Personal Movie Making: A Response

My friend Dave and I had a brief conversation over MSN last night. As was typical, we shared a few witty remarks, mentioned the road trip we’re going on, and I brought up my idea for constructing a project out the footage I’d like to shoot on the holiday. In response, he remarked to the tune of “you’ve avoided doing any personally themed or revealing projects over the years” seemingly emphasizing that making a video journal out of our antics was a stretch from my usual work. This got me thinking, because to the contrary, it seems exactly like what I have been doing.

Dave seemed quite supportive of the project in any case. I’m sure it wasn’t too big of a surprise that I said I’d be filming something. In the meantime though, I thought that addressing his statement in a blog post was a good way to inject some of that ‘personal’ (and public) response he enjoys - and a good way to elaborate on how I see my approach.

In some respects, Dave’s right, which is why I wanted to write this post. In terms of my relationships (or often lack-there-of), specific details about my jobs, or the specifics surrounding my family and friends I’m often very selective about what I share. There are many things that everyone doesn’t need to know, wouldn’t care to know, and that don’t advance what my goals - especially with this blog - are. Gossiping publicly about my own life doesn't do me much good - and facebook and msn already consume enough time. However, and regardless of this, I strongly disagree that my ‘creative’ contributions haven’t been personal, honest, and true to my character.

Some of my projects like A Chill in the Air or Keys to Existence have an obvious social commentary - both of which have been recognized by critical eyes. Other shorts like from 84, Day Dream Day, and Educated Detours blend personal elements in an experimental or narrative form. Even my split screen experiments can be read as self-portraits in the context of my editing. It's not like I don't have anything to say, there are over 35 entries and over 100 edits that I've posted as part of my videography, I'm just not writing a word for word autobiography is all.

In a response not simply in relation to Dave‘s comment, I thought this was a worthy topic for highlighting my entire online persona and my public filmmaking. I see my story and history being told in the combination of ALL my work, not simply in a single edit or single sentence. My film work isn't about a quest to get people to know my life story anyway, I want people watching my work to get something out of it for themselves.

Speaking of personal, welcome to Editing Luke - if you’re here, you can scroll through over 2 years of my life - including everything from my declarations of new found ambition, to posts about and leading up to dropping out of film school, followed by my nostalgic and contextual take on my own work. To be clear, this is personal - not everyone puts in the time to do and say these things as an 'artist' or editor. The projects and edits I’ve produced say a lot about my story, if not directly, than about the filmmaker/editor I’d like to be and the things that inspire me.

While it’s clear that Dave and I have significantly different approaches to our creative work, I’ve always enjoyed his perspective on things. In a friendship that has wavered since first year of university, he’s often been my biggest critic - if not the most eager to question my achievements. It’s been refreshing in many ways, if not a mixed bag, as he’s also admired and sought advice surrounding my dedication. It's what also makes our friendship so interesting.

Herein lies the difference between our view of being personal, and how I distinguish myself. From his perspective, he likes to (for lack of a better word) gush about his struggles or hang-ups. I don’t. I vent in the same way by reflecting on my own larger outlook. I put things in perspective as a way to create context, as a way to find my way out of my problems. My distaste for something is combated with 'the glass is still half full' approach and look at what I learned. I like to be relatable, and my personal strengths don't come from feeling powerless (not that I think Dave's do either).

This goal to be relatable is true of my work. The fact that I’m subtle about my own life doesn’t change the fact that I’m still sharing my viewpoint and a history. There are clues and directions and moments of inspiration in everything I do, but I’m also aware that everything I do isn’t intended to change the world. I think about this when I make shorts. I can learn so much just by participating and creating individual variations as opposed to endlessly struggling to be completely 100% unique. For the sake of comparison, it's like I can experience more by riding the bus than by trying to re-invent the wheels it rides on - I'm probably going to see something someone else might not right away.

I’m aware that there are a lot of people just like me, and while no one can be completely original, as any good editor would say, it’s the way in which I can take all these borrowed pieces, experiences, projects, and personal histories and combine them that makes a unique whole - that’s me. My personality is broad, diverse, scattered, highlighted by defining moments, influenced by many, and shared through what I consider to be a level headed filter (which is this blog and my work).

I feel like I've created a bridge between my honest emotions, my artistic ambitions, and the reality I face. Presenting my personal weaknesses or my daily life problems in this forum would just be misdirection - like I said, as much as my film experiences are meant to be public, my projects aren't entirely about documenting my personal life for consumption. In many instances my projects don't borrow on my experiences at all, instead the project itself is the experience. I'm just trying to be forward thinking.

