir up interest for the BTTF series months after all 4 episodes had already been completed. The only exception was the original Buick to the Future trailer, which promotes the trilogy, and subsequently inspired one more episode: The Conclusion. To be fair, I can't guarantee that there will never be another BTTF short because if you watch episode 3 it seemed clear that we thought that would be the end too.

Buick to the Future was my campy mainstream, comedic, parody inspired, popcorn entertainment appeal to the YouTube crowd. It was made to help develop my new blog, attract some visitors, and get some laughs. It thankfully did all of that. Over the last couple years the series has received a modest 15,000+ views - but more importantly, for the small few that it connected with, they supported the project in a big way.

Check out the commemorative trailer for the 2 year anniversary of Buick to the Future, inspired by Doc's lost mix tape from Episode 1.

 
The episodes have been re-uploaded a few times due to copyright or quality issues, and despite my trailers and teasers the videos still remain fairly hidden on YouTube. It's tough to feel too disappointed though. The series revolutionized my online filmmaking and jump started my concept for this very blog. In that sense it's been a huge success, and like I said previously, it's not like this is the end - the promotion is ongoing. 

Of course, all this aside I have to thank Tyler Cyrenne for his help and support in making the series. His role as Doc was hilarious, and while I played myself (as Marty), there was no shortage of comedy on screen and off. You've embraced BTTF as though it was your own Tyler, and I couldn't be happier. Thanks again! 

Watch the short promos in the playlist below, including: 
The Original Buick to the Future Trailer (Originally Uploaded Feb.29/08), BTTF Promo 1 (Uploaded May.3/08), BTTF Promo 2 (Uploaded June.16/08), BTTF Promo 3 (Uploaded Sept.11/08), BTTF Series Trailer (Uploaded June.7/09)

Siblings 2 (2009)

It was a comedy that more than any other short I had made, seemed the least likely to ever have a sequel. Strange how it was that single limitation that sparked the idea for the follow up.

You'll have to watch Siblings, the beginning of the story if you will, to fully appreciate the departure that part 2 takes - this won't really make sense otherwise.

As you can imagine, this was a fun shoot. My sister seemed to enjoy the new twist as much as I did, even if she was the one getting the bumps and scratches in the process. Without giving anything away, I'll just say there were numerous times she fell out of character - for obvious reason (see the outtakes below).

You can see a big difference in the look between part 1 and part 2. Things were intentionally a bit more drab this time, not nearly as green as in the prime weeks of summer, but we did go through the effort of finding the same clothes we wore in the first video. Not quite as easy as you might think as the original Siblings was shot close to a year ago. It was mostly just a matter of digging out my old red hat again.

Thematically, this follow up plays off even more like a music video than the original. The punchline this time is the fact that there's even a sequel to be seen. It looks good though, and we're still not taking ourselves too seriously. Enjoy the sequel we never thought we'd make, Siblings 2!

Split Screen Experiments (2008)

In their varied simplicity, my split screen experiments have become a regular source of inspiration, not just in and of themselves, but for the editing exercises that they lead to. They're personal exclamation points that pander to my own creative entertainment, and whether any one else can see value in them is less important to me here.

It's like I wrote when discussing my latest split screen short, Headphones - "...the idea behind shorts like this isn't about masked themes, but about appreciating the digital medium and editing technique by taking a forced look. Just as a painter might fill a canvas for the tactile experience of seeing the streaks and runs in drying colours of paint, these editing experiments serve a similar purpose for further nurturing my personal appreciation for the technical execution of editing".

Split Wash, Split Thoughts, and The Wave are the three main shorts that were created within weeks of each other at the end of summer 2008. While at first glance they have little in common, it's the technical approach and self-portrait aspect of each short that has established an unmistakable theme, however unintential it was in the beginning.

Split Wash stirred up some interesting conversations when it was first posted on August 12, 2008. In a discussion about visuals vs. substance, I defended my approach saying, "Split Wash is just a clip, take it or leave it, no different than someone talking to a webcam about something they did today. You'll either find beauty in that or you won't, but I wouldn't post something I didn't personally appreciate. This direction isn't about telling a story, it's just a slice, an art short, it's about reworking a simple clip to see something in a different way".

Split Thoughts posted on September 26, 2008 and The Wave posted on October 6, 2008 both embody that sentiment even further.

This need to experiment, and even to share it, is part of showcasing the experience and not just the product. I'm not trying to create a traditional channel or blog series here, where the work all compliments each other or fits perfectly. In shifting focus to make it not just about my work, I'm creating a journal to document my own ambitions and trials - which just happens to be open to outside interpretation.

On the surface it's shallow, in the context of the big picture it's essential.

Split Wash
August 12, 2008

Split Thoughts  
September 26, 2008

The Wave
October 6, 2008

Las Vegas: Edits (2005)

Do you remember turning 21? For me it was a party in the dorms, followed shortly after by an evening on Expedia planning a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas just days later. Nothing quite like the optimism infused, debt ignoring student life.

