Step Up with Hap and Hop
Super-8 , 3.5 minutes, colour, 2018
Created for the 2018 One Take Super 8 Event in Regina and shot in the infamous YAAG MOS Soundstage using 1:30 scale soldiers, preserved since <1970. Described in the program as "Who will defend us in times of war? Who, but those fortunate few trained to march in a straight line, that's who." The film focuses on one toy that I have had since childhood. It is a "Marx ramp walker", possibly made before I was born. While somewhat fragile, I have managed not to break it over all these years. The toy requires it be put onto an inclined surface, but this factor is hidden from the viewer by similarly canting the angle of the camera. The soundtrack was entirely made up of the sound of the toy moving. Sounds are layered and the speed and pitch altered on some layers.
Screenings also include "8Fest" in Toronto in 2020.