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What We Do in the Shadows

Reid Dickie

After years of negotiations the New Zealand Documentary Board was granted safe access to the secretive world of modern-day vampires. What We Do in the Shadows follows the daily lives of four vampires who live together in a ramshackle old house and confront the realities of 21st century life: paying the rent, keeping peace among roomies, getting into nightclubs and doing five years worth of dishes while maintaining the sanguine requirements of being a vampire. It’s one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in years.

This fresh take on vampires is the creation of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi (Eagle vs. Shark, Boy), two young New Zealand filmmakers. Clement and Waititi play Viago and Valdislav to the hilt as older vampires while Jonathan Brugh is Deacon, a younger less responsible vampire. In a vault in the catacombs of the house lives Peter who is thousands of years old and represents a traditional view of vampires as simply bloodthirsty. Add in all the classic abilities of vampires – flying, hypnotism, silver allergy, etc – and the result is tumultuous fun.

Of course it’s not a documentary; it’s a full-blown comedy, one of the best indies in recent years and a darling at recent film festivals. The screenplay is wonderful, keenly written with a natural comic eye as the men try to explain their lives and deal with each other, various undead and humanity. The lead actors construct characters who are consistently absurd yet possess enough human qualities to create empathy for their modern dilemmas which aren’t that different from us non-vampires. Their encounter with the werewolves made me howl – “We’re werewolves, not swearwolves.”

Watch the trailer and decide if What We Do in the Shadows appeals to you. I found the movie on icefilms.com. Thanks to my friend Kevin for making me aware of it.

Who Remembers the Med Movies on Friday Nights?

Reid Dickie

“We have been transmogrified from mad bodies dancing on hillsides to a pair of eyes staring in the dark.” – Jim Morrison

Two years at Ryerson in Toronto had opened my eyes to all kinds of films from W.C. Fields marathons to Fellini Satyricon (below) to Andy Warhol’s erotic western Lonesome Cowboys which was shown on multiple TV screens (to avoid the censors) in Cinema 2000, a modern XXX emporium on the Yonge Street strip. I craved a similar experience in Winnipeg and found it at the Med Movies.

A year or so after I moved here in the summer of 1973 I started hearing about underground movies that some med students showed every Friday night. Asking around I discovered the Med Movies tucked away in a lecture hall in the Basic Sciences Building at Emily and Bannatyne, part of the newly named Health Sciences Centre.

From October 3, 1975 to May 21, 1976 I went to both Med Movies every Friday. Sixty-four movies and I didn’t miss one. It was like getting a crash PhD in classic and modern films at $1.25 per movie. What a bargain!

The theatre was a large lecture hall with full size screen. The continuous bench seating let you stretch out for comfy viewing. It pulled small discerning crowds, the size often winter-weather dependent. The atmosphere was casual, laid back and reverent to the movies. Here are the films in my “20th century cinema course” on the original schedule sheets.

Looking at the schedule, the series offered an eclectic cross section of genre-busting, rarely seen films that together create an exceptional overview of world cinema in the first 75 years of the 20th century. Several of these films left indelible impressions on me: Little Murders, Death in Venice, Zabriskie Point, Mean Streets, Red Desert, Amarcord (below).

I still recall my gasps as I watched Jodorowsky’s El Topo (top) for the first time, being abducted to his strange and cruel world where you couldn’t just watch the movie, your entire nervous system and every bit of viscera also had to fully participate in the experience. I recently re-watched El Topo and it had a similar effect on me as it did 40 years ago. Don’t die without seeing El Topo.

This wasn’t the first year the med students showed movies and I don’t know how long they went on. I didn’t go the next year because my life had changed. I’d fallen in love with Linda.

