Peter Quinn . Creative Director
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Q: What did you do before Super REtina? |
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A:
I had been to art school for painting and design, formed a band, toured
for a while, got back to design doing html in the early days. worked at an agency as creative director for interactive, worked, showed, played and then formed my own design company.
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Q:
And how did this begin? |
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A:
It was an idea that started forming about 8 years ago. We shot a test and the person taped over the footage immediately and the project died. Then came 911. In 2006, it resurfaced i guess because of a need to. Maybe the environment, maybe politics, maybe our mental state.
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Q:
What do you hope to do with the project, or rather, how do you see its effect. |
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A: I think the lowest common denomenator between us working on the project is our desire to create vs. servicing. We've all worked on projects for others and i guess our goal is to work on our own thing creating content vs. making other people's stand out.
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Q: right. i guess that's the dream isn't it. |
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A: I'm not sure if that's everyone's dream. |
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Q:
It seems like everyone wants to be a film maker. It's getting kind of crowded isn't it? |
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Yeah, you know, the tape revolution led to some great punk invention and now with the camcorder, everyone thinks he's a director. It's a double edged sword i guess.
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Q:
Have you seen that film maker reality tv show? |
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A:
One night I was watching Network television and I was flipping through the channels and they all had different reality tv shows on. It was quite telling. |
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Q:
Do you like reality tv? |
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A:
It's like a car crash. It's hard to turn away even though you know you really don't want to see anything gruesome. Still, it's hard to turn away.
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Q:
At the basis, what is Super Retina about? |
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A:
It's about levels of reality. Being able to decipher truths. It's about a lot of things. It's very complex and layered. Not for network television for sure.
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Q:
Cool. Thanks |
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A:
Cool. |
Links: |
http://www.creativecapitalism.net
http://ink.proj7.com
http://www.proj7.com
http://quinn.proj7.com
LOW MOdA |
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John Ellsberry . Director
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Q: How did you get involved with super retina? |
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A:
A few years ago Peter Quinn and I were talking about some film ideas and he mentioned this sci-fi thing he wanted to do.
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Q:
Sci-fi thing, what are you talking about? |
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A:
He was talking Alphaville with a twist. We discussed other films that were similar in feel and we started to discuss film ideas.
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Q:
What sort of ideas? |
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A: We talked about the storyline being timeless and growing in many directions.
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Q: What else? |
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A: We wanted it to have a look of something that was kind of serious, but also have the potential in its quasi-scientific delivery.
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Q:
How do you fit into all of this? |
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A: I've worked in film, murals, painting, photography, and it seemed like the right place to go next.
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Q:
Have you worked together before? |
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A:
I've worked with Peter on several scenic painting projects and some conceptual pieces, and I've worked with Todd on Video Projects. But all three of us haven't collaborated til now.
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Q:
And what else informs you of these ideas presented in Super Retina? |
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A:
I work at the Maryland Science Center where i project the IMAX films. Need i say more? |
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Q:
NO! |
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A:
Plus, I'm consumed with ideas about conspiracy theories and historical anomolies. I guess I have a suspicious nature that lends itself to the subject matter at hand.
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Q:
Cool |
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A:
Yeah, Cool. I don't know about that. |
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Q:
Any Influences? |
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A:
We were just talking about all the influences. It would be a huge list. |
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Q:
Anything stand out as notable? |
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A:
Get Smart. I really dig the cone of silence. Maybe the Avengers as well. |
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Q:
Right. Gotcha. |
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A:
now you're getting me. |
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Q:
One more thing, i heard you invented the beavis and butthead characters? |
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A:
Um, well, there's quite a resemblance to the Dork Brothers project i was working on. check it out. |
Links: |
Whose Responible.
Dork Brothers |
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Todd Evans . Director of Photography
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Q:
Super REtina. I'm curious what might draw a person to such
a project? |
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A:
I had seen peter many times around baltimore at different
events and then one time at an opening he walks right up
and says "what do you do, you shoot film right?"
in typical peter-like forthright fashion. So, we started
collaborating on projects and ideas and one day over coffee
he fills me in on a project he's been thinking about called
Super REtina.
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Q:
I'm particularly fond of that name, but what's your angle? |
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A:
Well, as Peter found out i shoot film and went to a rather
experimental film school UMBC here in baltimore of all places.
It was headed by Stan Van Der Beek before I got there and
his mark was on the curriculum. |
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Q:
What do you mean by Stan Van Der Beek's mark on the curriculum? |
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A: We watched alot of experimental films...Stan Brakhage,
Maya Deren, Buneul, Kenneth Anger...and the facilities were
fairly technologically advanced for the time and the size
of the program. And the faculty really encouraged making
films your own and making your own films, as in doing everything.
I even remember opening a locker in one of the steenbeck
rooms and finding a reel of one of Van Der Beek's films,
so he left his mark quite literally. |
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Q: A Steenbeck doesn't sound so advanced, what year are we
talking about? |
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A: Well let's see i moved to Baltimore in 1990 and started
school there in the spring of 1991. But the program went way
beyond Steenbecks... everything from optical printers-- a
JK and an Oxberry-- to an early SGI machine for computer animation,
tons of 16mm cameras and video gear. |
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Q:
So wait a minute, what does all this have to do with Super
Retina? |
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A: I guess getting back to my roots as a filmmaker. I've
spent some time on some film and tv sets, which has been
great experience, but lately I've been working on small
crew and small budget projects. And the sensibility of SRP
seems to fit in with what I studied when I first got interested
in filmmaking. |
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Q:
That's all pretty interesting, but what does all this have
to do with Super Retina? |
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A:
Uh, well I guess I just really like the project-- working
with Peter and his creative mind and ability to bring cool
people together to collaborate. I think it comes from all
his years in bands. You gotta be able to do that and make
it work or you lose it. |
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Q:
Cool, but what does it have to do with super retina? Like
what is a retina in? |
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A:
Uhm...eyes. And i guess eyes are really cool and eyes are
really important to what i do. You know looking through
the camera and all.
so
i guess it's that eyes are cool thing. |
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yeah...now
that's what i'm talking about. |
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A:
I thought maybe you were heading somewhere with that...eyes
are cool. |
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Q:
Yeah. Cool.
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Links: |
some
videos
terry
gilliam on stan
maya
deren
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