My birthday is on March 31, which just happens to land a couple weeks before the end of the school semester. In early April 2005, my friend and fellow travel companion, Andrea and I got to chatting about how cool it would be to go to Las Vegas. Her birthday is just 4 days before mine, so she had just turned 21 also.

On a whim, I started searching out Las Vegas trip packages only to happily discover that we could go on a pretty sweet vacation for $500 each. We chose one of the cheapest big hotels on the strip, Circus Circus, and planned a 5 day 4 night trip. And what did we do? Gamble, wander, and take advantage of all the free things there was to see.

It was the first time I tried roulette, I bought myself a pressed Lucky Penny, and I ate more Denny's than one man should eat. We walked the entire Las Vegas strip from the Stratosphere down to the Luxor - take a look at the map and see how far that is. And purely by luck, we were there the weekend that the Wynn opened their doors for the very first time. They've already built a second tower/hotel called Encore now. That place changes so fast.

While we did Vegas on the cheap, there was nothing like being there right after turning 21. Nothing like ending the semester only to wake up in Vegas a couple weeks later, on a continuous high that we even talked ourselves into going.

I'll never forget this trip. The edits I made instantly make me nostalgic, and the loss of hotels like the Stardust and New Frontier already date the footage. It was rush, and the primer for our ultimate Vegas experience that followed in 2008. See the four Las Vegas edits from 2005 below.

Las Vegas Strip

Fremont Street Experience

Mirage Volcano

Sirens of Treasure Island

California Edits (2004)

In May 2004, at the end of my second year in university, I left on vacation with my friend Andrea and her family on a 10 day trip to Los Angeles. It was a true tourist affair with visits to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, Newport Beach, and Hollywood & Highland. For a poor film student at the time it was a trip beyond my means, but one that played to my every interest.

I'm always fascinated how a few days of a good vacation, in retrospect, can still seem so fresh and relevant. Being in Hollywood felt surreal. My last memories of the location were from elementary school when I travelled there with my own family. Those distant memories were triggered in 2004, and the new experiences being captured came at the height of my film student optimism. LA and Hollywood seemed as stereotypical as I had hoped they would be. Although my own realistic plan wasn't to run off to southern California, I was incredibly keen to get swept up in the possibility.

The theme parks, the coasters, the busy sidewalks, the glaring sun and the cool ocean were all captured on my little Sony D8. Just watching the videos over again triggers clear visions of what it was like, what I was thinking and the little side stories that still find there way into random conversations. I even held onto my Disneyland ticket as a reminder of the experience. At 20 years old, I can clearly say that it was the last of my family vacations; Just along for the ride, not worried about making plans or a schedule, generally just looked after - and it wasn't even my family.

All the footage I shot has now been cut down into little clips over the last few years so that I could share them on my blog. There are a few postcards, some new revisions, and specific cuts for several Disneyland attractions. I shot a lot and I tried to make the most of it.

Five years ago this month and it seems like another world. I know I'll be back there again, but until that happens I'm happy I have the edits. Quite simply, for a college kid dreaming about making movies, this trip sure hit the spot.

Scroll through the playlist to watch the clips.

Videos in the Playlist: Hollywood & Highland, Newport Beach, Day at Disneyland, Splash Mountain, Mark Twain Riverboat, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Disney's California Adventure, Disney's Electrical Parade, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Backlot, and Flying Montage

The Complete California Playlist

Alaska Edits (1998)

What makes these edits significant, besides the beautiful and epic Alaska scenery, is that it's some of the earliest footage I ever shot. It was 1998 and I was 14 years old. With my parents matching half of the money, I purchased a used 8mm Sony Handycam at the age of 12, and from there made a wealth of now embarrassing short films and projects.

A family cruise to Alaska in August 1998 proved the perfect opportunity to make my first vacation video - and real home video for that matter. By this point, the film Titanic(1997) was an international box office smash and I couldn't help but think about the movie throughout the trip. Standing at the stern and watching the wake of the ship, looking out across endless ocean, and a trip into Glacier Bay to see larger than life ice, made it seem like My Heart Will Go On was the only thing missing (that, and a nude girl to draw, but I digress).

In the days before I had a digital video camera or editing software, I did my editing on the VCR. So needless to say, the original version of my Alaska video was pretty rough. There was no music added besides the clips of hand made titles that I interspersed between days of the trip. I was also in the frame of mind that more was better, and not wanting to cut out anything from the trip I was left with over an hour of mostly raw footage. Oh, how I've grown up.

In 2003 I cut a brand new version of the video from the original footage titled, North to Alaska. It was far more enjoyable to watch, and by that point I was able to burn DVD copies for the family. By 2006 I decided to cut down all of my vacation footage further and created a series of video postcards, including one for Alaska.

