When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cinematographer! Say what, you say! And here's the thing: What makes it all the more crazy or strange is that I didn't go to the movies back then... that's another story.
So how did I know anything about film making? Well several things. When I was in high school, about once every two months or so, the public would be invited to view a film made by the producer which was shown at the school auditorium. Almost all of the films were documentaries; shown in 16mm on the school projector onto the big screen.
The documentaries were mostly (if I remember correctly) about some adventure which the cinematographer filmed; like a historical story-telling theme, hiking, mountain climbing, etc. Almost all were really interesting and fun to watch. Most of us could only dream of someday doing the same thing.
While in high school, my extra curricular activity included Audio Visual; instead of study hall, I was responsible for showing up at a specific room and showing a 16mm film to the class. Usually, it was at a history class or English. Some of the WWII films were awesome!
At the same time, The Billy Graham Ministries produced The Restless Ones (1965); it was a Hollywood-style production about juvenile delinquents, teen pregnancy, and other social issues of the day. It was a full-length feature, controversial in some church circles but it was shown in our community. Again, I was impressed and it stoked my desire to be involved in making film.
I was really interested in the photography/film/technical aspects of film making and knew I wanted to know more. So in my quest of I discovery, found the magazine, American Cinematographer and was probably the only person in our town of 13,000 who subscribed. I think I took the mag for about three or four years before I realized that I wouldn't be moving on in the business.
But I hadn't forgotten by first love: I bought a used 16mm Bolex which I used for an advertising class in college to make a commercial for my final grade. I had a Canon Super 8mm which I used for making movies of canoe trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in upper Minnesota, I made a film about a trip in an A-37 Air Force jet in Vietnam; I made a film documenting a trip up into the wilderness of Cambodia where we got lost and ran out of fuel; etc.
I've continued by dabbling in making documentaries (now they are videos) and they all can be viewed here:
https://vimeo.com/jamesdavidphenicie
Several weeks ago, the Major League Baseball organization decided to pull the All Star Game from Georgia and move it to Colorado. And there was Coca Cola cheering it on. So I decided to make a "commercial" about it. So here is my little take on it:
