Thursday, February 12, 2009
Daily Encounters
Daily Encounters is the first collaboration project with Liz, Phil, and Thomas. The project was a blast to make.
Directed by: Liz, Phil, Thomas
Edited by: Liz
Enjoy!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Hedonic Iconic
This is the Doc Shop 6 (2008-2009) project that I am working along side with Phil Fortin and Elizabeth Familiar da Silva. The following is the complete pitch we submitted to the National Film Board of Canada and was written by Elizabeth Familiar da Silva:
Hedonic Iconic is about exploring the drag scene of Montreal through the eyes of Dan and his drag persona, La Marquise de Sade.
Many people are ill-informed about drag or hold very prejudice opinions against it, while others have yet to discover it. We want to show people how drag is an art form, mainly performance art. If it can be socially accepted in movies such as Hairspray (2007), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Some Like it Hot (1959), why would it have a hard time gaining acceptance, almost fifty years later, as a source of entertainment off the screen? Drag queens are very much like comedians. They aim to entertain an audience by making them experience a pleasurable feeling, and seriously, who wouldn't want to see a man attempt to dress up like a girl? We do not aim to scare the viewers or make them uncomfortable but rather we want to gently introduce them to the concept of drag by explaining the drag phenomena and how it's all about art imitating life and life imitating art. Basically our goal is to give the viewers a taste of drag and show them that it is not a freak show.
The documentary will be a split-portrait piece on one key participant with two personalities, that Dan and the other of the drag queen Marquise. Two personalities that are very different from each other but share the same body. The key participant will help the viewers to understand drag and how a drag queen is born through his perspective and collective experiences. We want the viewers to connect with both Dan and Marquise on a personal level so they can better embrace and understand what drag means to Dan and his persona and show them how much hard work and devotion Dan has put into creating his drag persona Marquise. We want the viewers to feel empathy for our key participant and by feeling empathy they are aware of feeling and thus more opened to understanding Dan's life.
This documentary is unique in itself that it deals with a subject that is rarely discussed openly, especially in the media and interviews one person physically but yet is interviewing two mentally. the following are a few questions that we will ask our key participant:
1) What is drag?
2) What is the drag scene in Montreal like?
3) What is drag to the performer?
4) How is drag different from other types of performing arts?
5) What kind of topics do you cover in your work and why?
6) How do you think drag brings a community of people together?
7) How did your friends and family react when you decided to launch your drag persona?
Drag is becoming a popular form of entertainment where people are required to leave their homes to see a show. Thus it fits into the theme of community empowerment because it's bringing people together, different characters spend a night sharing laughs and hold no worries about how stressful tomorrow will be. It can be seen as a form of escapism for both the audience and the drag queens, and escape from the hegemonic patriarchy society we live in, which dictates what is normal and what is queer. Drag queens are very unique characters, it's as if they've been offered a second chance on life and they are making the most of it, sometimes they might even go above and beyond. They are not easily swayed or embarrassed, and if they have something to say they will express their thoughts gladly and loudly. They are constantly trying to be swept under the carpet but they don't want to go. Many people see drag queens as role models because they are not afraid of showing the world who they truly are they are not afraid to make political statements or social satire. they are here to stay and stay they will.
Since drag shows are very theatrical in their performances we have decided to take an experimental approach to filming and editing this documentary. We want the form to express the content. We plan to introduce our key participant through dramatic close-ups and mysterious medium shots of his body to convey the illusion that our performer is a female but in reality is a man. our performer will then be formally introduced when we show her performing on stage. We are three different filmmakers with three different style preferences when it comes to filming a video. Realistic abstract, and technical. We hope to use each style along with various camera angles and dramatic lighting to reflect drag as an art form. We would like to use visuals and ambient noise found in the drag scene of Montreal as well. We also plan to use the power of silence in this documentary to emphasize certain points made by our key participant in order for the viewers to feel a strong empathy for our performer.
