When No One's Looking

a poem by Luke Fandrich

It's on principle that I offer my work.
A belief that a few cuts can influence.
A belief that a few seconds is enough.
A belief that I do have something to share.

It's on principle that I offer myself.
Tear me apart.
Build me up.
Maybe see what I see.

It's on principle that I dropped out.
Too cool for school.
Too smart to be dumb any longer.
Too young to feel stuck.

It's on principle that I push.
Even if you won't watch.
Even if you won't read.
And especially if you don't care.

It's all in the principle.

When no one's looking I'm still editing.
When no one's looking I'm still posturing.
When no one's looking I'm still learning.
When no one's looking I'm still here.

I'm not asking for much.
I'm just fishing for a chance.

1989 Buick Park Avenue

It's no secret that I love my car. Sure she's old and a little rough around the edges, but she still works surprisingly well.  From Educated Detours, to Buick to the Future, to Split Wash and beyond, I'm sure my car will continue to pop up in my videos for as long as she runs. This post was inspired by a handful of original Buick commercials from the 1980s that I found on YouTube. Crazy that "THE Buick" as she's known, is now over 20 years old.  See my car below.

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!