Back when I was
in high school, I used to make amateur movies. Actually, my bud
DC Smith made the movies, I just showed up and tried to act. He
won a couple Honorable Mentions in the Kodak amateur movie contests
in 1969 and 1970. Every year, I have a DC Smith film festival
and show the old movies. Eventually, I'll have a few captures
up here for kicks and giggles.
For now, I'm
going to talk about the movie that never was. We were making the
movie Faustus. The devil was supposed to appear from this big
cloud of fire and smoke. Unfortunately, I didn't light this off
electrically and the fuse "shot". A quarter pound of
black powder went up in my face. It was all captured on film...Super
8 in those days. It sure was a hard act to follow. I ended up
in the emergency room. Afterwards, my dad said, "the next
time you blow yourself up, you're paying!" It was my second
and last time. Click on the guy with his face in the fire to see:
The Faustus Explosion. When the movie window opens, use the arrows
on the right to run it in slow motion and get the full effect.
It's in Quicktime movie format, so you'll need Quicktime
to see it. Click on the icon to the left if you need a download.
The Faustus Explosion
was a landmark event. My usual tromping buddies, Louis and Joe
were already gone by the time I got back from the hospital. I
took up my buddy Tom Tarica's standing invitation to go out and
wreak havoc with him. In doing so, I met Eddie, Chrisco and Bruce,
among other people. Without the Faustus Explosion, there may have
been no Ohio U, no Baja and I might still be living in Florida.
Who knows?
It's in Quicktime movie format, so you'll need Quicktime
to see it. Click on the icon to the left if you need a download.