Me with my camera on the deck on the cruise ship leaving Vancouver, BC.

Now over a decade after the trip to Alaska, I still have a special affinity for the footage and the project. It's not just being able to see my early work and style, but also the renewed appreciation I have for what it was I was actually witnessing - it really was an adventure. Highlights can now be viewed in four clips - the original Alaska postcard, Vancouver, Glacier Bay, and the White Pass & Yukon railway.

Part of getting older is realizing how important it is to appreciate the here and now. It's something I wish I would've said to myself back then, because my memories of 14 are pretty scattered and random. It's for that very reason that I've become so enamored with documenting my experiences and travels. It's not as good as being there again, but for me it feels close.

Take a moment to check out my now classic edits below.

Alaska Postcard (1998) 
Vancouver, BC (1998)  
 Glacier Bay (1998) 
White Pass & Yukon Railway (1998)

The Geology Student (2006)

Of the long list of film school projects that I stockpiled over my 6 year stay in university, there's only a handful that I haven't revised in the editing suite. Sometimes there are small technical aspects that need fixing, sometimes my view of the concept has changed, and sometimes it's just a matter of making the project seem relevant. I suppose The Geology Student was never altered after all this time, because it's actually the kind of short I still want to make more of.

In late 2006 I was in Film 400, where our class was assigned a project to each make character study shorts. I had done this years earlier in Film 200 where I created, Mean Mr. Mustard is Homeless. I wanted to take an entirely different approach this time, specifically because I felt I had enough 'serious' projects under my belt, and my portfolio was lacking comedies - it was also the reason that through Film 400-401 I was busy making Elliot.

Probably because I always poked fun at my friend Jeanette for being a geology student and studying 'rocks, rocks, rocks', I guess I landed on the idea of shadowing her and ran with it. Jeanette was a good sport, and we agreed on a time that she could give me a tour of the geology department. The department, coincidentally, was just below the College West Residence where both Jeanette and I had lived throughout our time in uni.

My plan was to be as casual and campy as possible. I asked as many loaded questions as I could think of, and instructed Jeanette to give me as many details as she could in her answers. There was no script or outline, which was the point, as I had every intention of constructing the video in the edit suite - allowing me to put things out of context, in whatever order, and have her answering pointless things.

It was always the idea to shoot the assignment like a mini-mockumentary. Like I said, I was also working on Elliot at the time and was keen on keeping my focus on things that I felt would help that project. The natural dialogue, spontaneous shooting, and unseen locations (for me anyway) all proved beneficial in keeping the short relaxed and funny. As expected, the editing was a joy because of all the options the banter provided.

When the project was completed in November 2006, this blog didn't exist and I hadn't uploaded anything to YouTube yet. It's why this simple short seems more significant to me - it was already an ideal YouTube short, already the kind of quirky flick that was straightforward enough to appeal to most people, and at last, it was a comedy!

The Buick to the Future Series, The Gizmo Tree, Siblings and Space Drama, to name a few of my shorts, all followed in the Geology Student's footsteps. And while my shift to focus on creating more shorts has remained, I think I've worked out a nice balance of experimenting, creating art and creating entertainment.

Obviously my telling is always going to be more subjective than I might think it is, although with a short like The Geology Student, there's not really much more to it than what you're seeing on the surface. The point in me promoting all my old projects, however, isn't about me saying how great they are - it's about developing a larger story, and explaining where the pieces in my film making puzzle fit. It's nice to have some lighter anecdotes to include for once, and finally get to the bottom of which rocks are naturally shaped like tigers . . .

*UPDATE 2010*

In June 2009 I submitted The Geology Student to the Yobi.tv Film Competition and was voted in as a weekly winner for week 3. Starting in late March 2010 voting for the semi-finals began with 40 filmmakers - the Top 40. Eliminations occured on a weekly basis moving from 40 to 32 to 24 to 16 and then the Top 8. This marked the beginning of the finals, in which I was one of the 8 remaining filmmakers.

From here only a single filmmaker was eliminated each week, but after 2 months I found myself in the final round of the entire film contest as one of the Top 2. In the end I finished in 2nd place as the runner-up for filmmaker of the year with the Geology Student gaining over 170,000 views during the contest.

*Original Film School Version

*2010 Yobi.tv Finalist Version

Silent Shoppers (2005)

Like many of my other projects, Silent Shoppers developed out of the remnants of an earlier film school assignment. So let's rewind - It was March 2005, and I unknowingly scheduled the shoot for my project, then titled Yellow Tag Clearance, on one of the worst possible days with temperatures reaching below -30C.


