SEEING THE TOWN THROUGH A LENS - WITH THE VIDEOGRAPHER

SEEING THE TOWN THROUGH A LENS - WITH THE VIDEOGRAPHER

YOUNG ROBERT THE RISING CECIL B. DEMILLE - A GRAVENHURST BOOSTER ON A MISSION

     AS A WRITER, I SEE THINGS IN OUR TOWN QUITE DIFFERENTLY, OR SO I'M TOLD, ACCORDING TO MY VIDEOGRAPHER SON, ROBERT, WHO HAS BEEN WORKING WITH ME ON THE WILLIAM HENRY SMITH PROJECT.
     ROBERT HAS BECOME QUITE A TALENTED PHOTOGRAPHER, WHO HAS BEEN SUPPLEMENTING MY ONLINE WRITING PROJECTS, WITH APPROPRIATE GRAPHICS, FROM TIME TO TIME.....PARTICULARLY WHEN WE WERE WORKING ON THE RICHARD KARON BIOGRAPHY BACK IN THE SPRING. HE CREATED THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE KARON BLOG-SITE AND BEFORE THIS, HE WORKED ON A TIGHT BUDGET OF TIME, TO LAUNCH THE SKOKIE SONG, TO HELP OUT THE GRAVENHURST WINTER CARNIVAL BACK IN FEBRUARY, WITH SINGER DANI O'CONNOR, AND THE GROUP OF MUSICIANS THEY CALL "PRESSURE POINT." I'M NOT SAYING THE LAD IS HOLLYWOOD BOUND, BUT HE'S BEEN GREAT COMPANY ON SOME OF MY HISTORICAL PROJECTS AND PROMOTIONS THAT ABSOLUTELY NEEDED A GRAPHIC COMPONENT TO MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL. THIS ISN'T EASY FOR A WRITER TO ADMIT. WE ALL LIKE TO THINK WE CAN STAND ALONE IN THE STORM, AND PREVAIL WITH OUR WORDS. NOT SO! WELL AT LEAST NOT ME.
     SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, WHEN I GOT THE IDEA TO DO SOMETHING TO MARK THE 15OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAMING OF GRAVENHURST, 1862-2012, I FIGURED THAT THE ONLY WAY TO MARKET THE OCCASION, WITHOUT ANY ENTHUSIASM FROM THE TOWN, WAS TO ASK ROBERT IF HE COULD.....OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF HIS HEART, CREATE A MUSIC VIDEO TO COMMEMORATE THE ANNIVERSARY ON AUGUST IST. ROB ALWAYS PLAYS A LITTLE HARD TO GET, BUT YOU'D BE SURPRISED WHAT I HAVE AT MY BECK AND CALL, TO USE AS BAIT. ACTUALLY, HE LIKES THE PUBLICITY THAT GOES ALONG WITH SOME OF THE BIGGER PROJECTS, SO I DON'T USUALLY HAVE TO BRIBE TOO MUCH, TO GET HIM ONBOARD.

I SEE A LOT OF NEAT STUFF ON A CAMERA SCREEN (NOT REALLY A LENS ANY MORE)