Our key participant is very excited and willing to dedicate time on this documentary. He knows us personally and therefore will be very comfortable revealing personal information that can be used to show him as a person and as a performer. He is ready, along with our team, to put as much time as needed to create this documentary. Our team of three have divided the work into three parts; visual, sound, and editing. Each member will focus on a specific aspect, but we will be working alongside other specialists and working collectively to create our final product.
Status: Pre-Production
Hedonic Iconic is about exploring the drag scene of Montreal through the eyes of Dan and his drag persona, La Marquise de Sade.
Many people are ill-informed about drag or hold very prejudice opinions against it, while others have yet to discover it. We want to show people how drag is an art form, mainly performance art. If it can be socially accepted in movies such as Hairspray (2007), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Some Like it Hot (1959), why would it have a hard time gaining acceptance, almost fifty years later, as a source of entertainment off the screen? Drag queens are very much like comedians. They aim to entertain an audience by making them experience a pleasurable feeling, and seriously, who wouldn't want to see a man attempt to dress up like a girl? We do not aim to scare the viewers or make them uncomfortable but rather we want to gently introduce them to the concept of drag by explaining the drag phenomena and how it's all about art imitating life and life imitating art. Basically our goal is to give the viewers a taste of drag and show them that it is not a freak show.
The documentary will be a split-portrait piece on one key participant with two personalities, that Dan and the other of the drag queen Marquise. Two personalities that are very different from each other but share the same body. The key participant will help the viewers to understand drag and how a drag queen is born through his perspective and collective experiences. We want the viewers to connect with both Dan and Marquise on a personal level so they can better embrace and understand what drag means to Dan and his persona and show them how much hard work and devotion Dan has put into creating his drag persona Marquise. We want the viewers to feel empathy for our key participant and by feeling empathy they are aware of feeling and thus more opened to understanding Dan's life.
This documentary is unique in itself that it deals with a subject that is rarely discussed openly, especially in the media and interviews one person physically but yet is interviewing two mentally. the following are a few questions that we will ask our key participant:
1) What is drag?
2) What is the drag scene in Montreal like?
3) What is drag to the performer?
4) How is drag different from other types of performing arts?
5) What kind of topics do you cover in your work and why?
6) How do you think drag brings a community of people together?
7) How did your friends and family react when you decided to launch your drag persona?
Drag is becoming a popular form of entertainment where people are required to leave their homes to see a show. Thus it fits into the theme of community empowerment because it's bringing people together, different characters spend a night sharing laughs and hold no worries about how stressful tomorrow will be. It can be seen as a form of escapism for both the audience and the drag queens, and escape from the hegemonic patriarchy society we live in, which dictates what is normal and what is queer. Drag queens are very unique characters, it's as if they've been offered a second chance on life and they are making the most of it, sometimes they might even go above and beyond. They are not easily swayed or embarrassed, and if they have something to say they will express their thoughts gladly and loudly. They are constantly trying to be swept under the carpet but they don't want to go. Many people see drag queens as role models because they are not afraid of showing the world who they truly are they are not afraid to make political statements or social satire. they are here to stay and stay they will.
Since drag shows are very theatrical in their performances we have decided to take an experimental approach to filming and editing this documentary. We want the form to express the content. We plan to introduce our key participant through dramatic close-ups and mysterious medium shots of his body to convey the illusion that our performer is a female but in reality is a man. our performer will then be formally introduced when we show her performing on stage. We are three different filmmakers with three different style preferences when it comes to filming a video. Realistic abstract, and technical. We hope to use each style along with various camera angles and dramatic lighting to reflect drag as an art form. We would like to use visuals and ambient noise found in the drag scene of Montreal as well. We also plan to use the power of silence in this documentary to emphasize certain points made by our key participant in order for the viewers to feel a strong empathy for our performer.
Our key participant is very excited and willing to dedicate time on this documentary. He knows us personally and therefore will be very comfortable revealing personal information that can be used to show him as a person and as a performer. He is ready, along with our team, to put as much time as needed to create this documentary. Our team of three have divided the work into three parts; visual, sound, and editing. Each member will focus on a specific aspect, but we will be working alongside other specialists and working collectively to create our final product.