It was a painful, but memorable day. Yellow Tag Clearance took place in a mall parking lot, the story inspired by eager shoppers reacting to post-Christmas sales. My crew and I shot in 30 minute intervals followed by 15 minute breaks out of the cold, which resulted in a long day. In my production notes I wrote:

"My actors were frozen, I was frozen, the camera kept freezing on me . . . it was a long day. The weather was a huge obstacle because all anyone could think about was how cold they were. It had snowed the night before, and and the sun didn't come out until noon, so if there was a way to make a parking lot look any blander, this was it".

Yellow Tag Clearance really became an exercise in editing because of all the challenges that resulted from the outdoor shoot. The original concept was to put the movie together like a comic book, with over saturated colours, speech bubbles, and wacky sound effects. After several tests and rough cuts, the colourful and comic Yellow Tag was the project I submitted in April 2005.



Summer came and went, and for the next six months the original video collected dust with the rest of my class notes.

I never intended to revisit the movie, but in November 2005 I was without any production classes and was looking for a film project to fill the time. I remembered Yellow Tag Clearance was unique, but to me it felt distinctly like a film school assignment because of how over-worked it was. After watching it several times again, I was able to see more of my mistakes and inexperience and thought that there was still a lot I could do to fix it.

For starters, YTC could be shortened, the filters could be improved, and the audio could be cleaned up (which had a lot of wind distortion from the blustery shooting day). Tough to say exactly how things went from there, but within a week Yellow Tag Clearance had been completely revamped - it was now silent, in black and white, and titled Silent Shoppers.

Silent Shoppers Trailer


I suppose like my other re-edits, by the time I got back into it, the process was as much about making the footage feel new again as it was about fixing technical issues. I'm remembering how difficult the audio was to work with, which was probably what sparked the shift to go silent (or abandon the original audio at least).

I have clear memories of those several nights in November, because they were the kind that you love to have as an editor. Things clicked into place, I was on a roll, and above all, I was having fun seeing the footage transform into something I hadn't planned originally. It started to feel more subtle and funny, while still maintaining the consumer slapstick. In the end, Silent Shoppers was a new short, and significantly different from the look and structure of Yellow Tag. 

Happy with the new version, I again let it sit for months before doing anything with it (no YouTube account or blog to share it yet). In February of 2006 I sent it to the Medicine Hat Film Festival Video Competition. I made the trek home to Medicine Hat later that March, and practically one year after the original footage had been shot, Silent Shoppers was voted the 2006 Audience Choice Winner! 

My appreciation for the short, the experience it gave me, and the way it evolved all amounts to my continued obsession with developing my skill as a moviemaker. It's about working to improve despite often numerous limitations or challenges. My projects continue to evolve and take on new meaning the more I learn. 

Shoppers conveys a simple and quirky message about consumerism, and our inability to escape it. It's also what gives the title its double meaning. Just another chapter in the old fandrix scrapbook. Enjoy! 

Silent Shoppers (2005) Directed by Luke Fandrich

Elliot (2007)

It's the most overdue and delayed upload of any movie, edit, experiment or short I made in film school. Elliot, the mockumentary I produced in my final core production class has been withheld for nearly 2 years, all for one reason. When you spend 8 months planning, writing, shooting, re-writing, re-shooting, editing, and polishing a project constructed entirely in the bubble of university-motivated independent film-making, by the time the project is done and the class is over you're not sure if you'll ever be able to watch your movie again.

It has nothing to do with the movie itself, the experience or the people who shared it, but instead with the process of deconstructing and over analyzing your work to the point of endless frustration, and the realization that your movie will never quite be perfect enough. From September 2006 to April 2007 my mockumentary was simply 'in production', a loose term used to cover all the behind the scenes bargaining that goes into creating a movie with little-to-no money and few resources. To be clear, much of the struggle was by choice.

My final film could have been a 3 minute short, but instead I opted for a 38 minute narrative, a fake documentary no less, that required me to create a series of fake articles, covers, notes, and posters to tell my story - not to mention the fake debut novel, The Dirty Sailor. The challenges I created for myself didn't stop there.

I recruited my friends Travess Durk and Taylor Croissant for the two lead roles, but they both lived in different cities which required extra planning to coordinate shooting. Even after production, with a half-hour screenplay I ended up shooting over 6 hours of raw footage that I had to edit, which in the context of a single class assignment meant I was dedicating more time to the project than was required. It may sound foolish, but I can honestly say that my motivation for the movie was based around creating the film school experience I hadn't had yet.

I wanted to be invested in a project that couldn't be made in a few hours. I wanted to rely on other people to help expand the concept. I wanted to be able to share in the class screening process and have my project evolve into something more significant and memorable than the average assignment. But above all, I wanted a bookend for my film school experience. No rushed assignment would've felt fitting.

So what did I settle on? A comedic doc-within-a-narrative about author Warren Elliot and his quest to get into a prestigious national writing guild. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that my love of Christopher Guest movies didn't have some influence on my choice.

