Jeff Scott Townsend's Blind

   One of the benefits of shooting a massive art film that requires a great deal of non-diegetic insert work, aka "B-roll" or 2nd Unit work, is that you are left with large amounts of supplemental material. Make no mistake, I have tried extremely hard to keep everything I have shot (not necessarily for but with Ashley in mind) in the film (over 6,000 distinct shots and counting), but sometimes there is redundancy (for example, I have footage at this same location with several actresses for reasons all my own). But, when you have an exquisite, picturesque location (such as the Kenosha harbor at sunrise or sundown) coupled with a vibrant, charming actress there is no such thing as footage left on the cutting room floor.
   The footage you are about to see was taken in early 2012 (this further illustrates my point on how long this film has been in production) and was shot as background/flashback footage; "memory gospels" for the main character - and this is how the narrative is delivered throughout the film. This footage was going to end up as gorgeous "filler" for my complex, byzantine web of an End Titles sequence; a sprawling, 14-minute montage comprised of over 4 hours of completely unused 2nd Unit work. But, the images were so beautiful, I thought they deserved a second life beyond playing second fiddle to credits. I started thinking about a short film with music as its primary narrative drive or what some call a music video (I loathe this term, it seems so antiquated now, and seems to short-change both the music, and the musician, not to mention the film-making apparatus of the entire process). And then I thought to myself, what piece of music? I needed something that was also in dire need of a second chance; a harmonic, whimsical, and tranquil tune that invokes such feelings as love, passion, melancholy, and most of all, hope. Where can I find another artist similar to myself with a library of previously unreleased work? Hmmmmmm?
   Director David Lynch (Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway) famously said that image and music were "married" when the symbiosis worked in such a fashion where you could not imagine one without the other. Dove composer Jeff Scott Townsend's song Blind was amazingly subjected to what I like to call the "Lost Works" category; it had not found a home, but that does not mean that it did not deserve one. Quite the opposite actually. I knew the footage below required a strong piece of emotional support via music; something melodic but impactful, catchy yet poignant, emotional and playful. I first heard Blind months ago and immediately said that I would find the images to articulate the songwriter's specific emotions (knowing true genesis and inspiration is not impossible), although it could take some time to identify such specific beauty. On Thursday, I realized this footage could represent the nucleus of such an endeavor - 72 hours later, low and behold, we have the most efficient inspiration possible.
   The video below represents the pairing of a very gifted musician and a filmmaker with an eye for the natural world. Blind was photographed on-location in the marina district of downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin. This short film represents the end result of about 2 hours worth of shooting - exactly 184 setups over the course of two different days at the exact same beach. The footage with Annie Walaszek was completed on a cold, windy day - January 27th, 2012, to be exact; while the sunrise footage was shot on the chilly morning of March 27th, 2011. Once again, this should demonstrate how long I have been collecting footage for Ashley and should also underscore why you should never, ever delete or discard anything. Metaphors abound. Enjoy!