A Poet Poets

I worked on Mike Hazard's film about Roy McBride, "A Poet Poets" (2010, video, 26 mins). There's a reception 3--5 p.m. on Sunday, January 30 at Intermedia Arts (2822 Lyndale Avenue S., Minneapolis). The film will be shown twice: at 3 and 4 p.m. Hope to see you there!

festival trailer: Shamrock Film Festival

festival trailer: Shamrock Film Festival

(2010, HD video, 1 minute)
When I was asked to make a trailer for a new short film festival, I started thinking about something spare and powerful. In my mind's ear, I heard a bodhràn start playing a loping beat with cross rhythms and then bass and tenor drums explode. I saw only sticks and mallets and drum skins.

"Art of Research" Airs on Big Ten Network

Watch "Heart of the Matter," the first episode in the University of Minnesota's new magazine show, "Driven to Discover: The Research Series," Friday, May 14 at noon Central Time and Tuesday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. Central Time on the Big Ten Network. "Heart of the Matter" includes a segment I directed, "Art of Research."

Media Production for Public Health

I'm delighted to be teaching a course at the University of Minnesota, Media Production for Public Health.

Art-a-Whirl

See my film "Bridges" as part of a short film program:
Friday, May 14 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. and running continuously Saturday noon-8 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m.
2205 California St NE, Studio 400, Minneapolis, MN 55418

The Wild Hunt

It's a rare and wonderful moment to see a movie I've heard nothing about. This is more than not having an ending spoiled, but being able to take in a piece of cinema without preconceptions, beyond title and poster -- without even seeing the trailer.
Last night at Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival, I saw De père en flic, chatted with Milgrom for a while, then went to what was simply the next film showing: a ten o'clock screening of The Wild Hunt (Alexandre Franchi, director, 2009, 96 minutes). 
Someone in the audience shouted at the female lead not to do what she was about to do. I swore out loud. As the movie wound to its conclusion, I heard two people near me weeping openly. They walked out. After, I saw them sitting on the lobby floor, still looking stunned.
I drove home wired awake.
I've been in audiences talking and shouting at the screen, but I've never seen another film to which the audience had quite this visceral reaction. It will continue to be compared with William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies, accurately enough, although I thought more of King Lear and Kurosawa's Ran. That's really all I want to say, except to go see it. According to The Wild Hunt's Facebook page,  the film opens in the U.S. July 16.

Art of Research

Art of Research (2010, HD video, 5 minutes)


This is the closing segment, "Art of Research," in the debut episode of "Driven to Discover: The Research Series" produced at the University of Minnesota.

"Attributes of a great video include wanting to watch it repeatedly and getting something new from each viewing.  As Series Producer for "Driven To Discover: The Research Series," I witnessed first-hand Paul Bernhardt producing just such a video.  Paul is professional, collaborative, creative, and brought the project in on-time and on-budget.  Can't ask for much more than that.  Thank you Paul."

-Paul Pecilunas, Media Producer

University of Minnesota

2010 Mpls/St Paul Int'l Film Fest

See the short film I edited, shown as the festival trailer prior to screenings at the 28th Annual Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival, April 16-30, 2010.

Two or Three Things I Know About Cinema

Two or Three Things I Know About Cinema (2010, HD video, 2 minutes)


It was soon clear, reading the script and watching Mike and Jon's footage, that Sylvia's character has the upper hand from the beginning and that Greg's character is hapless and unaware of the heartbreak that awaits him. Every element of what each of them does, in the endless this-take-instead-of-that-one, had to lead the viewer to that reading.


Central to the whole piece is that, after each actor has delivered their line, the viewer waits for the subtitles translated in many languages. This time was an opportunity to craft an emotional dialogue between the two of them, for them to say in look and gesture what they really mean. Some of the most significant work editing this was finding the elements that would make up that emotional dialogue, and then crafting the volleys between them.


I edited picture for this short film, shown before screenings at the 28th Annual Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival, April 16-30, 2010.

How Can I Keep from Singing?

Laurel Massé: How Can I Keep from Singing?

(2010, video, 6 minutes)

"If you’re looking for a great editor for your film project, Paul Bernhardt’s the man! I’d been plugging away at a documentary work sample that was over 10 minutes long. I knew I needed the fresh set of eyes of a pro who also had the technical skills I lacked to perform the more advanced functions in Final Cut Pro to make my project shine. Over an intensive weekend Paul accomplished this and more. It was a joy to work with him because he was immediately engaged in the project, and the wheels were swiftly in motion for some creative recutting that made the story tighter, more dramatic and to the point, and overall more compelling while trimming over 4 minutes from the TRT."

-Reilly Tillman, director, "How Can I Keep from Singing?"

"Paris Journal" Exhibited at Walker Art Center

"Paris Journal" is on display at the Walker Art Center, in the Best Buy Film/Video Bay.

"Lament" Exhibited at Minneapolis Institute of Arts

See my film "Lament" at Minneapolis Institute of Arts February 19 through June 13, 2010.

"Paris Journal" Airs on Twin Cities Public Television

"Paris Journal" airs on Twin Cities Public Television as part of MNTV 2009, a program of Minnesota-produced short films presented by Twin Cities Public Television in partnership with IFP Minneapolis/St. Paul and the Walker Art Center, funded by the Jerome Foundation.

Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity

SEED Awards Video (2009, HD video, 5 minutes)


This video, a discussion with a dozen scholarship winners about diversity and the future of higher education, showed at the SEED Award program, November 18, 2009. I also produced a closed-captioned special features podcast consisting of longer interviews with each scholar, a chance for friends and family to hear more of what each person had to say, as well as for me to implement what I had learned about captioning formats for the Web and incorporating captioning into the video workflow.

The Prairie Poet Laureate Advises + Farmers Co-op Elevator

The Prairie Poet Laureate Advises
by Margit Berman

Write poems
like grain elevators:
rhythmic but unrhymed,
clean, straight lines,
each linked to the next,
all the same length.

Tall bare columns
marching heavenwards,
utilitarian, unaffected
unmoved in high winds.

Fill them with your words
milled into white dust,
nourishing even as they hang
buoyant in empty rooms,
catching in the sun
sparking explosions.

Farmers Co-op Elevator, September 7, 2009 photo: Paul Bernhardt

Margit's poem and my photograph were exhibited together in the show Poetic Art, October 21-November 20, 2009 at Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, Virginia.

lament

Lament (2009, HD video, 1 minute)


Reading Mike Figgis' book was a challenge to push shooting with available light further than before.
"Lament" was exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts as part of "Foot in the Door 4," February 19-June 13, 2010.

3-Minute Egg

I served as production consultant on Matt Peiken's Twin Cities Public Television series "3-Minute Egg ."

Paris Journal

Paris Journal (2009, HD video, 4 minutes)

Walking down the Rue du Faubourg St-Denis at dusk after a day of shooting, I heard a sound: part-shouting, part-singing. I had to know what it was. Men in front of Cours des Halles and Select Primeur, two rival produce stores on the corner of Rue de Metz, were hawking fruit and vegetables to anyone who would listen. We stood still and listened.

I could make out prices and names of produce but it was clear there was idiom I couldn't catch, so my first thought was to make a field recording that I could bring home and listen closely to. We stepped to Cours des Halles, where my friend and colleague Raphaële explained to some of the vendors how I wanted to record but they were all reticent.

Across the street at Select Primeur, the word was if we were going to film anyone, we'd want one guy: Borgi. Borgi Mhemni graciously let me film what he does, which I consider a kind of theater on the street. It's clear why he's who his colleagues pointed to: he has presence, a voice that carries and a stock of lines amusing enough to give pause to busy Parisians passing by.


"Paris Journal" was shown on Twin Cities Public Television as part of MNTV 2009, a program of Minnesota-produced short films presented by Twin Cities Public Television in partnership with IFP Minneapolis/St. Paul and the Walker Art Center, funded by the Jerome Foundation.

"Paris Journal" was exhibited in 2010 at the Walker Art Center, in the Best Buy Film/Video Bay.

Engineering a Better World Wins Best Video Award

"Engineering a Better World," won the 2009 Communicators Forum Maroon Award for Electronic Media, Video.

In Memoriam: Jim Rothenberger

In Memoriam: Jim Rothenberger (2009, HD video, 7 minutes)

"In Memoriam: Jim Rothenberger" showed at Jim Rothenberger's memorial service, February 12, 2009.

