Journey through the past

Hello once again, all...! It seems this afternoon I have a little time to myself, so - having thought things through while on my morning walkabout, I've decided to shift gear somewhat and take you on a journey through the past:

Tah-dah! Yes, it's my old demo reel from the far-flung year 2000! It's funny now, seeing this old demo from so long ago: there are several sequences included here (the high-contrast, black-and-white clips) that were actually part of a project where viewers would use a pair of special glasses that would break up the white signal into the full spectrum of colour... and also extend the image into people's peripheral vision to further the sense of motion. Some of these clips were later recycled into the opening title sequence for the North American version of the TV series, "Queer As Folk" (which can be seen here).

For a bit of added fun, I edited in some audio clips from the films "Withnail & I" and "It Came From Hollywood". Oh, and apologies to anyone trying to view this from Germany - apparently the audio track ("Scream in Blue", by Midnight Oil) ran afoul of the German authorities at some point or other a few years back - but just so you don't feel left out, I'll include a short stop-motion PSA I worked on last summer with the kids at Artheart in Toronto:

It was a simple enough premise - using vintage Micronaut toys (from my very own collection), a pile of Lego bricks, a rickety old camera (and some even more rickety old lights and tripods), we put together a Public Service Announcement illustrating the perils of street racing. The kids worked hard, we all had fun, and in the end they were quite happy seeing the fruits of their labour. It might be a little "rough-around-the-edges" as videos go, but from my point of view it was a triumph... especially insofar as this marked the first time any of those children had tried their hands at animation!

Can You Spot That QR Code Guy?

Taken by Peter Jones, February 2012.

Well, I know I'm always asking people to send in any photos they may have snapped of me while walking about town, but today I thought I'd post one taken by Peter Jones during Lisa Horvath's SMWTO presentation last month. If there'd been any more people in the frame I might've been tempted to turn it into a "Where's Waldo?"-style contest!

Thanks once again to all my faithful readers for helping make this blog an ongoing success. It's always a treat to see that people are indeed reading the posts (and on occasion, following through to my Twitter feed). I've met one or two very interesting people in the last 24 hours, both on the streets of Toronto and online, so I'm feeling fairly optimistic about where this campaign of mine is heading... and I hope to have more to report on those encounters in the near future.

For Stalking the Job, this John Currie - That QR Code Guy - signing off. And remember folks... I'll see you around!