watch my new experimental film Have I Seen You Here Before? here: https://youtu.be/d36jmWRWins
this film was a spontaneous creation I filmed back in June, right after I returned from NYC. I had just looked over all my footage I took on my trip, and realized I had no idea how to make a half-decent film out of all these random videos. but I did have an inkling of an idea, brought about from a film I watched at the MoMA called Half Memory (2024). in that film there was a simple shot of a man walking past the camera, nothing special until the shot repeats. Nothing actually changes, yet at the same time everything does. I was amazed at how meaningful that simple repetition could be, and I began thinking about how many people we pass by on the street every day. I realized this would be a perfect angle to edit my New York film (later called To New York) around. so I set out in the late evening with my brother to the side of Foothills Parkway with my camera and a half-formed vision of a film quickly brewing in my mind.
now, I’ve long loved watching cars drive past, particularly late at night. there’s something so curious about someone driving at 4am, like the fact that we’re both out and about at such a late hour gives us some sort of connection. yet at the same time there’s the inhumanity that cars bring about. often I have to consciously remind myself that there’s a human being inside each car unless I can directly see them through the window. then when I remember to think of this, I start to wonder about who these unknown people are. what are they hoping for, what do they dream about? individuality is a shared experience after all. what if I could stop one of these cars, ask the person inside these questions? they’d probably be scared, but maybe I’d make a friend for life.
subsequently it was this “setting” of the cars on the road at night that framed the “question” I hoped to ask to the viewer: how many people pass by us every day that we’ll never get to know? how many best friends or would-be-lovers do we never meet? I’m rather proud of the idea in all honesty, and I think it’s quite visible in the finished film——as visible as the conceit of any experimental film will be. however in the process of making the film I had to decide between music or something else to fill the background. I didn’t want to use existing music, but I have little confidence in my musicianship, so I came up with a unique idea: I would record dozens of people saying “hello” and simply play them in the background. so I set out to the CU Boulder campus, and began going up to random people with my microphone and asking them to say hello. it’s strange because I feel rather socially confident at this point in my life, yet I would still find myself shaking with nervous adrenaline each time I’d go up to ask someone. everyone was very nice though, and amusingly many of them asked what the film was about, to which I gave a different answer every time. once I had collected maybe ~20 hellos, I started to incorporate them into the film . . . and hated it. it was terrible. so I deleted them all and with a reluctant sigh began to make some music. I do appreciate the fact that I went out and did that nonetheless, it’s one of the things I love about filmmaking. you actually have to get out and do it!
so, that’s the story of Have I Seen You Here Before? and though I have certain intentions for the film, I’m much more interested in what you, the viewer (I hope you do watch it), sees in it. what does it make you think about? I’d love to hear your thoughts, reach out on instagram, send me an email, or leave a comment on the youtube video!