"Bridges" Airs on Twin Cities Public Television

"Bridges" airs on Twin Cities Public Television as part of MNTV 2008, a program of Minnesota-produced short films presented by Twin Cities Public Television in partnership with IFP Minneapolis/St. Paul, the Walker Art Center and Intermedia Arts, funded by the Jerome Foundation.

MN Artists & Minnpost

"Bridges" is mentioned in Britt Aamodt's mnartists.org story about MNTV 2008, republished at minnpost.com.

Engineering a Better World

Waste Reduction Internship (2008, HD video, 5 minutes)



Energy Management Internship (2008, HD video, 3 minutes)


"Engineering a Better World" was conceived as a pair of videos: one each about two engineering undergraduates working on different internships to reduce waste and save energy.


The videos were featured on the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program's Web site and given to companies hosting internships as presentation copy in specially-designed low-impact packaging.


"Engineering a Better World" won the 2009 Communicators Forum Maroon Award for Electronic Media, Video.

"Self Sound Orchestra" Premieres at Minneapolis Underground Film Festival

"Self Sound Orchestra" Premieres at Minneapolis Underground Film Festival, August 31, 2008.

"Bridges" premieres at Square lake Film and Music Festival

"Bridges" premieres at Square lake Film and Music Festival, August 16, 2008.

Self Sound Orchestra

Self Sound Orchestra (2008, video, 10 minutes)


Danny Sigelman asked if I was interested in shooting his experimental music ensemble, Self Sound Orchestra, doing a show at the 331 Club in Minneapolis with Phil Harder projecting films on a large screen behind them. They played one thirty minute set and another forty minute set.

I cut picture largely with synch sound, and then mashed up audio elements from throughout both sets to create a film whose impression is accurate to what the sound and images created that night, but which runs ten minutes instead of 70.

"Self Sound Orchestra" premiered at the 2008 Minneapolis Underground Film Festival and can be seen at the Brooklyn Art Project.

"Public Jobs, Private Data" Wins Best Informational Campaign award

Public Jobs, Private Data won the 2008 University of Minnesota Communicators Forum Maroon Award for Informational Campaign.

"Bronze" Premieres at 2008 Mpls/StPaul Int'l Film Fest

"Bronze" premieres at 26th Annual Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival.

Bridges

Bridges (2008, video, 10 mins)


My wife and our children cross the Interstate 35W bridge less than an hour before it fell on August 1, 2007. I was working out of town and managed to get through to them on phone lines jammed with a city full people trying to do the same. As the fear subsided, the anger rose in me accompanied by curiosity about the other bridges in my home town. I started to wonder how to put documentary to work.


As a matter of innovation in film form, I've vowed, whenever possible, to avoid interviews with experts in front of bookcases. Akin to the common argument against "Voice of God" narration that would tell us as viewers what to think (although that argument seems a bit disingenuous, since every other element of a movie, from title to costume, is crafted precisely to lead us to something), expert+bookcase is a convention that deserves to be challenged.


It seemed everyone was already asking, 'How could this happen?' The moment we were having as a nation was much larger than interviews with various engineering and transportation experts, all of which was already happening reasonably well and certainly at length in the news.


There was no need to register shock from bystanders; there's always plenty of that on the news, plus the fact of the event spoke for itself. Curiously, sometimes the more someone onscreen tries to talk about something, the less impact it has. I wasn't particularly interested in the drama of people trying to find words for something. If I put someone on screen, I'd rather they do something for you as viewer to deduce how they feel.


I was having my own grief and anger and relief, not least about my own family, and it was also a collective experience we were having -- at least everyone I spoke with -- trying to understand how a bridge in these United States could fall down with people on it.


I wondered, if I could gather a bit of information about each of the bridges in the area and show it back-to-back quickly enough, whether a pattern would emerge: old bridge to young, long bridge to short, north end of town to south. By late afternoon August 10th I was perched on the front of my friend's duck boat.




"Bridges" premiered at 2008 Square Lake Film and Music Festival.
It was shown on Twin Cities Public Television as part of MNTV 2008, a program of Minnesota-produced short films presented by Twin Cities Public Television in partnership with IFP Minneapolis/St. Paul, the Walker Art Center and Intermedia Arts, funded by the Jerome Foundation.
It has been shown at Art-a-Whirl in both 2008 (504 California) and 2010 (wa-ter clo-set gallery).

