A celebration of the weasel family (mustelids) inspired by an encounter I had with a least weasel in the deep woods portions of Chester Park Ravine, which led to a re-reading of Annie Dillard’s essay, “Living Like Weasels.”
Lance Karasti has been making independent films for several years, experimenting with techniques for shooting, writing and different ways of approaching the entire filmmaking process. He’s an active enthusiast in the arts in town, and he’s preparing for another variation in style and process for his current project. This week he tells us about his films, and his fundraising campaign.
LTK: I am an independent feature filmmaker. I am currently developing a style of filmmaking called “hypernaturalism.”
I started developing this style halfway through shooting my 2016 project Artificial. Artificial was being shot with a traditional process but I found myself rewriting the scenes every morning before shooting. By the halfway point I just told the actors to stop worrying about the scripts and be prepared to come up with stuff on the spot. While a part of this was due to realizing a lot of my written dialogue was amateur, it was mostly because it had become necessary for the authenticity of the narrative. As written, the film was about stuff I didn’t know and hadn’t experienced. The process of shooting it was like adapting it into something honest and reflective. Rewriting the scenes everyday had caused me to change the course of the film so much that completely improvising was the only way to adapt to the thematic shifts.
From the haunted film vault comes this 1970s clip featuring WDIO-TV weatherman Jack McKenna, two mice and Dracula. Also featured at the end are anchorman Dennis Anderson and sportscaster Bill Stefl.
Happy Halloween!
What better place to find big juicy brains to feast on than an institute of higher learning. UMD Chief Information Officer, Jason Davis, explains how to defend against a zombie attack using principles of Jujutsu.
The Haunted Shack has been bringing the scare to northern Minnesota for 26 years. The year’s spookenings are at Ru-Ridge Corn Maze in Carlton, about 10 miles southwestish of Duluth.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Charlotte Montgomery, one of Duluth’s most inimitable singer-songwriters, is moving away. This also means the band Red Mountain is losing a vocalist. She has left us with this new song, a perfect example of her haunting sound.
You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Shot and recorded by Mikayla Haynes of Clyde Fox Creative.
Candidates for Duluth municipal and school board positions spoke about their platforms in anticipation of the Nov. 5 General Election. The video was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television Studio.
Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration and Proclamation, recorded Oct. 14 on the steps of Duluth City Hall by Duluth Public Access Community Television.
Richard Gurske has been attending University of Minnesota Duluth athletic events since before there was a University of Minnesota Duluth.
Recorded Sept. 24 at Gichi-ode’ Akiing by Duluth Public Access Community Television.
Matthew Dressel is a Duluth filmmaker, screenwriter and movie enthusiast. He has served as host and festival director to the Duluth Superior Film Festival, and like most movie makers, seems to always have something in the works. This week in Selective Focus, we hear about some current and past projects, and challenges of putting work out to a YouTube audience.
MD: For as long as I can remember I’ve primarily considered myself to be a screenwriter. The problem with screenwriting, however, is that you need to wait for people to see it. This can take years and, for some, may never happen at all. So it’s a lot of waiting with potentially no pay-off. So along the way, I try to make things when I’m able. Up until recently, this has meant making short films, but this past year I’ve gotten into creating my own web series called The Pilot is Dead.
The adventure drama Iron Will premiered on Jan. 14, 1994. Much of the film was shot in Duluth and areas near Duluth from Jan. 11 to April 1, 1993. The annotations below are a guide to spotting familiar people and locations.
The official music video for Gaelynn Lea‘s new single, “The Long Way Around,” was shot, directed, edited and produced by Dave Mehling in Duluth, with assistance in the shooting by Rachael Stigsell and Paul Tressler.
The line drawings are by Lee Zimmerman. The actor is Vlad Messing.
The Minnesota Twins ended an historic season by bowing to the New York Yankees in three straight playoff games. But Duluth band Trampled by Turtles was able to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before it was all over. Video via Jumbotron above.