Status: Pre-Production
Haunted Institution
Watch Haunted Institution | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Another short created by the makers of Daily Encounters. Again this short was directed by all three of us (Phil, Liz and Thomas) and features Liz on camera, Phil as the depraved lunatic, and Thomas as the unknown. Edited by Thomas.
The story was thought up in less then half an hour and we filmed the whole thing in an hour.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Copyright Infringement
Bye Bye Beautiful has been removed from Facebook due to alleged copyright infringement.
Know I know that the video used the song "bye bye beautiful" without the band's (NightWish) permission. The video was made 100% for educational purposes and hand no monetary gain. Anyways, the video is still available on the Veoh network.
Know I know that the video used the song "bye bye beautiful" without the band's (NightWish) permission. The video was made 100% for educational purposes and hand no monetary gain. Anyways, the video is still available on the Veoh network.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Bye Bye Beautiful - NightWish Music Video Project (Video II)
Watch Bye Bye Beautiful - NightWish Music Video Project (Video II) in Music Videos | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
This is what I have been working on for the past month and a half. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed filming it and putting it together.
Credits:
Bye Bye Beautiful By: NightWish
Actors:
Shanna Roussy & Thomas Harper
Cameraman:
Anton Chernobulsky & Thomas Harper
Sound and Make Up:
Roxane Roussy - Duguay
Prop Designer:
Barry Harper
Editor:
Thomas Harper
Directed and Written by:
Thomas Harper
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Depravity
As some of you might already know, this is our very first short movie. We made this back in High School as a final project for our Media class. Our hopes weren't very high but we were very pleased by the results. One particular scene, that being the autopsy scene, took us 8 hours to prepare and about 30 minutes to film. We obtained the guts from a slaughterhouse.
Now as for the story... Yeah, we had lots of problems with that. We started off with a solid script which we followed for perfectly for our first time. Then when ideas started popping in "Oh, it would be better if we did it that way..." or "Scrap that scene and lets put this one instead". With all the re-writes and improvised scenes we ended up screwing ourselves more than anything else. So we had the idea of add that interrogation scenes in to stick everything together. Overall it did an OK job, but it could always be much better.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
On a side note: The video features Chabanna Productions as the producers of this short movie. In actual fact both Chabanna Productions and Harper Productions own the rights to this short movie.
Now as for the story... Yeah, we had lots of problems with that. We started off with a solid script which we followed for perfectly for our first time. Then when ideas started popping in "Oh, it would be better if we did it that way..." or "Scrap that scene and lets put this one instead". With all the re-writes and improvised scenes we ended up screwing ourselves more than anything else. So we had the idea of add that interrogation scenes in to stick everything together. Overall it did an OK job, but it could always be much better.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
On a side note: The video features Chabanna Productions as the producers of this short movie. In actual fact both Chabanna Productions and Harper Productions own the rights to this short movie.
Coffee Cup Massacre
Alright I have to admit it. This movie was completely rushed, suffered from lack of story, and a hasty change (from the zombie movie that was originally planned to this one). Anyways enough of defending this short movie. Basically this short movie focuses on Camera techniques. We used our homemade Steady Cams, our poor man steady cam and our multi jointed one. We also used a dolly. The down side to using a dolly (particularly this one) is the amount of noise the wheels make. We could have made some kind of noise reduction apparatus to counter this problem on the set, but time wasn't on our side so we had to remove the sound post-production. Another issue that we had was the lack of a good camera. As you can see the quality of the image isn't very good also the resolution of the raw footage was 320 x 240. This isn't an improvement on our first short movie (Depravity), but is a good practice for upcoming projects. We also tried out a couple of special effects, such as head shots and other various, less visible, effects. The head shot is produced by taking a small pipe and welding a larger pipe at the end. We then bent the small pipe so that it looked like an "L". We loaded the larger pipe with a bit of toilet paper and then filled it up to the rim with Ketchup. Now keep in mind we didn't have the financial resources to produce / buy exploding blood packets that professionals use. This movie was done on a 20$ budget! I hope you enjoy this short movie as much as we enjoyed making it.
Online Videos by Veoh.com
Online Videos by Veoh.com
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