Bronze

Bronze (2008, video, 5 mins)
My friend John cast a pair of life-sized bronze sculptures in his garage.
"Bronze" premiered at the 2008 Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival.

August Evening

This evening Ali Selim presented August Evening (Chris Eska, writer, director, editor; 2007, 127 minutes) at the Lagoon. This is what I aspire to: true, unerring, a triumph of writing and know-how.

A Walk Into the Sea

Tonight at the Walker, Esther Robinson showed her extraordinary documentary about her uncle, Danny Williams, A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory (2007, 75 minutes). It's told in her voice --  a courageous and more difficult path. It might be the perfect documentary. Speaking afterward, she encouraged people to make a movie about their family.

Public Jobs, Private Data

Public Jobs, Private Datawon the 2008 Communicators Forum Maroon Award for Informational Campaign.

Deck of Cards

I did a podcast for a year in which I wrote a different question on each card in a deck of cards and asked people to draw one at random. That question formed the basis of my interview with them. Subscribe to the podcast.

It's Global.

I co-founded the public service announcement competition, It's Global, which has run annually since 2007.

Indique

I edited episodes of "Indique" for Blood Orange.

Between the Olives and the Grapes: On the Trail of Heart Attack in Seven Countries

Mayo Professor Emeritus Henry Blackburn asked me to make a film of his experience on a groundbreaking research study in the 1950's and 1960's, using 8mm footage he'd shot.

"Three Pictures" Exhibited at Project Creo

"Three Pictures" is exhibited at Project Creo/The Arts Center in St Petersburg, Florida, March 12 through May 4, 2005.

Three Pictures

When viewing a contact sheet, series of video stills, or strip of photo booth pictures, it's striking how different the same person can look from one frame to the next. Having three frames of visual information, what did the person look like in the fourth, blank frame?

I asked people to go into a silver-based black-and-white photo booth -- the kind that takes four different poses and prints them in a strip -- then pick one, cut it out and keep it. The remaining three pictures are to be displayed. The three pictures are mounted to preserve the space where the fourth picture was.

I specifically avoided giving people direction about what to do in the booth, how to be photographed, what to do with the fourth image or how to decide which image to cut out.

Preserving the space where the fourth image was calls attention to the editor's role in shaping images. It also denies immediate spectatorial pleasure and posits viewer as voyeur, imagining an image that remains unseen.

31 people were photographed in Minneapolis/St Paul's two remaining silver-based, four-pose photobooths.

"Three Pictures" was exhibited at Project Creo/The Arts Center in St Petersburg, Florida, March 12 through May 4, 2005.

See Three Pictures at mnartists.org.

Radio K People

  On October 1, 2003, Radio K had been on the air ten years.

That Sunday night, October 5, a reception was organized for alumni/ae. Ali Lozoff and others had come back to volunteer and help current Radio K students produce an extravaganza of local events across town, and this night was going to be the closest thing to a reunion. I knew there would be a lot of Radio K people there, perhaps not to be seen again for a long time, so I brought a camera.

Usually, when making a portrait of someone, I take dozens of pictures, most of which are never seen again, then select one or two. I try to catch the person's vibe and help them feel a little less uncomfortable with the wierd thing of being in front of that relentless eye at the front of the little black box -- and under all those lights. It's a bit of theater I enjoy as well as a moment that lets me gauge just how anxious a person is about having their picture taken.

That night, I wanted to have tech in hand but leave a little something to chance. I decided to try exposing just one frame of film of each person who sat for a portrait (unless I saw them blink). The 57 final images are from a total of only 72 exposures.

Throughout the reception that evening, Arden Durham was upstairs shooting interviews for her documentary on Radio K, which I can't wait to see. I had volunteered evenings and weekends that summer working with students and staff at Radio K to coordinate interviews with people who had worked there in its ten years, and to help shape the interviews into short spots that aired discussing Radio K's history. So, many of the people in these photographs had just been interviewed -- either some minutes earlier by Arden, or some weeks earlier by a current Radio K student -- about what it was like when they were there.

A lot of people give their time and insight to keep Radio K on the air. Here are 57 of them -- a few of the real people who do real college radio. (See Radio K People at mnartists.org.)