The Near Future

Currently, there are two Spike projects under way.  

On May 2-4, 2011, with Karen Montanaro as Mr. Bubbles/Baby Spike, the piece will be brought to it's next stage version in a well equipped theater at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts.  This will feature a proper full lighting design and video documentation.  It will be made into a high resolution "on-stage" version of the act perhaps with a larger cast.

Director of Photography Leland Faulkner on location.

This January (2011), depending on how mother nature behaves, we are aiming to capture the Spike piece on a frozen dead-end quarry in the backwoods of rural Maine.  We will be using HD video with a variety of cameras and techniques including time-lapse and high resolution slow-mo and possibly 3-D.  "The Quarry", as it's known in Buckfield, is a secluded swimming hole with 30 foot cliffs dropping into a seemingly bottomless crevasse of mysterious cold dark waters.  Although accessibility will be challenging, the Quarry will offer some great angles to capture the action of the characters once the surface has completely frozen solid.  There is a narrow entrance for Mr. Bubbles to enter on the downhill open side.  He will make his way approximately 600 feet to the "nesting ground," a dead end surrounded by rock cliffs.

Because we are dealing with nature's cycles, the crew and cast will need to be mobilized quickly when the conditions are right.  When the winter in Maine has fully settled in, the storms go further south.  This mid-winter season is usually January before warmer air begins to push in and bring spring storms.  Lakes become safe to skate on around this time.  This is the window we have to work with.  Fortunately, "The Quarry" is about a mile from my home-studio location in North Buckfield.  I am close to where the shooting will take place and my studio will act as a launching site.  There will be a couple other less complicated scenes shot in 2 or 3 other locations which should be much more straightforward (let's hope!).  We may have to remove a lot of snow in order to do it.  Access to the Quarry is via an unpaved road that is not kept plowed and slopes uphill a quarter mile.  Therefore, we will be needing to find volunteers with snowmobiles to bring equipment in and out.  There will be many challenges with temperature issues, access, timing, and equipment.  We'll need to shoot at certain times of the day for lighting purposes.  On the other side of it, these challenges, if overcome, will make it an even more unique and amazing piece of video art.