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FISHERMAN'S LAMENT
by Merle Bertrand
FILMTHREAT.COM
2001, Un-rated,
5min, dnb Productions (10/8/2001)
As the fishing
boat "Elizabeth" chugs into port, an old fisherman (Dave
Crowe) wipes the tears from his eyes as he watches from the docks. He
pulls out a battered, wrinkled photograph of a woman and a young
child... and we're soon transported back in time to when his younger
self (Jeremy Denzingler) owned the boat. Not enough fish, we learn,
combined with too much alcohol conspired to cost the fisherman not
only his boat, but his family as well.
It's amazing, as
director Douglas N. Burns proves with his wistful and melancholy
short film "A Fisherman's Lament," just how minimalist a
short film can be and still be effective. Told almost exclusively
without dialogue, the film relies on beautiful photography, clever
editing, and solid, expressive performances to tell its simple yet
poignant tale of a life gone awry. Sad though this fisherman's lament
may be, "A Fisherman's Lament" makes for a very elegant and
moving film.
Press Release (9/17/01)
ALL TEXAS TALENT
FILM DEBUT
Announcing the
world premiere of A FISHERMAN'S LAMENT, a new film by Texas filmmaker
Douglas N. Burns. The film will debut at the Gulf Coast Film
& Video Festival in Seabrook, TX September 28th though the
30th. Written and directed by Burns, A FISHERMAN'S LAMENT is
the moving story on the scarcity of time, missed opportunities and
life long regret. Though there is no dialogue, the character's
unspoken emotions drive this film's telling story of a struggling
fisherman and his troubled past in a truly poetic fashion.
Shot on location
in Seabrook, TX the film stars Dave Crowe and features the work of
Jeremy Denzlinger, Timothy J. Fletcher, Jocelyn Donegan, Tyler
Burkett, Diana Gayl, Wyatt Kamin, and Jack Gonzales. Original
music by Doug Clark Stieger enhances the film.
Douglas N. Burns
is a native Houstonian and a graduate of Texas Tech University (class
of '95). A FISHERMAN'S LAMENT marks his directorial debut. |
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Markee Magazine article
September 2002
A Fisherman's Lament
"By
working without verbal exposition, it forced me to focus on the actors..."
by Kevin H. Martin
During his 10
years in the business, Douglas N. Burns often operated camera or
acted as DP on various industrial projects and short films. But for
his writing/directing debut film, A Fisherman's Lament, he found the
experience of running the show to be quite different, not unlike
being captain of a ship. That analogy fits nicely with the film
itself, which, sans dialog, presents a reflection on life spent at
sea. "By working without verbal exposition, it forced me to
focus on the actors to such a degree that their faces would tell the
story, with music coming in to support various points," Burns explains.
The filmmaker
arranged for a two-day location shoot in August 2000 in Seabrook,
Texas aboard a boat moored in an inlet with a commercial shrimping
dock. After working through Vietnamese translators to get signed
agreements from those running the port and the boat's owners, Burns
and his volunteer crew got a few surprises. "The locals saw a
3-ton grip truck and an Arri SR2 with matte box, then decided this
was a real movie with more money behind it," he reports.
"This caused a lot of tension and helped push me toward going
prematurely gray. I would not recommend hiring a location when
everybody isn't speaking the same language."
Though the shoot
proceeded, the filmmaker's crew was not allowed to take the boat out
into the bay. To give the illusion that the ship was at sea, Burns
shot boat interiors from radically different angles than he had
intended. "I had to be on my knees aiming up at the sky, so the
port wouldn't be revealed outside the window."
In addition,
"The blessing of the boats [ceremony] happened that Sunday, so
lots of partying took place aboard highly-decorative boats that
didn't fit the film's mood," Burns reveals. "I'm amazed at
how successful we were in obtaining the right images. That Mardi Gras-atmosphere
doesn't intrude at all."
The film was shot
MOS with Burns spending three days recording original music and
performing Foley. "There are a huge number of individual sound
elements of wind, engines, even whiskey being poured," he says.
"You can't hear all of them distinctly in the final mix, but I
think you'd notice their absence if we'd left them out."
Burns cut the film
on an Avid and estimates he saved $5-6,000 by forgoing a 16mm print.
"I can make a whole other movie for that," he quips. Burns
did just that, tackling the very different challenge of a
two-character sketch comedy with the short Dumpster Love. |
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