A.I. ASSIGNMENT: DAVE

A few years ago, Greg Richardson asked me to help him with an assignment he was going to give his class (among many things, he is an editing instructor at the Art Institute). The assignment was simple. Using video footage of a blocked scene that we had shot from a multitude of angles, the students were asked to edit the shots together to make a short film.

Greg had written a simple script and asked if I'd help shoot it on our lunch break. We didn't have any special lav mics or any lighting. Just went to a noisy area, with a simple camera and shot.

Years had passed and I had yet to see any of the footage. Greg had mentioned occasionally that the students were quoting my character "Dave" and had said that "Dave" had become somewhat of a "legend" around the Art Institute.

One day at work, I got an instant message from a new animator which went like this:

Wesley: "You're Dave!"
Me: "huh?"
Wesley: "You're Dave!"
Me: "i don't get it!"
Wesley: "Were you in Greg Richardson's editing project at the Art Institute?"
Me: Ha ha! Yeah! I haven't seen anything yet!
Wesley: A bunch of us just figured out that you are Dave just now at lunch! HA!
Me: Ha!
Wesley: Ha! Be cool! Don't be a fool!
Me: Ha! Oh yeah. I forgot about all of that.
Wesley: Ha!
Me: Ha!
Wesley: Ha!
Me: Ha!

This went on for quite some time.

So, this weekend, I had a very small backyard party and Greg came over and brought a drive full of quicktimes of the students' work. I copied them over to watch and I've selected a few. Some of them were really bad and consisted of two cuts. These were some of the best I think.