Elliot Trailer

So several days ago I finally re-watched, Elliot. My critiquing and concerns had subsided, and looking past the imperfections I felt really proud of what had been accomplished. After revising the movie so many times over the final weeks of that class, it felt good to finally just enjoy it as a viewer.

In previous posts I've made reference to re-editing, Elliot or shortening it, but I abandoned that idea after seeing it again. True, this movie isn't perfect, but it is what it is for a reason. It marks the end of months of hard work and planning, and the culmination of lessons and tests from a final film class. Part of the reason for sharing my work on this blog, my online portfolio, is to show the evolution of my movie-making. Any changes I made now would be more for my sake, and renewing my view of the project, than it would be for serving the movie itself.

What I love about Elliot is the banter. It's an interview movie, meant to feel literary and dialogue heavy without being dry; Warm and witty without being flashy or intense. People in class compared the interviews to Stewart or Colbert, noting the contrast in the delivery of actual information and the personal posturing in character development. In short, I guess it's largely about characters who do whatever they want, because they all just want to be right - and told so, obviously.

At the end of April 2007 I felt happy to put the project behind me and was satisfied with the positive response I got from those in class and my friends and family who saw it. I handed out DVD copies with a selection of features as a memento. I'm pleased once again to be sharing, Elliot with a new crowd.

I want to say thank you once again to all of you who helped me over the course of those two semesters in completing this movie. I hope you feel as proud as I do, because your help made it the positive experience that it was for me.

Elliot can now be viewed for the first time in the playlist below. I've broken the 38 minute movie into 5 parts to make it easier to watch over several sittings if you choose. Take your time, enjoy, like that book on your shelf you've been meaning to read for months, the movie is here to stay.
 
Elliot (2007)

Directed by Luke Fandrich

Alphabet (2006)

I think one of the most challenging things about growing up is the way our relation to time changes. We become nostalgic and equally obsessed with the future. When we're young we don't think about remembering, and as we get older we wish we'd remembered a lot more - of the good times anyway. This notion was the basis for my video poem assignment of Film 400 in September 2006. The short titled, Alphabet.

In starting off another year of university, and in one of my final core production courses no less, I had education on the brain. For my video poem I started to reminisce about my journey through elementary school through high school and onto university, thinking about the significance of being in a classroom for a good chunk of my life. I had several ideas revolving in my head, but I kept coming back to the idea of trying to remember my first day of school; how I couldn't remember the beginning of something that became so profound and defining in my life. If you ask me, it was the perfect fodder for a film assignment.

For my theme I decided to focus on leaves with a school yard playground as a large portion of the backdrop. To me, leaves were the perfect symbol of memories. They grow, die, decay, come in a variety of sizes and colours, portions breakaway or breakdown, and as nature has played a major role in some of my other shorts (A Chill in the Air), the way it renews itself is similar to our own re-defining of our past from time to time.

The title, Alphabet, is an obvious reference to education, but it's also meant to express the concept of something simple becoming more complex: letters to language, etc. as in comparison to the first day of school and ones entire educational career.

In the grading of my assignment my prof wrote:
"Great visual structure that has a sophisticated flow with the music. The mix itself is deftly created; the images have an internal movement that allows you to move from scene to scene with a special fluidity. The use of the camera in relation to the structure and meaning of the work is quite sophisticated. Great treatment of the assignment, Luke!" 93% - I was happy :)

More than the theme of the project, which is honest but somewhat aloof, it was the technical aspect of this short that actually made it stand out. This was the first school assignment that I ever shot on my Sony HDR-FX1 camera, which proved essential after my slow evolution from 8mm to Hi8 to D8 to MiniDV. I still feel that had I not pushed myself to use my other cameras to their full potentials, I wouldn't appreciate the wealth of options my newest camera still affords me. For surprising myself with the result, that alone, made the assignment a great experience.

My friend Tyler, a source of friendly competition throughout the semester, also made a video poem in Film 400 titled, Thoughts in Motion. It's tough to reminisce about the class without including him in the mix.

Alphabet (2006)
Directed by Luke Fandrich

Mean Mr. Mustard is Homeless (2003)

I made this project in March of 2003, which to me feels like another world away. I suppose if I look past the random tests and trials, this short was actually the very first video I ever made as part of a film school class.

It was in Film 200 and the assignment was to script and shoot a character study, real or fiction. This project, as was the purpose of Film 200, marked the final part of preliminary testing before actually being accepted into the University of Regina film program the following year. In the end I think they let in anyone who was willing to pay.

It's tough to say exactly what inspired the short, but I'm thinking it was the same thing that inspires every filmmaker to make a 'homeless guy' movie at some point. It's cheap, there's a grittiness and reality to it, and it's an easy way to make drama.

