Just Call Me Bing

"Just Call Me Bing" is a film documentary of South Shaver Baptist School. The title was suggested by my partner-in-crime, David Soirez. Since South Shaver was (officially) a non-smoking institution, ever the rebel without a clue, I decided to bring a pipe to school and not smoke it. David correlated this with Bing Crosby (not David Crosby, who smoked something different in his pipe), and it took off from there.

Have you ever seen the movie, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High?" If this film was produced a couple of years later, it would have been titled "Fast Times at South Shaver Baptist School," because the characters who appeared in the Cameron Crowe movie were identical to the students I shared nearly five years of my life with.

The film was originally shot on 8mm color film in November 1979. The camera I was using had two speed settings: 9 and 18 frames per second. I decided I could fit twice as much action on the same film cassette at the 9 fps setting. The only problem is, the film chain I used projected it at 18 fps. So as a result, it looked more like a Charlie Chaplin movie.

The audio is from the first South Shaver Student Reunion in 1982, and includes reactions from the students who were there watching it. I synched it with the video, so the reactions are authentic. The music is a cover of "Getting Better" by The Beatles. I remember Tracey Catlin's wife loudly proclaimed to me afterward that The Beatles are "demon-possessed." So were several students who rotated in and out of South Shaver. :)

I hope you enjoy viewing this as much as I enjoyed making it.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• South
• Shaver
• Baptist
• School
• Houston
• Texas

[amidunyet]

USELESSSSSSSS! Get ready to hit the STOP button. How bout we just hit the STOP button on this guy?