Road Closed will be showing at The Reel Thing XXXV
Linwood Dunn Theater, Hollywood, 1313 Vine St, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, August 22nd, 2015, 3:00 – 3:15 pm
Road Closed is a film about road trip that Robert Frank and I took in mid seventies.
Link to Linwood Dunn Theater here:
Link to The Reel Thing Schedule http://www.the-reel-thing.co/program-schedule/ here:
Road Closed : Restoration of a Super-8mm Finley Fryer Road Movie
Laurence Cook, Metacirque
Road Closed represents an example of media archaeology, and also
demonstrates the robustness of small gauge production. It was created when
artist and film-maker Finley Fryer encountered the photographer Robert
Frank. According to Fryer, “This film was created from my adventures over a
number of years in the mid 70’s. The heart of the film comes from a road
trip with Robert Frank, myself and his dog Sport. In the spring of 1974,
when Robert had finished his ten week visiting artist residency at
University of Davis, we drove his Ford pickup truck from California back
to New York city. The balance of the footage is from upstate New York and
Mabou, Nova Scotia.” It was shot with a Minolta Autopak 8 K11, using
Super-8mm Ektachrome 160 and Tri-X (probably XXX-400). It was edited in
the mid- to late 1970s, and it was largely untouched by the film-maker until
recent rediscovery.
Road Closed demonstrates the flexibility of the camera and its ability to
use a range of emulsions that respond differently to light – with effects
such as grain, flare, and color shift that expose how the film was made.
The film is an excellent example of an informal approach to film-making – one
that uses the portability of the camera to create works that are more
personal and intimate than those of mainstream cinema.
The film was transferred to uncompressed HD (1920×1080), cleaned,
stabilized and color corrected. It is being presented at as an AVC file (AVC/AAC
Blu-ray 60i, 1920×1080, 29.97 fps).