For me, Homeless was a mix of seriousness and comedy. The magazine page of the woman that he stares at and then uses to clean his face, the mustard gag, the newspaper sticking to his face after sleeping on it, etc. are my nudges to the audience to say that I'm not actually trying to be too serious. Still, it's tough to avoid the element of sadness and hopelessness about it that I notice whenever watching it with others.

In class when the project was previewed for the first time, I remember silence mixed with awkward laughs. When it was over a common sentiment was, "I wasn't sure if I was allowed to laugh or not". Truthfully, it came off more serious than I expected.

My friend Ward did an excellent job of playing down the role in my opinion. In so many student shorts people try to overact or include every emotion in the book to make it feel heavy. I feel like the value of this project is that in opting to go dialogue free, keeping focus on a single location, and allowing things to unfold naturally, you actually get a more legitimate view of who this person would be if he was real. It feels like a confident effort despite being 18 at the time. Not to say the project is without flaw obviously, but for the exercise and class it felt very relevant.

We shot on a cold spring day in March armed only with my D8 camcorder and storyboard. I didn't have a clear idea of where I wanted to shoot exactly, but I knew I wanted an alley in downtown Regina so that the scale of the scene would be more fun to work with.

Ward and I, having met at university orientation and becoming friends throughout first year, had worked together on other projects. When shooting photos for a slide show earlier that semester we used the parkade that borders this alley for a better vantage point. That probably had as much to do with deciding on the location as anything.

Technically, I'm still very proud of how this assignment looks. It was shot entirely in-camera, chronologically, and only the music and titles were added in post. As per the rules of the lesson, it was a test on our skills to block scenes, rehearse, and plan on the fly. I storyboarded everything, and my resulting high grade was no doubt a result of my organization.

The evolution of the project came about in 2007 with the start of this blog and my desire to upload my film school shorts. Until that point this project had simply been known as Homeless. With the mustard scene fresh in my mind and the addition of the song Mean Mr. Mustard by the Beatles, it seemed that a new title would be more fitting. Consider the first few lyrics of the song - "Mean Mr. Mustard sleeps in the park, shaves in the dark trying to save paper. Sleeps in a hole in the road. Saving up to buy some clothes. Keeps a ten-bob note up his nose. Such a mean old man".

There's no evidence that Ward's character was mean, but the association between the lyrics and the literal mustard gag seemed like a fun comparison. Thus, the title changed to Mean Mr. Mustard is Homeless - though the short itself (with exception to the titles) is identical to the 2003 version.

My fondness for this short and Film 200 specifically, comes from the memories associated with getting started on a new phase in my creative career. Many of the people I met in 200 I still talk to today, and it was their work that directly fueled my competitiveness and drive to push myself even further. It seems like an understatement to say that a lot has been accomplished since then.

It's all good if you can make a living making movies about being homeless, and not being homeless because you took your shot at making movies.

Siblings (2008)

My sister was visiting and I said to her, like I say to almost everyone I know, 'We should make a movie'! It was July 2008 and I had the rough idea for Siblings in the back of my mind for a while. Nothing complicated, just a little flick about sibling rivalry and a punchline. The kind of short that doesn't take long to set up, and is so much more about playing around than specific shots.

While this project is far from my most ambitious work, it's the kind of short that I hope to make a lot more of.

With all the film school projects I feel like my portfolio is already heavily weighted in experiments, art shorts, video poems, etc. and the random comedies that everyone else uploads on YouTube are something that I'd like to have more of myself - even if it's just to attract a few more like-minded viewers. Pull 'em in with the popcorn flicks, make 'em stay for the art.

Siblings was almost entirely devised on the spot. Like I said, I had a rough idea about my sister and I playing in the playground entirely because it just seemed like it'd be funny. The punchline of the short was a product of the shoot. Originally, the ending we discussed involved my sister and I sitting on a park bench, my sister still grumpy and emotionless, we're both drinking slurpees. I'm beaming ear to ear after playing on all the equipment, my sister chucks her slurpee at me and says 'Now can we do something that I want to do'!



That ending would've worked well too I think, but the idea for the change came on the walk back from getting the slurpees. We thought it would be a funny twist if instead of being emotionless the whole time, my sister finally cracks on the merry-go-round and has a bit of fun . . . which ultimately leads to the revised twist. And there's the dynamic between my sister and myself in a nutshell - at least in my comedic view.

A couple months later, I was playing with the Siblings footage trying out some new filters and effects that I had just purchased. What resulted was a the Siblings Remix, mainly just an animated music video playing on the footage we shot that day cut to a remix of Coldplay's Viva la Vida. The remix video doesn't really add anything new, but as far as editing exercises go it was fun to make and seemed worth sharing. The animated nature of the footage was perfect for trying different things, so I guess it was only a matter of time before something else came out of it. For being so simple, it sure makes for an entertaining family home video.

Also, check out the surprsing sequel, Siblings 2!

