Driven Blind is a short documentary film that follows Dan Parker, a world champion drag racer, as he seeks to redefine his life in the wake of a tragedy that left him blind.
The film is finally done. I wish I could share it with you here, but I have agreed to wait until we screen it at festivals before sharing it online. For now, here’s a link to the facebook page.
Atomic Retro Customs is a short documentary about Matt Nowicki, a luthier in North Carolina building electric guitars that have become famous for their retro designs and custom details. This film explores his process for constructing electric guitars and the inspiration behind his designs: classic science fiction and old-world craftsmanship. The film screened at regional festivals in the South in 2015 and 2016.
These are excerpts from a documentary I made in 2005 about playing in a small bluegrass band.
“You know Cecilie I’m just calling because you are a friend of mine and I want to tell you that you have a pretzel in your ear.”
I was digging through some old video tapes and found this, from 1996. I took a video camera with me when I toured with the International BYU Folk Dance Ensemble. I was musician and I had the time of my life traveling around on a bus in Scandinavia with a bunch of college students.
I apologize in advance that not everyone from the tour is represented equally here. But I hope this brings back some good memories. I had forgotten a few things and it made me laugh out loud more than once.
A very short video snippet featuring Isaac and Mark Geslison.
Here is a movie about kids making a movie. These are my kids: Eira, Lucy, and Amanda feeding and playing with the neighbor’s chickens and ducks. Our dog, Natasha, wishes she could join in, but she is a well known chicken killer.
I composed the music for this short film. It’s part of the Olive Us videos my cousins have been producing.
The incredible true story of a Godzilla-like dog that threatened humanity.
My super cool cousins, Ben and Gabby Blair, have been making a series of fun videos featuring their kids. They let me do some of the music including the music in this video. Check it out:
Watch more episodes here.
When I was a younger film student, I made a short documentary titled “Il Contrabasso.” It’s about Brady Ward, an acoustic bass player, and his thoughts about the instrument. Here’s the film (about 4 minutes long):
As Brady mentions in the film, the acoustic bass, and really all acoustic instruments, have a quality that is soothing and natural, almost healing. For me, the acoustic bass is sort of the epitome of acoustic-ness. You add that acoustic bass sound, and the whole recording is suddenly four times bigger, organic and rich.
I suppose most musicians who specialize in a particular instrument have an irrational love for their instrument. I remember my piano teacher looking at me and, in a sober tone, explaining what to her was a simple, obvious fact. She said, “You know Geoff, the piano is actually the most beautiful instrument ever invented.” And that was that. It wasn’t an opinion. And it certainly wasn’t to be argued with. It was as if this fact had been proven by irrefutable scientific study. The earth is round, not flat. And it really doesn’t matter what other instruments you play. The piano is the most beautiful. Period. (By the way, I kind of agree with her.)
I’d love to hear about your favorite instruments and why you love them. Even if it’s totally irrational.