I’m giving anyone who cares to watch or read the chance to get to know a piece of who I am. The idea that a single thought or vision would completely define me is ridiculous though, and my work is about triggering your reaction just as much as it’s about sharing mine. If you can't see the personal thread of Luke Fandrich, of me, in all I've done, you're forgetting that all of what you're seeing was written, told, designed, edited, photographed, experienced, filmed, posted, promoted, submitted, won and lost - BY THIS GUY *pointing at myself*

So this personal response is for you Dave. Cheers to our different takes, and the conversations that inevitably come out of them. I get that you may think you’re being more open by being more blunt - it doesn’t mean there’s any more information there. We're all crafting an image, but for my sake, I appreciate the fact that you challenge me.

Playing It By Ear

I can't believe it's the end of July. In some ways it still feels early in relation to the projects I made last year because many of them didn't really take off until the fall. Still, things are changing quickly, and much like my approach to my projects changed with the debut of Editing Luke, I think I may be on the cusp of my next re-invention.

While I don't see myself curbing my artistic whims to upload random shorts, I am feeling more pressured with my time to produce different content. I can see myself creating original edits or montage videos with more found footage to specifically focus on my skill as an editor. The personal side of this blog will always remain fundamental to me wanting to do it, but as a portfolio, there are more previews I'd like to work on to attract actual opportunities - or like I've already done, to continue using this blog as an accessory to my resume.

I find it funny how on some days I look at my progress and feel like I've done so much, come so far, etc. and other days the weight of my goals seem to daunting to even pursue. In part, I think this feeling is also a mix of realizing that a lot of people just don't care. I mean this generally. Regardless of what I do today or tomorrow, whether I make a video you like or don't, whether I update or not, we've all got our own lives to live - if I can hold your attention for a minute that means something to me though - it's certainly a big part of the equation anyway.

I'm playing it by ear. I don't have a lot of new things to say at the moment, but somewhere between my daily grind that passion that will fuel my next leap - my big move to the big city - I want to think things are going to be okay. I want to know that I've inspired someone in the way that so many have inspired me.

For now, it's back to the drawing board.

Rushmore: Edits (2007)

It was one of those trips that started out as nothing more than a novel idea. A road trip to Mount Rushmore had been in the back of my mind for quite some time, but the reality of ever actually going seemed like wishful thinking.

The idea really came about because of my location in university. Regina, Saskatchewan is the largest Canadian city to the famed monument near Rapid City, South Dakota despite still being hundreds of miles away. I figured with the isolated location of Mount Rushmore, I might never be in a more convenient spot to actually see it. It was something I really wanted to cross off my bucket list, and having previously explored places to the north, west and east of Regina, it only seemed appropriate to check out the landscape further south. Little did I know that just over a year later at the end of the 2007 winter semester, my friend Andrea and I would decide to take the lengthy drive through the open prairie and into the Black Hills (here's an old school postcard I found while there).

The original project, Rushmore, was a travelog I cut together using photos and footage I shot along the trip. I added my personal narration to elaborate on the experiences and my general mindset at the time, while also using it as a way to tell a condensed story to my family and friends who I was most likely to share the video with.

It was just after returning that my blog, Editing Luke began. In an effort to share some of my previous projects and edits, some of the first things I ever shared included a post about why I love editing travelogs and a history of the video postcards I had cut together. Below you can watch the original South Dakota video postcard (also used as a preview for the complete travelog Rushmore) I cut together just a few weeks after returning.

Original 2007 South Dakota Video Postcard


During the week long trip, Andrea and I visited Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial, the town of Deadwood (made even more popular by the HBO show of the same name), Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and Chimney Rock in Nebraska traveling along parts of the Oregon Trail, Pony Express, and the path taken by explorers Lewis and Clark - just to name a few of the detours. Because sharing the entire Rushmore travelog would've been way too long and indepth for the average stranger visiting my blog, I decided that there would need to be revisions to the main project. So, I cut some new postcards to highlight my footage - making for some great editing exercises.

I figured that my personal story was still connected to the footage and was certainly available to anyone who wanted to hear it, but for the sake of sharing my edits I was content to focus on the locations. What I find endearing still, is that even the simplified cuts maintain the enthusiasm and low key energy that made the trip so amazing and memorable in the first place.

There have been several small revisions and additions to these edits since 2007, however the South Dakota postcard is exactly the same. The newer edits include a video for Mount Rushmore, an edit for Devil's Tower, an edit of our day driving through Nebraska, and a Black Hills Photo Collage. Watching them now, each video embraces the nostalgia that I was feeling even then - just weeks after being home.

It's tough to fully explain what the meaning of the trip was, but in a poetic sense I think our quest for Rushmore was about getting lost, finding new places, and enjoying a journey out of the ordinary. For a mountain carving in between miles of what could be described as almost nothing, the trip was eye opening. Of all the things I expected to find traveling the open road, inspiration was the one thing I hadn't prepared for ahead of time.

All footage shot and edited by Luke Fandrich.

Mount Rushmore 2007 - South Dakota


Devil's Tower 2007 - Wyoming


Chimney Rock 2007 - Nebraska


Black Hills Photo Collage 2007