I like shooting video essays. I learn new things about my equipment, practice new techniques, and end up with a compact, self contained film. Capturing the mundane and showing it for what it really is, the hidden magic of God’s beautiful creation, is one of my greatest passions. It’s what drives me as a filmmaker.
Sledding in the dark is a regular part of a Midwestern childhood. As a child I never thought it odd, climbing up a slippery hill only to catapult myself down it and climb it yet again in the growing gloom. There’s something vaguely threatening about a winter sunset, something that you only barely sense as a child. But the darkness, though it added an extra shiver, never deterred us. I’m sure I would have sled till midnight if it hadn’t been for my parents calling me to the car for the dark drive home to a warm house and a warming supper. Maybe it was the knowledge that we had a house to return to that kept us out an extra hour. Raw nature isn’t so threatening when you know you have a safe barrier to hide behind.
I believe that all art rests on the foundation of the prose that explains it. You just read this, now you can watch my newest video essay. Did I mention it was about sledding in the dark? It won’t be the same now that you’ve read the last three paragraphs. Prose wins yet again!