Car Kaleidoscope (2008)

When I came across the site for the Toronto Urban Film Festival in June 2008, I knew instantly that I wanted to try and make something to submit. The guidelines for the festival stated that the project was to be exactly 60 seconds long with no audio, and was to fit into one of their categories pertaining to the various ways people live in urban environments.

I settled on the 'urban travels' category and came up with an experimental short that played on the patterns of rush hour traffic in a single intersection. By dividing, or split screening, my footage I created my initial pattern. Then I replicated that image several times to create the grid, and the sped up depth of movement mixed with the variety of colourful vehicles created the geometric illusion of a kaleidoscope - or one of those computer generated 3D prints.

My film wasn't selected to take part in the festival that September, but I can understand why. The selected films ran in repetition for a week on the Toronto subway platforms. Those screens aren't that big to begin with, and my short is tough enough to make out when it's right in front of you. Plus, those that were selected were very deserving in my book (and based on the awards ceremony, they seemed keen on rewarding people from Toronto so people would actually show up). In any case, Car Kaleidoscope was certainly worth while as it proved to be enough motivation to try out several other split screen experiments that summer/fall.

For as seemingly simple as this experiment was, a lot of trial and error went into the effect. Even if you've never been into experimental film, I feel like there's something very relaxing and cathartic about getting lost in the pattern. This version of Car Kaleidoscope is obviously different than the one I submitted to TUFF as a soundtrack and titles have been added, and I've repeated the footage for longer than the original 60 seconds.

To fully appreciate this short it has to be viewed in high quality to make out the images. If you watch it from my blog be sure to click the HQ tag after you press play, or better yet, double click on the video and watch it in larger HD quality from my YouTube channel. Thanks for checking out the experiment!

Urban Jazz (2003)

Inspired by all the early City Symphony films from the 1920's and 30's that I saw in my first year of uni, in the summer of 2003 I attempted one of my own. On a day trip up to Calgary my friend Andrea and I were playing tourist and I ended up shooting a ton of footage from the top of the Calgary Tower. Mixed with some other footage I shot of the old hotels and buildings by the tracks in Medicine Hat, I cut together a vignette of a growing urban landscape.

Like those early classics, Urban Jazz is a contrast between the old city and new city, between structure and chaos, the beauty and decay. Having shot the project almost entirely from above, there are some pretty interesting vantage points and patterns. What makes these city symphony flicks so unique in my view is that as they age they gain even more depth. The city changes, growing and shrinking, and the technology, from the cars to the signs, begin to date the footage.

While this project showcases some of my novice, and rather playful editing, it's also an example of my focus to branch out and experiment (I was 19 at the time). I hadn't really made any serious 'avant garde' flicks before this one, and the year in university that came after this essentially opened the flood gates. To me it's just another reminder that as quickly as time has gone, I created a lot of stepping stones by trying new things and making videos purely to entertain myself. To say the least, I'm happy that motivation hasn't faded.

Day Dream Day (2008)

Late in the summer of 2008 I was anxious to make a new video and was feeling motivated by the fact that for the first time in years I didn't have to pack up and head off to university. More than anything, I wanted to create a personal piece about what I was feeling at that very moment, about how things suddenly seemed so wide open again after years of school had left me feeling stuck and uninspired.

By August I had saved a bit of money, my student debt was finally on the decline and I was comfortably settled back home. It had been 4 months since I left, and all in all it took about that long just to gain perspective on what I'd left behind and what exactly my new focus was going to be. In short, Day Dream Day was made to mark the end of a chapter.

Being in a nostalgic mood to start, I wrote a short poem to use as the structure for the project. The rooftop seemed like a good location to base my shoot around, not only because it felt symbolic in referencing my childhood neighbourhood, but because it was literally a place to have my head in the clouds. Throughout high school I remember climbing on the roof countless times during the summer just to be alone, and on occasion to catch the exhibition fireworks.

Day Dream Day, simply, is about the passing of time in pursuit of my own dreams/goals. I always get a little closer, and then naturally the dream gets bigger. I think we can all relate to this. Hence, the spacing in the title: day, dream, day instead of merely a 'daydream' day.

I've received many mixed reviews about how this short was concluded, despite general appreciation for the overall piece. I can't expect everyone to respond to the movie the same way I do, especially when it represents something quite personal. However, my choice for the conclusion was clear.

The poem/narration is about my continued focus on making movies, editing, and pursuing film as a career despite the risk and competition. To show this, in the conclusion of Day Dream Day I'm walking around on the roof, but here's the point - those walking clips are of me setting up my shots, moving the camera between takes, and putting the project together. After musing about creating new edits and projects, the conclusion is my attempt to show you - it's the candid footage between takes of me actually constructing Day Dream Day. It's done with the point of connecting the dream to the reality of what I want to do, and how I'm already doing it, how the very project you're watching serves my goal.

It's an otherwise clean cut little movie, about the summation of a not-so-clean cut journey through an education in filmmaking.