She and I sat in on an experimental film course at the University of Manitoba a couple of winters later. We created films together several of which can be found on my YouTube channel. One of the more experimental films we made together was called Passionate Leave, shot in 1978/79 on Super 8. More details with the video here

Fellini’s TV Commercial for Campari 1984

Federico Fellini, visionary Italian filmmaker, made a few TV commercials in his career. In 1984 he created a commercial for the aperitif Campari.  “In just one minute,” writes Tullio Kezich in Federico Fellini: His Life and Work, “Fellini gives us a chapter of the story of the battle between men and women, and makes reference to the neurosis of TV, insinuates that we’re disparaging the miraculous gifts of nature and history, and offers the hope that there might be a screen that will bring the joy back. The little tale is as quick as a train and has a remarkably light touch.” Click the picture to watch.

 

How Do You Ask for a Date? The Good Old Days Part 1

 

 

CLICK EITHER PICTURE TO FIND OUT

Of Pomegranates and Southern Wild

Reid Dickie

Recent movies on my monitor include these two unique visual adventures. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Once there was a Hush Puppy and she lived with her daddy in The Bathtub. Seen through the eyes of a nine-year-old girl, this mesmerizing meditation on the meaning of home and family took me someplace I’d never been before. I’ve watched it three times and each time it draws me into its breaking and broken world – a small land mass off the Louisiana shore known as The Bathtub that’s being drowned by the rising ocean.

The lead actors, nine-year-old Quvenzhane Willis as Hush Puppy and Dwight Henry as Wink, her dying alcoholic father, give seamless convincing performances. Due to her astonishing performance, in 2012 Willis became the youngest actor ever nominated for a best actress Oscar. Films rarely glimpse into a child’s world, watching her gather knowledge and mythology, as intensely and sensitively as Beasts of the Southern Wild. Plus it has aurocks! Don’t miss this one.

Watch it free at http://putlocker.is/watch-beasts-of-the-southern-wild-online-free-putlocker.html

The Color of Pomegranates (1968)

Filmed in the Soviet Union in 1967/ 68, director Sergei Parajanov tells the life story of 16th century Armenian poet Sayat Nova in a series of surreal tableaux. I was immediately drawn into the  dream-like quality and unpredictability of the unorthodox images. There is no camera movement and no dialogue. Nova’s poetry accompanies the images along with wild sounds and music. Bizarre scenes arise and fade, the realm of dreams rules and sometimes the bright glowing edges of dreamless sleep break through the darkness.

I was reminded of Fellini, especially Satyricon (which came out the year after Color of Pomegranates) and Roma; and Jodorowsky, both El Topo and The Holy Mountain (both post-Color). The startling image of the man with the peacock beak in his mouth (above) is but one of dozens of quizzical and enthralling images in The Color of Pomegranates.

Much of the visual content is based on traditional Armenian folklore, design and clothing and stylized to make it feel alien yet comfortable. Horses, books and antlers are prominent motifs. Its 73-minute length makes it just long enough to stay focused on both the style and the story. The actors of all ages are convincing, the subtitles sparse but adequate and the soundtrack wonderfully diverse and curious.

Take a short vacation and watch it free at https://archive.org/details/ColorOfPomegranates-SayatNova1968

The Color of Pomegranates is on archive.org which has hundreds of other feature length films spanning the silent era through to the 21st century, along with shorts and trailers, all available to watch free. Classic films in most genres are just a click away. https://archive.org/details/feature_films

The Beats in the 21st Century

 

Reid Dickie

What better day than Jack Kerouac’s birthday to look at a few of the films produced in this century about The Beats. Notwithstanding David Cronenberg’s treatment of William Burrough’s Naked Lunch (1991) with Peter Weller and Judy Davis as Bill and Joan, I’ve recently seen four films released since 2000 about lives of notable writers who comprised The Beats. There are at least four more movies on topic I haven’t seen.

Beat (2000) This lumbering thing, the story of Bill and Joan Burroughs, stars Kiefer Sutherland as William Burroughs which is hilarious miscasting for about 10 minutes and excruciating thereafter, and Courtney Love as Joan Burroughs, ditto. If you get to act Burroughs at least try for “the voice!” Sutherland soft peddles it unconvincingly as the needy gay man on vacation with his boyfriend. His fedora and tinted glasses suggest Burroughs more than he does. Awful! Meanwhile Joan goes away with Allen Ginsberg (played by heavy black framed glasses on the face of Ron Livingston) and Lucien Carr who are sorting through their boring sexual stuff. They keep their underwear on for the skinny-dipping scene! Courtney becomes fag hag supreme but, alas, they eventually get back together so Bill can accidentally shoot her in the head. By demonstrating the minimum amount of sexual authenticity this movie ends up being dishonest, visual ipecac. Everyone phones this movie in. Don’t answer.

