Freakin' fun!  Great stunts.  Where in Houston?  Did you do the fight 
sequences?  Damn good!

Toochis




________________________________
From: Captain Bijou <captainbi...@comcast.net>
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 8:21:38 AM
Subject: [MOPO] The serial you never saw....

 
Forty years ago, I was a drama student at the 
University of Houston (--Randy Quaid was a classmate of mine and we even 
appeared in a training film together for the Houston Police Department--), an 
avid comic book collector and a fan of the old movie serials...just like we 
used 
to see at our local bijous on Saturday mornings. 
 
I was also an aspiring filmmaker. I made 8mm and 
Super 8mm short "ama-films" for years. Sadly, most of those films have been 
lost 
through years. 
 
However, I did manage to hold on to my final film, 
Captain America,  which featured friends and fellow students at the U of H 
in a heartfelt  homage to the old movie serials. On weekends and evenings 
-- whenever I could get a cast and enough rolls of black and white film 
together 
-- we'd travel to such exotic locals as the Houston Ship Channel, the air 
conditioning plant at the University of Houston or Todd Shipyards in Galveston 
to shoot our serial. 
 
Unlike today, when broadcast quality movies 
can be created on one's laptop, we had only an inexpensive camera, a guillotine 
splicer -- to make tape splices that would not generally show up when projected 
-- and equal amounts of enthusiasm and imagination. Primitive the result was, 
to 
be sure. 
 
Years later, I added a musical track from a 
portable cassette player and narration which I improvised on the 
spot. Given the time and inclination, since the technology is already on my 
computer, I could now tighten up the edits, add dialogue and sound effects and 
re-score the music. One day maybe, I will...
 
Naturally, I was Captain America....after all, I 
owned the suit and tights!! For a time, I aspired to be a stuntman and even 
knew 
some of the best in the business: Yakima Canutt, David Sharpe, Jock Mahoney and 
Tom Steele. To make the fights seem realistic, I had only to call upon my 
experiences growing up on the Houston's northside. I had, as they say, plenty 
of 
opportunities to perfect my technique!!
 
Anyway, here it is for you to enjoy. If nothing 
else, it's proof positive that we were all younger and innocent once upon a 
time.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4tHIyvs82Y
 
Earl Blair
CAPTAIN BIJOU 
www.captainbijou.com
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.

         Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
   ___________________________________________________________________
              How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
                                    
       Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu
            In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
                                    
    The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.

Reply via email to