What exactly can you do with an MP4 format camera?
Trevor Anderson and Fish Griwkowsky, two filmmakers from Edmonton, Canada, pushed their MP4 camera to the limit — and beyond. As part of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival’s Talent Lab, they and 24 other filmmakers received Sony Webbies for an RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Emerging Filmmakers Competition, sponsored in part by Sony.
They chose a subject both dark and scenic for their documentary short – Edmonton’s High Level Bridge, which has a reputation as a jumping-off point for troubled souls seeking to end their lives. My own dark play on words is intentional, much like the humor and irony the filmmakers used to illustrate their short subject. You end up trying to stifle giggles, catching yourself remembering what the film ultimately is about. Beautifully composed yet troubling images of the bridge are punctuated with stories detailing friends and neighbors’ attempts or thoughts of suicide.
The entire film was shot with the Sony Webbie, Sony’s first MP4 format camera (big sister to today’s Sony Bloggie Touch), and as a nod to the Webbie’s affordability the film ends with an epic toss of the camera over the side of the bridge and onto the ice, 150 feet below. Even if the camera was destroyed, the filmmakers figured, the images would live on thanks to the flash-based stick memory. The Webbie survived, although it’s not something we’d recommend you do with any of your Sony gear (especially if you want to keep that device.)
The High Level Bridge premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2010, and played at other festivals, including Sundance SXSW and the American Film Institute Festival, where it received an honorable mention.
The film is not available for all audiences yet, but check out more of the work of Anderson and Griwkowsky at DirtCityFilms.com. And if you’re an aspiring filmmaker, why not try your hand at telling your own story? If you do, drop us a link.
But think twice about dropping your camera.
O.k
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