Lost in Light » Handmade http://lostinlight.org small gauge filmmaking videoblog Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:45:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 For Helen Hill http://lostinlight.org/2007/01/05/for-helen-hill/ http://lostinlight.org/2007/01/05/for-helen-hill/#comments Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:35:24 +0000 Jen http://lostinlight.org/2007/01/05/for-helen-hill/
HelenHill.jpg

This is a painful post to write. Yesterday, the film community lost a vibrant star. Filmmaker Helen Hill was killed by a gunman at her home in New Orleans, a victim of a rash of violence that has plagued the city since the new year (story here). To add to the tragedy, she was an active volunteer in the local community as well as a well-loved contributor to the filmmaking world at large. Although her husband was shot as well, both he and their small son survived the attack.

A memorial site is being set up at helenhill.org. Photos and memories can be sent to memory(at)helenhill(dot)org.

By all accounts, Helen was both an incredibly sweet and generous person as well as a dedicated filmmaker, animator and film preservationist. When much of her amazing collection of home movies was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, she took on the task of carefully rescuing the works–and in many cases simply making the best of the damaged films she could salvage (hear her discuss them here). Her enthusiasm for handmade, DIY films, and willingness to share her expertise and passion, was an inspiration to many, including myself. She will be missed terribly.

I never met Helen in person, but we corresponded by email and she graciously included a little write-up of mine in her fantastic and much-loved DIY filmmaking guide, Recipes for Disaster. Much of what I learned about hand-painting film for that article came from working on the film I’m including here.

This Super 8 film is one of my first experiments in hand-painting, created in 1998 in Austin, Texas, and it was largely due to the amazing collection of knowledge included in Recipes that I was able to continue experimenting in this form. Even though we never met, I owe a lot to Helen, and I don’t think my films would be what they are today without her influence. This film is dedicated to her memory.


Click image to view video in Flash | Quicktime

We at Lost in Light send our best wishes and deepest condolences to her family and friends. We are tremendously upset by this news, and she will be in our thoughts.

NB: Forgive the quality of this transfer; this film was not transferred using our Lost in Light transfer system, but is rather a shoot-off-the-wall style transfer from several years ago.

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