Day Dream Day (2008) Written and Directed by Luke Fandrich

Day Dream Day Poem:

Perched on the roof with the street at a glance,
An afternoon devoted to pondering chance.

The neighbourhood's silent, the possibility's there,
But you think to yourself, and you shift and you stare.

It's nice to be free, it's nice to be young,
Your potential, you reason, is so out strung.

You glance at the windows, the roofs, and ground,
It's a long way up, when the there's just pavement around.

The world is my oyster, the future my now,
So many questions, but most of them how.

I want to be seen, and I want to be heard,
But so high up, I think, there's only the birds.

So I'll get back to the ground, get my head from the clouds,
I'll shuffle and mingle, shake hands with the crowds.

I'll do what it takes, and I'll work the late hours,
I'll sacrifice some sleep, some meals, some showers.

I'm just another dreamer, another guy with some hope,
Just a man on a leash, tugged by someone elses rope.

But from here things look fine, with camera in hand,
I'll shoot what I'll see, I'll edit and I'll land.

All at once I won't do, cause I don't wanna fall,
I'll just ease myself back, while admiring it all.

But maybe not yet, not just for this minute,
I want to dream a bit more, and find myself lost in it.

One Banana (2001)

It was in January 2001. I was in grade 11, 16 years old, and as part of a communication technology class I made this short animation project. This project in fact was the one that kicked off my love of stop motion and inspired future projects like Clumsy Claus and Sitting Bull. The concept is very simple, just a tribesman after a banana in a tree. In terms of my own history, however, this project symbolizes a distinct change in the presentation of my work. Knowing full well that I'd have to debut this project in front of a large class, I focused very closely on the little details of my animation. Sure, the motion is choppy, but for an early attempt I'm still impressed with how the little flowers, the toilet paper roll tree, and my handmade tribesman hold up. It seems charming enough to share, despite it's obvious flaws.

 

The photo above was taken in 2005, and was a set I designed as part of a possible sequel to this movie, to be called 'Two Banana'. That project was never made, but I held onto the set in the hopes of making a new short. I've been considering making a new stop motion flick ever since coming across my old animations, but part of the charm in these is that they were really some of my first stop motion experiments.

Quirks (2009)

This new short is part documentary, part home video, part experimental, and what I consider to be a somewhat kitschy stereotypical depiction of what every film student experiences on one of their first film shoots. 

The footage, as you might have guessed, comes from an old film school project that I shot with classmates Cam Koroluk and Thomas Gallagher in 2004, originally titled The Brief History of Metric Time.

Brief History was the result of a Film 300 assignment in which every student in class wrote a script, and then two other students in class would act as either the director or producer for that project. This system worked on rotation so that every student got to experience the various roles played in the production process. 

For this project I was the director, hence, I took it upon myself to resurrect the footage after 4 years and cut it into something I actually felt was worth sharing. 

It seems to be a common occurance in all creative ventures when groups are involved that comprimises have to be made. I'm refering here to the film class, which was a very diverse and opinionated group. With the scripts randomly distributed, I didn't have much of a choice in terms of plot, and didn't really have a lot of time to rework the concept before shooting. It was always what I hated about shooting on film compared to shooting digital, there was so much equipment to be booked, and so much more to do just to get your exposures and audio right. 

On top of that, everyone always had their own projects on the go at the same time, so there wasn't an abundance of people to draw on for crew. Even in the best of circumstances, it was just a complicated process to pull everything together in these classes. 

The original film, focused on a man who invented a new system of time based on the metric system. The dialogue was divided by pages of nonsensical mathematical equations, and aside from that, there wasn't actually much to go on. The student who wrote our script was the type that if you were casting roles for stereotypical arts students, he'd fit the bill perfectly, which is to say that he didn't need his script to make sense because he already believed himself to be the next Fellini. 

The worst part was that the concept really wasn't a visual story. I guess dealing with these challenges was what film school was all about.

On a side note, I recall that my script was a comedy about a guy getting dropped off at the dorms by his parents. Inspired by my own experience in the fall of 2002, the group that shot my screenplay did a sweet job.

Quirks (OR: The Blurbs Behind a Lost Film School Project) is a fresh edit composed entirely of the raw footage that was captured to mini DV from the film we shot it on. My goal here is to give a little glimpse of my own film school history, with some quips about just how random the experience was.

While this project obviously wasn't technically 'lost', it stands to represent the handful of my film experiments that were. At the very least, Quirks is a symbol of just how far I've come since 2004. The 4 years and 3 months since this was shot seems like an incredibly long time ago, largely because of how much more prolific I've become with my filmmaking. It's why I felt it was finally worth sharing. I've grown up a bit I suppose.

Quirks (2009) Directed & Edited by Luke Fandrich
Starring Cam Koroluk / Produced by Thomas Gallagher