“The Sprinter” by Justin Kemerling and Jason Hardy.

A number of years ago (circa 2002-ish) my friend Justin Kemerling and I set out to create something together. What we settled on was the creating of a short film. It was (and still is) called “The Sprinter” and it had a profound effect on me.This is the first in a series of posts about “The Sprinter.” The idea here being to remember and share this project with everyone. The how and what and why of it all. For me, personally, to relive those days and revel in the messes we made. But ultimately, my hope is that this story inspires you. Either way, this is “The Sprinter”, take from it what you will.

“The Sprinter” is 15 minutes long and intentionally challenges attention spans. There is repetition with subtle change until a final burst of action breaks the cycle. Without the storm there can be no calm (and vice-versa).

“The Sprinter” best seen in the dark basement of an art supply store in Lincoln Nebraska, while standing on the dirt floor viewing the film being projected onto a white sheet with an old grade school overhead projector that is somehow hooked up to a VCR with sound coming out of an old boombox. But, since we don’t have access to that setup anymore, the internet will have to suffice. Clicking on Vimeo’s little expand icon and watching it surrounded by a dark screen might help achieve that projected basement feeling.

Over the next series of posts I’ll talk about how the idea came about, how we filmed and edited “The Sprinter”, where the music came from and how we put together the DVD.

Read Part Two: The Setup.

›› Random PhotoBooth pictures of me posing for the camera while getting older and making graphic designs on the computer.

Today is April 20th, 2008. That is a fact. It means that we (Sue and I) have been living here in San Francisco for 79 days. It also means that I haven’t updated this blog in a long long time, so I thought I might write a bit about how I’m doing. Or maybe its better to touch on what I’m doing. Certainly an easier thing to recount. So here is what I am doing now and what I have been doing these past 79 days. (more…)

I know how this looks. Let me explain.

In February of 2007, nearly one year ago, my wife Sue and I moved from Lincoln Nebraska to Chicago Illinois. The Windy City. Chi-town. ‘Cago. We left behind our beautiful huge two bedroom apartment with a yard, our friends, our family and our home for a new life in the city that works. We got a small one bedroom apartment and I started working at Energy BBDO. Now here we are, nearly one year later, and in two weeks we are going to move again. This time to the city by the bay, San Francisco. (more…)

I have started a blog. This is the first post. I am still working out the kinks. “What will this blog be?” I wonder. Surely it will have something to do with my graphic designs. Surely. Maybe I will use this blog to get back into writing. I have a number of short stories which I’ve started, maybe this could be something that helps with that. I’ve got that one about the family that can’t sleep. I should finish that. How to end it though, that’s the tricky part. Maybe this blog will serve to inform readers as to what I’m up to. Books I’m reading, films on the tele, etc… Maybe I’ll post links to my friends, and keep people abreast of what they’re up to. This is starting to sound nice.