Howl (2010) Things start to gradually improve  now. Howl traces the creation and subsequent legal proceedings surrounding Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 epic poem called Howl.  The role of Ginsberg is played by – take a deep breath – James Franco! I know, WTF! More miscasting with some hilarity ensuing but again wearing thin quickly. The heavy black framed glasses suggested Ginsberg more than Franco did or could. I was, however, won over by his live reading of the whole poem in a coffeehouse which is threaded throughout the movie. Franco pumped some life and relevance into the moribund poem if not into the character. Cassidy, Kerouac, Orlovsky and even Ferlinghetti turn up. Some sexual honesty.

On the Road (2012) Finally someone completed a movie based on Kerouac’s classic Beat adventure and it’s the best of the bunch. This rich and expansive portrayal of post-war America partly succeeds at explaining the creative thirst that propelled a cabal of New Vision literary figures to define a generation. Focused on the actual writing of the book and the experiences and people that inspired it, I enjoyed On the Road‘s playfulness, landscapes and characterizations. Sam Riley seems too innocent as Kerouac at the beginning but becomes more convincing as his character loosens up, ages and starts to write. Vitto Mortensen as Bill Burroughs nails the man’s voice, mannerisms, intelligence and insouciance. But the glue that holds this movie together and steals every scene is the Neal Cassidy character, named Dean Moriarty, and played to the hilt, so to speak, by Garrett Hedlund. As the liberated sexual change agent who transforms others simply by being in his charismatic presence, Hedlund breathes life into the rest of the cast and the story and ultimately inspires Kerouac’s novel. Steve Buscemi makes a brief but satisfying appearance. On the Road is the most sexually honest of these four movies.

Kill Your Darlings (2013) Very loosely based on the murder of a gay man by Lucien Carr, a friend of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, this distasteful and rather dull thing just flops sideways and vomits a little blood with breakfast. Potter boy Daniel Radcliffe, who was typecast early and shall never escape from that cinematic purgatory even with heavy black framed glasses, poorly portrays Ginsberg and it’s not even fun to watch. Awful squared! Kerouac by Jack Huston isn’t quite awful and Burroughs portrayed by Ben Foster at least gives the voice an honest try. However, the writing sucks and the plot sucks. I hated this dishonest and boring movie.

Best Portrayals

Allen Ginsberg: Tom Sturridge in On the Road. He wore the glasses best and could actually have been Jewish.

William Burroughs: Vitto Mortensen in On the Road hands down.

Neal Cassidy: Garrett Hedlund in On the Road. I like this young actor who was vastly underused in Inside Llewyn Davis. He has several movies coming out soon.

Jack Kerouac: no clear winner so, for consistency, I give Sam Riley in On the Road the nod by default. See real Jack’s handsome face and hear me read his Pome on Doctor Sax 1:49

If you want to watch any of these movies, my obvious recommendation is On the Road. 

Two Bonus Movies I watch a lot of movies online and this week found two that deserve a mention though neither is related to The Beats in any way.

Now You See Me (2013) A wonderfully conceived set-up about illusionists and grand theft is almost scuttled by a dumb romance between two sub par actors, Mark Ruffalo and Alma Dray. Fast forward every time either one is on screen and you’ll have a tight little movie about magic with a satisfying ending. The four horsemen played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Ilsa Fisher and Dave Franco get all the good lines (“Nothing is ever locked.”) and ideas and mercifully sail above the predictable understory. 75% fun!

