John documents some of his vast collection of tiny, cheap, plastic toys by dumping them out of sorted baggies onto a table under the camera, spreading them out into colour and texture compositions, and paying special attention to specific toys among the masses. Shot at normal speed and edited in-camera, the pace is fast and the toys pile up, but John just wipes them to the side, quickly making room for more at the centre. He narrates each scene, telling toy stories and creating ‘foley’ plastic sounds. An expanding series of sync-sound or live-narration films begun in 1981.
Also in this combined programme
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Firefly
The film maker improvises a performance for the camera with a small lamp swinging on a long chord. Long exposure times and unexpected lens errors t
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Rock Jam
An action painting made with a Super8 camera of large groups of visitors at different rock concerts.
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Scanning 5
Performance in which John Porter, with the projector in his hand, provides a stunning surround-Super8 environment.
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Amusement Park
Magnificent use of the time-lapse technique completes the transformation from fairground attractions to immaterial light objects. Uncomplicated zoo
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Blade Sharpener
Made in a single shot from the other side of the road. The film maker respectfully portrays a knife & blade sharpener going from door to door.
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Landscape
A small landscape painting with the still young film maker and his mother, calmly sketching on the edge of an agricultural area.
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Santa Claus Parade
Toronto’s great annual Christmas Parade, seen from the end of the long and wide University Avenue. Filmed for eight hours at four frames a second.<
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Exams
A beautiful time-lapse registration of hundreds of tables in a large hall that is occupied in a brief time by an equal number of students.
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Film details
- Country of production
- Canada
- Year
- 1996
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2007
- Length
- 20"
- Medium/Format
- Super 8
