Final
Report to the
Rick Hancox
Mr. Maynard
Collins
Assistant
Film Officer
The
Dear Mr.
Collins,
Thank you
for your interest in the progress of my grant #A76:0372 ($4,964). I am pleased
to present herewith a final report on Home
for Christmas, the 50-minute film finished last spring in this connection.
You will recall at the time we agreed to let the report accumulate information
with regard to screenings over the summer. I think you will find it more
interesting as a result.
Following
this letter, the report begins with a personal statement reflecting my
theoretical stance as reaffirmed by this film project. It will be published by
the Art Gallery of Ontario in the book for their autobiographical film festival
for this fall. I have been asked to appear as a guest with Home for Christmas for the festival’s conclusion in December. I especially
look forward to this honour, since the film will
appear in a better context than the Grierson
Documentary Seminar last June, where it was given bad projection and
programming, and suffered from an oppressive atmosphere of discussion. The
criticism lost validity as a result, an opinion reinforced by the fact that
response to the film everywhere else has been completely the contrary.
The
premiere of the film last March in
A few more
months of work were required though, before a good print was possible.
Complicated colour and density corrections were
necessary, since Home for Christmas had
to be shot entirely in natural light to maintain integrity. This meant dealing
with mixed illumination of great variance in colour
temperature, and light levels so low as to require forced processing as high as
three and a half stops. The resulting colour shifts
and graininess may be unthinkable to some filmmakers, but such qualities have
been totally accepted by my audiences, who apparently see them as clues that
the film is authentic, and that I took risks to make it so.
The editing
was no less difficult, since my technique of unobtrusive ‘wild-sync’ shooting
required unbelievable feats of continuity and synchronization in the editing
room. I had confidence in my skill in this area, but it explains why Home for Christmas was so long in
post-production.
I stuck to
the budget as initially proposed in my application, but I must mention here
that some items were more expensive due to price hikes at the lab. Also, I was
not in a position to obtain the tax exemptions I had assumed at first, and this
further boosted the cost of the film beyond what the Council kindly did provide
for. The number of useful prints I had expected were reduced to one (to be sent
under separate cover for possible purchase), since I could not anticipate the
number of answer prints the lab would have to correct to arrive at the final
timing specifications.
When a good
print was finally obtained it was shown at the Funnel in
In June I
designed a one-sheet to publicize the film, and this was included with a letter
form the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre introducing me to film
programmers in Western Canada in whose vicinity I might be during my summer
holidays. As a result, I was able to do one-man shows at the Southern Alberta
Art Gallery, in
The letter
which concludes this report is from George Semsel,
Professor of Film at Algoma during summers, and a former teacher of mine. I had
shown Home for Christmas to a large class of his which included teachers,
librarians and media people, as well as adults generally interested from Sault
St. Marie and surrounding area. Some of their comments which appear in this
letter are so typical of response to the film everywhere, I have included the
letter in its entirety.
I want to
add how pleased I was that Westerners identified so well with the film, even
though it’s about going down east for Christmas. I have yet to show it in the
Maritimes, where I hope there will be just as much interest.
Considering
how low the budget was for a 50-minute film, it is remarkable what I achieved.
It represents a tremendous personal success, and fully embodies what I had in
mind when I applied for the grant. It has proven my belief that the
autobiographical film mode does indeed have a value beyond the individual
artist-that it links us as humans by a bond of often mythical proportions. It
has led inevitably to my next project, for which I am actively engaged in
research: the phenomenon of quasi-eidetic images which lodge in memory-graphic
scenes from early childhood whose meaning remains elusive despite constant
re-formulation in consciousness. I think I can effectively bring forth their
significance through judicious experimentation with film, and subsequently
time, following a course initiated by my film Next to Me.
I want to
express my gratitude to the Canada Council for the funds that made Home for
Christmas possible, and for the faith invested in me to carry it out. Thank you
very much.
Yours
sincerely, Rick Hancox