production notes

"echoes" was inspired by a poem of the same name that I wrote on September 11, 2001, commonly referred to as 9/11. I wanted to experiment with mixing forms and textures, while incorporating poetry and dance, to create a visual poem. Lee Maracle, renowned writer of Salish and Cree ancestry, says to use beautiful words to say hard things. I believe that this type of visual poem, even with its graphic imagery, can be a beautiful way to make a political statement. That is why I have incorporated this style into my next film, "December 6", commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre.

The only film component of this piece is the Super 8 footage of dancer Oriana Evoy, the Gothic Ballerina who, in my mind, represents the twin towers. Based on footage of the live dancer, I created both a 2-dimensional cut out and a 3-dimensional stop motion puppet during an Experimental Animation course at the Quickdraw Animation Society and filmed them on mini DV using iStopMotion. I also incorporated still photographs manipulated in Photoshop along with video clips manipulated in Final Cut Pro into "echoes". The soundtrack was created in Garageband and incorporates a 10-second clip of the opening piano notes of Metric's song "The Twist". Spoken word vocals were provided by Emma Claire Miller, the actress from my silent film "Coda in G Minor". Some day, I will make a film that includes Emma Claire's voice and visuals at the same time!