A Field in England (2013) Ending with weirdness. Back in the days of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) half a dozen soldiers of indeterminate allegiance converge in an English field where strange and unpredictable things occur after they consume a soup made of magic mushrooms. Ben Wheatley’s latest nightmare in black and white with adequate dollops of oddness took me somewhere I’d never been before. Occasionally the cast strikes a tableau vivant, posing almost motionless. Digging for treasure, death, bizarre sex, zero historical significance and strangeness abound. I enjoyed it on many inexplicable levels. You might not.

Another Tribute to Linda

Reid Dickie

Recently I became aware that a short film by Winnipeg producer and director Brendon Sawatzky was dedicated to Linda. In her role as Film Liaison for the City of Winnipeg, Linda worked closely with all kinds of filmmakers. I remember her speaking highly of Brendon and his work.

Brendon’s short film North American Perspective was shot in Winnipeg before 2009 and released on 2011. Linda is mentioned at the end.

In response to my email thanking him for the dedication, Brendon wrote back, “Linda was always such a huge help to me when I was working on my own films and always so fast to get things done.”

Click the picture to watch the film which is 5:50.

The Changing Light – Subtle, Relentless, Pure

Afternoon turns into night. Time lapse photography from the porch of Yurt #4 at Spruce Woods Provincial Park. Click pic to watch my video

“Waste Land” – Another Great Doc!

Reid Dickie

I have another documentary to recommend. Three years in the making, Waste Land follows Brazilian-born Brooklyn artist Vik Muniz back to his native Brazil and to the biggest garbage dump in the world, Jardim Gramacho, just outside of Rio de Janeiro. Muniz returns home to create images of the catadores, a group of about 2500 people who climb mountains of trash to pull recyclable materials out of the tons of garbage deposited daily. Vik’s original plan had been to “paint” the catadores but wound up having the garbage pickers create large images of themselves out of garbage and photographing the results. The despair and the dignity of the catadores is obvious and heartfelt throughout as is the transformational power of art. Suddenly given self-images and seeing their faces on the walls of an art gallery changes the lives of everyone involved in the process. Uplifting and provocative, Waste Land, directed by Lucy Walker, will inspire your imagination and invigorate your spirit. Click the pic to see the trailer.

Four Docs

Reid Dickie

I’ve been pillaging the Winnipeg library system’s terrific collection of DVDs for recent documentaries and have four to recommend to you. I’m sure you can find some or all of these on the internet.

Gasland by Josh Fox Wanna see a guy light his tap water on fire? Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, is a dangerous and earth-killing technique that oil and gas companies all over North America use to release natural gas from shale deposits deep underground. A combination of water, sand and over 900 chemicals under enormous pressure is pumped into the shale, fracturing the rock. Trouble is, without any oversight, the drillers pollute the groundwater of area residents with natural gas and chemicals causing dire consequences. On the Canadian prairies, fracking is used extensively in southwestern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan. It would be interesting to look at the groundwater purity in places like Waskada and Melita, MB and Stoughton, Carlyle and Weyburn, SK today and see what happens to it over the next year or two. Click the pic to watch a preview of Gasland.

Buck by Cindy Meehl Buck Brannaman is an American “horse whisperer” of sorts. Raised by a violently abusive father, Buck bucked the typical imitative lifestyle of the beaten-young and lived the opposite life, one of compassion, love and understanding for people and animals, especially horses. We follow Buck as he travels to various four-day horse-training workshops and we encounter the people and horses he meets and tames using his gentle technique which he teaches to the horse owners. We get to listen to Buck’s country philosophy delivered with humour and true wisdom. As Buck says, “Often, instead of helping people with horse problems, I’m helping horses with people problems.” I was honoured and humbled to spend ninety minutes in the presence of someone as highly evolved as Buck Brannaman and you will be too when you watch it. Click pic to see preview.

