Snowbird
This is long overdue! Click here to see Snowbird at the IFC Media Lab
This is a short film that I originally shot on 16mm. It is my first "narrative" film. The file is rather large because the film is 10 minutes long, so please be patient if you are downloading it. The film was shot in New York State at the end of 2003 and didn't get finished until just recently (though a rough copy of it played in the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Festival Market in 2004). The film stars Perry Daniel and was shot by Carl Fuermann.
Special Features Section: Perry is sitting in front of the reservoir that supplies New York City with its drinking water. Needless to say, when the sun went down we were harassed by both the local Police and the Feds for our "suspicious" activities! On top of all of this, it turned out that the car we had borrowed from a friend was recorded as having been impounded but never released. Translation: as far as they were concerned, we were driving a stolen car and up to no good. Oh, and they also suspected that our bottle of water was actually a bottle of vodka (Absolut and Smart Water have similar bottle designs). We managed to clear everything up, though. The Police were actually very friendly and let us finish filming- with a stern warning that if we crossed over the guardrail, they would "turn us over" to the Feds!
posted by sea dot at 12:32 PM
Subscribe To Podcast
4 Comments:
Great short, Courtney, very fun and interesting.
Loved the way the film looked after transfer and compression. Still unmistakably film.
That's like your anti Courtney meeting Courtney. Anti-matter and matter almost meeting. It's no wonder law enforcement was edgy. I've been to water tunnels in NYC being built by the sandhogs. As far as studying astronomy- more power to you. So long as you're kind and put a roof over your head it doesn't matter what you do for a living. There's beauty in nature and as an artist you may be able to effectively convey that better to others. Sometimes art is just subjective- you can't rely on it because you need your senses to appreciate it. Cosmology I guess is similiar because it's only true until it's disproved by new findings. I found your vlog thru Freevlog.
Wow, such nice comments! I had gone through a short depression after submitting this film to Atom Films. They gave me a nice rejection letter, saying that they "understand how hard it is to make a film" and that they suggest that I put it on some other video clip site- one of those "drunk guy tripping over a fat chick" or "watch me set this firecracker off in my..." whatever sites. Clearly a slap in the face (and if the film won't work on Atom, I doubt anyone looking for drunk sorority chicks is going to give "Snowbird" its ten minutes)! So thanks! You both made my day! I'm working with video compression issues right now (glad the film look holds up), but I plan to have more up before too long!
I feel your pain, man. I have submitted a number of spectacular films to Atom Films,all rejected. One was a very prestigious award winner.My opinion of Atom FIlms: They are a bunch of morons who dont know how to recognize good work. Just look at some of the garbage and filth that they try to pass off as films. Its insulting. (there are SOME good films on the site, however) yes I too recieved that "slap in the face" more than once. Unfortunately for them, this filmmaker will never submit another piece of work to that pathetic site again. Im sure there are other filmmakers who feel the way i do also. Keep up the good work.
Post a Comment
<< Home