Doug & Kathleen are a Nova Scotia-based filmmaking team. Our projects often begin with family members or with artists. Shooting mostly outdoors, we keep our films short and look for humour and strong visual elements.
Blue, 2015. 2:47 min.
Is the world upside down or right side up? Two performers explore the edges of normal in this light-hearted short.
Speaking of Ponds, 2014. 3:20 min.
A portrait of a frog pond and its many uses, in the words of the man who created it.
Before We Awaken, 2012. 2:25 min.
Bird songs at dawn create a magical atmosphere in the spring countryside.
Switch Case, 2012. 5:12 min.
Two girls pursue a mysterious man across the countryside after he switches suitcases with them. The latest in a series of films featuring Jay and Emma, joined by Emma’s friend Abby.
Murder of Crows, 2011 3:22 min.
Hundreds of crows gather for the night as dusk falls. I was out shooting storm clouds. To my surprise, crows began to circle in the sky. At first half a dozen, then a hundred, then several hundred. I found myself in a village of crows with a full surround-sound of eerie choral voices. My sister Janet later told me of the Ted Hughes book, Crow, from which I pulled the epigram that ends the film.
Alien Ways, 2011 5:11 min.
Originally conceived as a sequel to Walk the Walk, showing the interaction of Jay and his ebullient niece Emma. However, the project took on a life of its own soon after Jay’s arrival in Nova Scotia. He had crossed the country on an exhausting motorcycle journey and burst upon his relatives with many stories to share–a special visitor indeed. For the film, we decided to use a Man Who Fell to Earth approach, giving a SF twist to the story, as Emma discovers “the alien” in the woods and brings him to life, then befriends him by teaching him a few of the ways of human culture. The film is a humorous take on Jay’s adaptation to his own family and to settled life after two months camping on the road, and suggests how important and how fleeting such moments of interaction are.