     On this project, I've been driving around with him, and standing at his side as he videos scenes of particular interest, to both of us, and although it perplexes me a little, and I'm not sure if I like it or not, it has finally begun to interest me, and frankly, each shoot that I attend with the "director", I get new ideas for more visual projects down the road. I hate to use the word "fascinating," but I've actually shifted my opinion about the use of supporting film / video, to make a writing project more substantial and dimensional, for any one viewing, and or reading along. I can't really explain this, other than to suggest, I've been an old-school writer for far too long, and I had certainly, before now, constructed and nailed myself into a box......believing that there was only one way for a writer to operate........without a crutch. I never wanted to have a companion video out-perform what I was writing about, and the same could be said for accompanying photographs I used in the news business, especially on features. In fact, I used to get mad if a staff photographer wanted to get a few extra images published, with a news piece I was working on......of for example, a recent fire in town. The photographers thought the coverage should be all graphic, with a couple of meaty cutlines, and that would be fine. Hell they would have taken over the whole paper if the writing staff hadn't possessed a higher managerial authority.
     Old habits. So greedy me, I got kind of weird, when I'd watch some of the video Robert was splicing together, to support my story, feeling that it was more attention-grabbing than what I had composed in print. Getting jealous of my son's capabilities to capture what I couldn't document in print, was pretty pathetic, and I have offered apology after apology, for being snarly about the shortfalls of videography to "tell the story." I'm beginning to feel pretty lowly, that I didn't turn to video myself years ago, and train in the art of film, and today, of course, video. I did take a lot of photographs as a news reporter for the local press, but I certainly never impressed the photographic staff with my prowess. I used to hear a lot of screaming from the darkroom when my photographs were being developed, and images printed, because the technicians always had to do a lot of "dodging and burning," to get my work up to publishing grade. The problem was that a lot of the photographs were "must" breaking-news images for the paper, so there wasn't much choice but to take weak photographs and make them better. I cost a lot of photographers their hair, in those days, because I refused to follow their instruction before heading out on assignment. So I've had an age-old standoffish approach to photographers who want to help me, by crowding out my editorial copy. Robert is anything but intrusive, and with this latest compilation of video and editorial, we have been abundantly aware of the sensitivity of each other's feelings. While he doesn't give-in when I put on a snit, about something getting missed, he is pretty good about negotiating....and has never refused a little tweaking of the video if I lobby hard and long enough. He's a good sport and I'm an old fart, just now getting out of my rut.
     I have enjoyed looking at Gravenhurst through the framing of the camera screen.....which is a lot better than the old days, having a tiny little view-finder to see the world as it unfolds. I stood behind Robert, while taking video, and I've actually started to feel comfortable with what is being captured, versus what is being cut out of the frame. If I sit down at the lake, to get a feeling for the actuality of the day, or the event, I'm scanning all over the place, trying to take it all in, because honestly, to me, it's all important to whatever story I'm composing. So it has been a major adjustment, trying to stick to what the camera is pointed at, and focused on, at any one time. This may seem ridiculous, in this day and age, but I have always been very conservative about my approach, and it's been only in recent history that I've abandoned a manual typewriter, writing copy by hand  (just ask the Muskoka Sun editorial department), and hand delivering my finished copy (ready for typesetting) to the editor's desk. Robert decided that it was time to teach the old dog some new tricks, and in a short time, I was introduced to a computer keyboard and flickering screen, a fax machine, a scanner, and now a laptop that I'm using in my temporary day-office, here in the old Muskoka Theatre building, on Muskoka Road. So this should explain my chagrin, adjusting to videography......and how to work a balance between the two art forms to make a sensible, readable, entertaining final product, that does service to the mission at hand.....of recognizing the 150th anniversary of the naming of the Gravenhurst Post Office, after the title of a book, written by British writer, William Henry Smith. But here's the thing. I had to surrender somewhat, but I did so willingly, after sensing that to be contemporary, and have any kind of shelf life, and appeal to the younger generation, the video would have to carry the weight of the story.
     A year or two ago, the purist in me, would have demanded my video buddy, take a very conservative and almost pious perspective of the legends of literature, that were to be profiled in my companion blog-series. It would have to be low-key, with maybe soft music.....a flute or harpist as an accompaniest, with almost sepia-tone pre-aging of the video, to make it look as if the images were on century old film. In other words, it would appear void of life and enthusiasm, but be respectful to every old way there ever was. That's how boring I was as an historian, before I found the free-wheeling of a young videographer, who has not yet built himself a box to climb into, to avoid being a little controversial. So I told him, that I wanted him to abandon all my other ridiculous protocols, and come up with something that shows the excitement of 2012, in the hometown, William Dawson LeSueur named in 1862, as a tribute to a fledgling settlement in South Muskoka, and an author in Britain, he happened to be particularly fond.......the book "Gravenhurst; or Thoughts on Good and Evil," was first published in 1862, and LeSueur, had received a copy for review. He may have been a civil servant with the federal post office during the work week, but he was a revered literary critic, published widely in North American periodicals. Giving our town the name "Gravenhurst," should have been considered an honor, but it didn't really impact this way. LeSueur had insulted the citizens, of the hamlet, who had wanted the name "McCabe's Landing," to adorn their new post office.