Exit Through the Gift Shop by Banksy When Linda and me first got together in 1977 we made all sorts of art including street art. Our outdoor work included putting fancy decorated bras on the “breasts” of fire hydrants, postering neighbourhood telephone poles with paper collages and so on. (You can find out much more about our early art efforts on my DTC Art page.) The spirit of street art has grown since then to the degree that one of the genre’s most shadowy figures, British graffiti artist Banksy, has made an Academy Award nominated documentary on the topic. Banksy tries to give us some direction here but this film twists and turns until you’re not sure who or what it is about. Fascinating glimpses into the lives of Shepard Fairey (OBEY) and Thierry Guetta whose role changes as the film progresses. Overall a statement on art beyond post-modernism demonstrating that the distance between graffiti on a brick wall in an alley and on the wall of a cocktail-muzak art gallery is very short. There is some indication the whole movie was a hoax, a prank by Banksy. Decide for yourself. Click pic for a preview.

Catfish by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost After a discussion on the veracity of the internet, my friend Kenn recommended Catfish to me. Thanks Kenn! Here we find a nice Jewish photographer who starts to buy art ostensibly painted by a little girl over the internet. Soon he meets her older sister, again over the internet. They talk on the phone, exchange pictures, check each other out on Facebook and he starts to fall in love with her. He desperately needs something to believe in but gradually things about her don’t add up so he and his filmmaker friends decide to visit her in Michigan. That’s as far as the trailer takes you and I’m leaving you there too. You’re on your own for the rest of this fast-paced eye-opener. I didn’t have much sympathy for the gullible photographer who seemed incapable of any kind of critical thinking, dumbed down and fully in the sway of Born-Yesterday Syndrome but I was richly entertained by the film. The upshot: Believe nothing you read on the internet, including my reviews, unless you can personally verify it, which in my case you can by seeing the films. Click the pic for trailer.

Four non-docs I recommend: Red State is a departure for that Kevin Smith and the antidote to Clerks. Tyrannosaur is a powerful British film completely peopled with despicables. The first season of British crime drama Luther features the incredible Idris Elba in the scary title role. Pirate Radio is a nostalgic romp that includes one of the best Beatles homage moments ever.

What a Guy!

Reid Dickie

Accolades just keep piling up for my friend and National Treasure, filmmaker Guy Maddin. Metacritic offers weighted averages of combined critic reviews of certain movies, video games, TV and music. In the Best Film Directors Since 2000 category, Guy ranks Number 3. Eligibility requires each director to have released at least 4 films since 2000 and to have garnered a minimum of seven reviews of each film. Prolific and purposeful, in the past 11 years Guy has released Saddest Music in the World, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary, My Winnipeg (which Roger Ebert included in his Top Ten Films of the First Decade of the 21th Century), Brand Upon the Brain, and Cowards Bend at the Knee. I highly recommend all these movies.

Guy’s current project, set for theatrical release in 2012, is called Keyhole, which was screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The Globe and Mail‘s review of it began like this: “A story of marital breakdown and the fight for reconciliation takes on an archetypal, absurd and delirious surface in Guy Maddin’s latest black-and-white dream movie.” This is a still of actor Jason Patric in Keyhole. If you are wondering who ranked Number One and Two, second was Pedro Almodovar and first was French director Laurent Cantet. See the whole list at www.metacritic.com/feature/best-film-directors-since-2000

Happy Deathday Federico Fellini

“Realism is a bad word. In a sense everything is realistic. I see no line between the imaginary and the real.” Not seeing a line between the imaginery and the real is probably a form of mental illness unless you happen to be Italian film director Federico Fellini, in which case, dream on baby! After living for 73 years and giving the world a unique body of work, Fellini died on this day in 1993 (as did River Phoenix who was 23). Some of Fellini’s thoughts on film and life bear acknowledging today. “A good opening and a good ending make for a good film providing they come close together.”  “All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” “I think television has betrayed the meaning of democratic speech, adding visual chaos to the confusion of voices. What role does silence have in all this noise?” “The artist is the medium between his fantasies and the rest of the world.” “You exist only in what you do.” “There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life.” You can find an earlier post about Fellini directing and watch an erotic scene from Fellini Satyricon  here. What’s with deathday?

