Canister the Robot, Invader from Beyond the Stars
HD Video , 98 seconds, colour, 2012
Canister is a robot which evolved out of an in-class sit com we created in 2010, written by Gabe Boyko. In it there were three roommates, a cowboy, a cross dresser, and a robot. I played the robot who was not yet named. The helmet is made from a large ice cream bucket with a slot cut out and blue gel covering it. In the sit com, there were other wires stuffed inside but these were uncomfortable. Later that year, I show a series of photos and video stills with the robot suit on against a green screen for some technical tests (along with Erik Sirke who was working for me that summer). Under the project banner "RERUN", I had been looking into creating a technique for users to create and communicate with short films constructed from fragments of old, public domain movies. I wanted to insert this robot as my signature. This film names him for the first time. I have since used him in cards and other videos.
The background images and music are all extracted from videos found in the Prelinger archive at www.archives.org. This film first screened publicly at "Star and Steeple event" at Cathedral Arts Festival in Regina in May, 2012.