Merry Holidays

Mike's First Interview

Our newest video for DD/MM/YYYY had it's world premier screening at the december edition of Film Fort a few days ago. For the event some of the artists involved filled out a little interview about their process. There are some other really great artists included, and I am glad to be involved. Check out the rest over at the film fort site.

FILM FORT

and here is my interview!

photo by mishka or liz

What or who got you into animation/music videos/film?

After taking photography through high school, and first year of university I realized that I was not totally satisfied just creating one image, or even a series of photos. So I switched to video. I wanted every frame to be able to stand alone as a beautiful photograph. I'm still working towards that goal, it's something that I think about each time I direct.

I love listening to music, but since I don't yet have the skills to create something worth listening to, the closest thing I could do was document musicians that I enjoyed. I started with early Born Ruffians shows in high school back when they were Mornington Drive, the first music video I ever made was for their song "Hello Sincicago".

Where do you do most of your work, can you explain a bit about your set up?

I work on my desktop Mac and using Adobe Premier to edit. For studio work I have only really had one for my thesis at school, it was really great to have a whole space dedicated to just creating work. I'd like to get another studio one day. I really enjoyed having a completely separate space, then the one you live in. Even for my paintings I did them all in my bedroom, and my carpet really suffered from it. Plus my computer mouse and keyboard are smeared with paint.

My creative process usually begins with one image in my head, and then I work around that. For brain storming I find it best to have someone to talk to. With music videos I just listen to the song over and over until something comes into my head.

What do you eat while working on your films?

I work on a reward system, so once I complete a section of a video I allow myself to eat a bag of Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion Chips, or Jalapeno Doritos. I survive mostly off pizza and burritos.

What are you working on now?

I just finished another music video - this time for Bellewoods, the song is called "Kneel on the Apron". This is my 4th or 5th time working with Kyle McCreight, he is my partner in Humble Empire. This video features my Dad in his acting debut. I am really excited to show people; I think it's the best video I have ever made.

For future projects I want to try out a new medium, I just moved to western Canada and am thinking of pursuing street art. I don't have a video camera out here, so I probably won't make any videos unless I can find a sweet deal at a garage sale or something. I also want to learn to sing and figure out how to write songs. I am out here with my girlfriend Meghan and she is really motivated to become a great guitarist, singer and song writer, so she is inspiring me to focus on that too.

Do you have another job outside of filmmaking? How do you find a balance between making art and making a living?

I've been lucky for the last few months I've got to help out and work for my friends. I was assisting Jesse Ewles for the month of October, he is a great guy to work with and be around. My other part time job through out the summer was as a painter. I showed my work at the Outdoor Art Show and had a solo show at Earth & Fire Gallery they both went really great.

Getting paid for my paintings really opened up my eyes to other possibilities for making money. I never thought I could make money off of my paintings before. Video work has always been the medium I thought I'd succeed in, I had just painted for fun for a few years, until I was convinced by my friends that I should do more than just hang them on my own walls.

Is there a purpose to screening work outside of the internet anymore?

I definitely think that work needs to be screened outside of the internet, unless you have a home theatre or something hooked up to your internet. I think most videos need to be seen big, and if it can be also with a group of people in the dark it gets even better. I realized the importance of this after seeing one of the first successful videos I created for Rock Plaza Central - "I am an Excellent Steel Horse" play at a screening at Bloor Cinema. I had watched it dozens of times on my computer, and liked it but never loved it. When I saw it huge and in a theatre I realized that it was something I should be proud of.

The French Ambassador

A while back we told the world about the newest member of the Humble Empire team, Stuart St.Amant, he has been a friend of the Empire for many years and has some usefull skills that could help out all the projects that H.E. does.

Now I'd like to take some time to show the rest of the world the happenings of Stu, and you can check out his blog at the fallowing link

http://sstphoto.blogspot.com

enjoy

Home for the Holidays

As many people who are re-located from their place of birth, return home to the nest for the Holiday season of joy and debauchery. The Empire is also heading home, well, to be more specific, Mike is out west which isnt his home but he gets to spend the holidays with his sister with which he hasnt gotten that privaledge in a while. Kyle(me) will be returning to Windsor for the holiday's, Windsor is an interesting place, the people are amazing, the layout is spread out more than your morning butter on your biscuit. Something about the city attracts a very core part of me towards it, it must be the homies, and the fact that I learned alot about life there seeing as the first 18 years of mine was spent there.

A good friend Eric Boucher dropped this rough trailer for a "micro documentary" this week. Needless to say it got me excited in the lower region of my body.

Mike isn't here, Mike went away, Mike's gone.

I haven't heard from Mike since I dropped him at the airport last week. This image is the last image of Mike on Ontario soil. Mike has taken a leave of absence from Toronto, in hopes of journeying and learning as much as he can out West. Not hearing from him yet, is probably a good thing, this means he is busy with his time, and I hope he is having fun.

The Empire now will be taken care of solely by me in the Toronto region. Hopefully Mike will set a stage for us out west, then we can begin our Global take-over.

Dont forget our shirts are available at Earth & Fire right here in Toronto, and I think Hometown Skate Deli still has a few shirts from us.