Artistic Introspection

Last night, I dug through my archived video projects to find my senior thesis, Slip. I had been prompted by my brother's blog post that quoted from the film I made while a student at the University of New England. I was shocked to find that I only have one copy of the film; I must have chucked a whole mess of copies during moving, because I used to have way too many discs of this crazy little film.

I popped in the DVD with a bit of trepidation, since I know that the years can be unkind to artistic endeavors (especially initial, novice ones). But I wanted to take a moment to see where I was six years ago, creatively, and take stock of what steps (hopefully) forward I have made. Here's a breakdown of good stuff/bad stuff:

GOOD: opening credits, which used a projector shooting onto a tub of water. I remember rigging this up knowing that if anything went wrong, a $2000 projector and camera could get destroyed. Looks great, though!

BAD: v e r y s l o w b e g i n n i n g
I would have done well to have others in the editing suite with me, forcing me to cut out many of the bits I wrote. The first third of the film just drags, with a dull attention to detail: showing every piece of the morning as the protagonist, Charles, gets ready for work. I wrote in some comedy, but it just falls flat because it is so slow. Lesson learned: a good artist knows that some ideas have to be scrapped.

GOOD: casting! A smart director who has limited time doesn't cast actors who need to prep, he casts people who actually are his characters.

BAD: audio. While this was due to a lack of equipment and crew, it makes me cringe to have audio levels bump up, then down, be covered with wind noise, or include camera clicks. I now have some better equipment, but haven't done a talkie in a while...

GOOD: script. I'm still proud of the script I wrote. I think it did a good job of exploring the concepts of id, ego and superego with an eye towards zaniness and action. With some appropriate editing, I think it could make a very nice little TV show.

CUTE: my casting of future wife Bethany as "Thief/Butt Slapper" Guess who's butt she slapped? Also, I knew she was the one for me when she let me destroy her car for the film.


The film was inspired by a course I took that dealt with Freudian psychoanalysis, among other things. I made the film under a huge time crunch (my advisor doubted I would produce a final film) and starring friends that I coerced/begged into sacrificing for me. I pulled favors from the media department, facilities management and the Biddeford community at large. Thinking back, I am kinda shocked that I pulled it off...amazing the things we do when we are younger.

I'm going to try and post it online soon...look for it.