Happy Deathday Jim Morrison

“Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as raven’s claws.” Doors lead singer and Old Soul Jim Morrison got his wings on this day in 1971. He was 27. Jim left us these thoughts to ponder today: “I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that seems to have no meaning.” and “Film spectators are quiet vampires.” and “I believe in a long, prolonged, derangement of the senses in order to obtain the unknown.” and “People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend.” and “The appeal of cinema lies in the fear of death.” and “When you make your peace with authority, you become authority.” and “I see myself as a huge fiery comet, a shooting star. Everyone stops, points up and gasps “Oh look at that!” Then- whoosh, and I’m gone…and they’ll never see anything like it ever again… and they won’t be able to forget me – ever.” That seems to be going to plan so far, Jim. What’s with deathday?

Fellini Directs

La Strada, 8 1/2, Roma, Satyricon, La Dolce Vita, The Clowns, Amarcord – all films by Italian director Federico Fellini and some of my all-time favourite movies. Fellini’s vision welled up from a creative dreamland unsurpassed in cinematic history, leaving behind (he died in 1993 at 73) a legacy of genius. Just ask Scorsese, Kubrick, Allen, Lynch, Fassbinder or Gilliam, all of whom claim Fellini as a major influence.

Fellini Satyricon was released in 1969 and uses Petronius’ stories of decadent ancient Rome around Nero’s time as its base. (Nero eventually ordered Petronius to commit suicide which he did very slowly and very dramatically in 66 A.D.) Fellini`s film is a visual feast, a sumptuous seven-course dinner served up with sides of surreal strangeness and sexual ambiguity, a rich banquet of marvellous faces, bizarre food and wry comedic events.

This clip shows Fellini directing one of the more erotic scenes in Satyricon, the three young stars in bed together. Actress Hylette Adolphe and actors Martin Potter (blond) and Hiram Keller follow Fellini`s intense and intimate direction to a tee. Part of the resulting scene as it appears in the final film follows. Click the picture to see Fellini direct.

 

Passionate Leave

            Over our first fall and winter living together, Linda and I sat in on an experimental film course being taught at the University of Manitoba by Mario Falsetto. The course traced 20^th century development of experimental films and included classics of the genre, films we’d read about but never seen.                 

        One of the films that influenced me was by an American filmmaker named Maya Deren. Her Meshes of the Afternoon inspired me to create this dream starring Linda. In Passionate Leave, Linda dreams she has a dream, sees herself on TV, in TV and passes through the mirror while an eclipse of the sun occurs or does it? Shot on Super 8 at 729 Lorette Avenue late 1978, early 1979. Near the end of the film, there is actually a total eclipse of the sun, which occurred on February 26, 1979, a clear but bitterly cold day to be shooting film.

       I’m especially proud of Passionate Leave.

Happy Birthday Steve McQueen

The King of Cool was born on this day in 1930. He starred in 29 movies between 1953 and 1980 when cancer claimed his life. Here’s a few of Steve‘s thoughts.  “I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth.” Me, too. “In my own mind, I’m not sure that acting is something for a grown man to be doing.” and “Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting.” And others said, “Steve is the prototypical cool American male. He’s the guy on his horse, the guy alone. He has his own code of honor, his own code of ethics, his own rules of living. He never, ever tries to impress the women, but he always gets the girl.” said Donal Logue in The Tao of Steve. “I remember seeing him across the swimming pool and my knees were knocking. He radiated such macho energy. Men wanted to be like him. Uptight society ladies and biker molls wanted to be with him,” said Ali MacGraw. Not Dead-Dead since November 7, 1980. 

Working Conditions for Wolves

        Linda always inspired me, sometimes in obvious ways, often in small, subtle ways but ever lovingly. Her job as Film Liaison for the City of Winnipeg required Linda to be up to speed on all film activity in the city. She sent me this one pager about wolves on movie sets with a note at the end saying she couldn’t wait to read the story it inspired. Though it is rich with potential and aroused some ideas in my head, I never did write a story based on this curious bit of movie minutiae. Instead of a story, I’ll share the information she sent me. 

