magic toaster films

The Magic Toaster…

…was the subject of my first 16MM film titled “Toaster, Toaster on the Wall.” A ten and a half minute film I shot in color back in November of 1996. The film was shot in two nights with my brother Darryl in the basement of my parent’s house. The purpose: an experiment to see what was involved in producing a “professional”

film. In the film industry, you can have made dozens of productions with your video camera or even on your 8MM film camera, but it is not considered professional unless it is at least done on 16MM film.

Before making “Toaster,” I had spent over half my life staging and making several short films, film trailers, documentaries and mockumentaries, music videos, and even some feature length projects and such, but to get noticed, you had to do something on 16MM. I had none of the necessary stuff to do this but I learned that by joining the Winnipeg Film Group and taking their Basic Filmmaking and subsequent workshops, I’d have access to everything I’d need to build my own little “professional” film.

After taking the clinics, I drew up a tidy, easy to film script about a pitiful, lifetime loser-of-a-guy who is so hopelessly pathetic, his own toaster turns on him. One morning at breakfast, tired of looking at this sorry soul, the toaster offers advice to the fellow on how to improve himself. Instead of providing warm toasty bread, it yields helpful items, mostly cosmetic, to

help towards building up his ugly looks. But this dude is so hopelessly gone he just doesn’t get it and the toaster realizes there really is only one solution...to rid the world of this dim-wit!

Not a masterpiece, nor was intended to be. Simply an experiment. After having spent over $500, my “well” was dry. I couldn’t afford to do an optical print or an answer print. I did complete the sound mix, so I was able to make a copy of the film (completed up to that stage) on VHS video. I went through all the necessary stages of making the film and I was satisfied that I was now well versed in knowing what was

expected in putting together a complete 16MM film: tons of work, time and most importantly…money. I was dumbfounded —$500 on a cruddy little ten and a half minute film. I had better productions in my basement on video and they hardly cost anything and yet here I was paying with my teeth for film stock, equipment rentals, lights, lab printing and developing fees, editing room rental costs, sound stock, sound mixing…and that’s just half of what has to be done with a film.

So I sat down, was mentally prepared to spend a small fortune out of my own wallet to stage a more ambitious production. That’s when my next project was born, I Come in Pieces. For a look at each of my productions, click on the movie’s title on the column located at the top of this page and feel free to browse! Enjoy!