     The music video had to be upbeat in our opinion, and to be considered relevant at all, especially by the younger citizens of our community, being overly conservative, would destine it to wind-up archived with a lot of other good intentions, but largely wasted efforts. The last thing I needed, was to put my son to all this additional work, and have nothing to show for it at the end, except a video proving just how dull history can be....when documented badly. The video I've watched him creating, will upset those ultra-conservative historians, who have no use for loud, aggressive music, to promote anything, or weird camera angles to captivate an audience. A couple of years ago, I might have wrestled the lad, to temper it all down, but today it just seems so much more appropriate, to make something that has some spark and life to it, even if the subjects have been in the grave for long and long. What I wanted to do, with my camera-at-the-ready son, was to provide something that our town council might look at, and feel somewhat more at ease, embracing the idea a poet / philosopher / literary critic is responsible for the name of our town. I wanted people to see the video, and read the material, and feel at ease with all the historic facts and attachments of the literary provenance. Not to fear and loathe it, because it is too dry and interwoven, to meet modern expectations. Gads, what would be served by going to all this work, and finding at the conclusion, that the only buzz the project will generate, is from the electrical current feeding computer and video, without one snapping spark, to generate future interest in a history we know very little about. So we worked on a presentation that may rub some folks wrong......that may irritate the already irritable, and content and music that may raise the dead, to come after us, for adding pizazz to the inherently dull nature of history.
     If this video and accompanying history, of the naming of Gravenhurst, one hundred and fifty years ago, turns out to be a dog, well, please don't blame the videographer. It wasn't his fault, being born into the family of a writer. He has had a fair bit of room to roam but he still knows his pop is a stickler for detail, and even though I was a hippy in my day, and almost made it to Woodstock, I'm persnickety about the way the final product hits the proverbial water....not doing a belly-flop in front of a large crowd of spectators. But at my middle-age crazy, there doesn't seem much point in holding back on things, simply because of fears "contemporary," won't mix with "historic." They have to. We need our young folks to bring history to modern perspective, and I'm afraid so much is tucked away in archives, and not part of contemporary life and times, that it will be conveniently forgotten, and become irrelevant at best. I have more fear of this than offending the memory of William Henry Smith and William Dawson LeSueur, two folks I respect immensely. Equally, we did not want to show any disrespect to the fine folks of Gravenhurst either, such that they might believe we are less than serious about honoring the town's many accomplishments, and rich social, cultural heritage. I would hope that viewers and readers will immediately sense our mutual respect for our hometown, and show our ongoing interest, to promote the legacy we have found between two well known and internationally significant authors, and the town that has benefitted from the honor of a shared title......"Gravenhurst."
     Robert is editing the video as I write today's blog. So far, I have only watched portions, and heard the companion music he wrote and recorded, with his group, "City of Tiny Lights," a truly Gravenhurst production from beginning to end. This is a homegrown project, no doubt about it, and if this one goes well, and folks think it's credible enough, well, you never know what we may target next, for our film and writing collaboration. I'm not sure if Robert will ever want to work with his dad again, because I can be a pain in the ass with my barrage of questioning, and my deadline strictness. Maybe a couple of months from now, we'll feel there's still some possibilities to explore, and seeing as we never actually came to blows (we have boxing gloves in the shop right now) during the project, hey, we've got some commitment obviously to get the job done.....disagree in retrospect.
     The music video and the feature series on William Henry Smith, will be ready to go on Wednesday, August Ist, at about 9:00 p.m. If you want to brush up on William Dawson LeSueur, the postal authority / author, who actually gave us the name, you can archive back to yesterday's blog.
     Hope you can find the time to join me for this little trip back to 1862.....but in a very lively fashion, thanks to son Robert......musician, film maker, sound technician, and fun guy to be with.

Freddy Vette and the Flames

     It looks like another clear summer night, in South Muskoka, for "Freddy Vette and the Flames," appearing on The Barge, and Rotary Gull Lake Park, Sunday night, at 7:30 p.m. My only advice. Geez, get there early, because if last week was any example, there is going to be a large crowd in attendance for this popular group. Last week was a near modern-day record for Concerts on the Barge, with some patrons actually sitting back in the parking lot, to enjoy the concert. It was great to see, and the promoters of the summer program love to break records. So maybe we'll set a new one this week. Let's rock 'n roll.
     See you there.