WORKING CONDITIONS FOR WOLVES

 Here are guidelines for all crew members to follow when working around and with WILD ANIMALS to ensure a safe and successful shoot.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE ARE WILD ANIMALS THAT HAVE BEEN USED IN MANY FILM PRODUCTIONS. THESE ARE NOT “PETS.” PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TOUCH, OR ASK TO TOUCH ANY OF THESE WOLVES (UNLESS YOU ARE A TRAINER). THE TRAINERS THAT WORK WITH THEM HAVE WORKED FOR MANY YEARS USING THE WOLF’S NATURAL INSTINCT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ALLOW THEM TO BE “PREPPED” IN THE LOCATION THAT WE ARE FILMING IN ALLOWING THEM TO FEEL COMFORTABLE IN ANY NEW SURROUNDING SO THAT THEY ARE CONFIDENT IN THEIR WORKING ENVIRONMENT.

BECAUSE WOLVES ARE PREDATORY ANIMALS IT IS VERY IMPORTANT  WHEN FILMING AT NIGHT THAT WE FILM THEM WITH MINIMAL CREW AND ARE ALWAYS AWARE THAT CREW ACTIVITY MUST STOP WHEN WORKING AROUND THE WOLVES TO ALLOW THEM TO FOCUS ON THE TRAINERS.

WHEN WORKING WITH WOLVES;

-WOLVES WILL BE PARKED AS CLOSE TO SET AS POSSIBLE KEPT IN OUR TRANSPORT TRAILER, IN SEPARATE LOCKED CAGES.

-ALL SHOTS/SET UPS, WILL BE DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY.

-WE WILL NEED TO HAVE A CLEARED PATHWAY TO BRING WOLVES IN AND OUT OF SET SAFELY. THERE SHOULD BE NO CREW AND NO EQUIPMENT ON THIS PATH WHATSOEVER. LOCKDOWN WHEN WOLVES TRAVEL TO AND FROM SET.

-IF ANY EQUIPMENT EG. LIGHTS, FLAGS, RIGGING NEEDS TO BE MOVED OR ADDED WHEN WOLVES ARE ON SET, PLEASE ASK TRAINER IF IT IS O.K. LET US BE AWARE SO WE CAN MOVE THE WOLF AWAY IF NECESSARY.

-MINIMAL CREW WHEN WORKING WITH THE WOLVES, VIDEO VILLAGE, CREW ETC. IS BEST TO BE KEPT IN GROUP AREA OFF  TO THE SIDE, KEEP IN MIND WOLVES HAVE VERY ACUTE HEARING AND SIGHT, IF WE ARE FILMING AT NIGHT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO DISTRACT WOLVES WHEN THEY NEED TO FOCUS.

-AFTER EVERY SHOT PLEASE CHECK WITH TRAINER MAKING SURE THAT ALL THE WOLVES ARE SECURED INSIDE CATCH/RELEASE CAGES OR ON LEASH BEFORE CREW STARTS TO MOVE AROUND.

THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS, IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS FEEL FREE TO ASK TRAINER. HE WILL HAVE A SAFETY MEETING WITH CREW BEFORE WOLVES COME ON TO SET TO WORK.

.PLEASE NO FOOD ON SET.

Top Three DickTool Co Videos on YouTube

#3

Be An Artist Now :29

click pic to play

#2

Kangeroo Birth Cycle Coat 1:07

click pic to play

#1

I Scare Myself 5:52

click pic to play

More DickTool Co videos here.

Happy Birthday Guy Maddin

Winnipeg’s Civic Treasure film visionary Guy Maddin said, “Those are my goals, you know. To be smart, tasteless and feeling. Something to shoot for.” and “Rage-thought to live by: in The General, Buster gets so annoyed at his girlfriend’s stupidity for stoking the engine with tiny pieces of wood, he facetiously gives her little toothpicks – which she dutifully feeds into the fire. He then stares at her in disbelief, then delights in her anyway and leaps at her with a kiss. Sweet axiom!” and “Sadness is just happiness turned on its ass—it’s all showbiz!” Roger Ebert named “My Winnipeg” as one of the ten best films of the first decade of the century. Guy turns 55 years old today.