A Timely Meeting

This was a film that I need for the PAHFest Motown 2011 competition. The purpose of the contest was to create a film that embraced local culture and educated people. My partner, Caitlin, and I decided to make a short film that told the story of a boy who was moving from the historical town of Northville, and couldn't wait to get out. We researched our idea quite heavily, meeting with local historians to gather as much information that we could about Northville. After we got our research, we collaborated on an idea that encompassed education plus a supernatural-like theme to it. Our idea was the boy got visited by another boy who was passing through, and the visiting boy told of the places in Northville and its history - history that would be fun to hear about. The film ended with the reveal that the visiting boy was the grandfather, helping his grandson appreciate where he came from.

We shot and edited the film over the course of five days. We location scouted before, so we knew what areas we wanted to shoot in. For example, the day we were at the Northville Downs racetrack, we asked for permission to shoot there, and the owner was more than willing to allow us on the track.

WATCH "A TIMELY MEETING" ON YOUTUBE

The most creative shot we had in the video was that of the camera following the ball as it rolled down the street. We used gaffer's tape and taped the camera to a scooter and pushed the scooter along the ball, trying our best to keep the ball in frame. After a number of takes, we got a few that worked pretty well.

The major drawback during the week was the equipment given to us. We shot "A Timely Meeting" on a Canon T3i DSLR, and it's a great camera for taking video, but not the best for recording audio. Caitlin and I worked tirelessly in Soundtrack Pro to make the audio sound the best with what was given to us.

Caitlin and I won Most Artistic Achievement Award for this film at the closing ceremonies of PAHFest Motown 2011.