Cannes

April 27th, 2012

Summer is coming and we can’t wait!

Arlen is a couple weeks away from finishing his first year in the graduate film program at New York University and will be releasing some new videos in the coming months. Also, his first film completed at NYU entitled “Stuffed” will be screening at the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival in May. If you’re in France, check it out!

As of this week Mike is now a resident of Toronto! Look for some new videos by him to be released soon as well. Now that Mike lives in Toronto, he and Arlen are no longer so far away which means they will be periodically busing between Toronto and New York to work together/drink slurpees.

Also, make sure you check out the trailer for the web series “Insayshable”. Arlen helped write a couple of the episodes with the hilarious Amy Matysio and the full series debuts in May.

King Vulture – Sleeping at Trinity

April 18th, 2012

Sorry we haven’t been posting a lot on the ole webby-site lately. A lack of posts usually is a good thing, it means that we are busy. If we have time to remember to post, it means we got time to kill. Been shooting lots of stuff lately, some of it will be posted here for you to see in the coming months! Speaking of: So here is a new music video. It’s a couple weeks old but it’s still new to you if you haven’t seen it (that was a mangled 90s NBC “Must See TV” reference by the way). It’s by King Vulture, a digital hardcore artist based out of British Columbia, formerly of Edmonton. This was all shot in one take, with no focus adjustment (so exact distances were coordinated in the choreography) and it all took place in the back of a relatively seedy gay bar, and I think it’s pretty darn swell. We want to do something that hinted at extreme violence without actually going there. If you like this song, King Vulture’s newest album is available via Bakery All Stars as well as through his bandcamp site.

Mike will be in Toronto starting at the beginning of May, so that is exciting. Arlen still lives in New York, and things are going well at NYU. If you are in either of those cities during the summer, feel free to drop either of us a line.

More posts will be posted throughout the summer! We promise!

HighWire Films at SXSW and FAVA FEST

March 13th, 2012

This month HighWire Films will have work featured at two festivals, one local and one international. This week, Arlen will debut the web series entitled “The Loop” which he created as part of the Subway Fresh Artists promotion in connection with NYU and is screening at SXSW in Austin Texas. The film is also showcased on MyDamnChannel and IFC.com. Arlen co-wrote the episodes and directed the first episode. That’s pretty awesome, and also pretty delicious (sandwich-wise). You can watch the episode Arlen directed above (although currently one of Arlen’s co-writers intros the episode). Watch part two to see Arlen’s intro.

Mike was nominated for an FAVA Excellence Award at FAVA FEST, here in Edmonton, which is part of the celebration of Edmonton-based filmmakers. Here is an excerpt from the FAVA website, describing the festival.

In honour of our 30th Anniversary, The Film and Video Arts Society – Alberta (FAVA) is rolling out the red carpet and inviting Edmontonians to join in the celebrations at FAVA FEST: Film and Video Arts Festival, March 20-24th, 2012. FAVA FEST is intended to expose the larger community to the artistic work of our membership, stimulate new work, reward past success and just generally make a bigger noise about FAVA.

Go to the FAVA website for more details. In the meantime, check out the nominated video above!

Jom Comyn – Hatchet in Garage

February 13th, 2012

Here is the latest HighWire Films produced music video for the one and only Jom Comyn. Jom Comyn is one of Edmonton/Alberta/Canada/The World’s best kept secrets. Just listen to the song and you’ll see what I mean. This song hit the internet last summer but it definitely deserves some more attention. If you like what you here, head over to the man’s bandcamp page

The inspiration for the video came from the very vivid imagery in the lyrics. When I initially heard this song my mind focused on the textures of the images, I imagined things like rusty metal doors and gritty rotting wood. Hence the closeups in the video (achieved simply enough using a macro lens) which bring certain textures front and centre. The editing style of the video was my attempt at using textures as fragmented memories. We only get impressions of things, nothing specific. The texture of a girl’s hair, the grain on a cello, the loose threads on a wool scarf, the harsh winter suggesting a different time, etc. The factory background just seemed like the perfect setting for this song, constantly shooting pollution into the air. As well it is a great symbol for what Edmonton is. It has some beautiful locations and imagery but at its core it is still a very industrial city. As for the dancers, the song just has a good beat to it, ya know? So why not toss some dancer’s in there?

I momentarily had second thoughts about the dancers, and created an alternate cut without them, which you can see here and only here:

EDMONTON I LOVE YOU

February 6th, 2012

Hey Gang! I, Mike Robertson, am performing comedy at this show, and they will also be showing some videos that myself and Arlen created as part of our contract with Rapid Fire Theatre. I also made this promo. Also, there will be a lot of great entertainment, and it only will cost you ten dollars to see all this stuff. That sounds awesome to me! You would indeed be foolhardy to not check this show out. Please spread this video around on your Facebooks and Twitters so that we can get the maximum amount of people at this show. It will be astounding, this I promise you! Here is the semi-official press release for the show:

I (Jon Mick) think Edmonton is the greatest, and I have decided to throw a big party to tell it how much I love it. There will be bands (dancing!), comedians (laughing!) and a selection of short films (watching!). This will all be happening at GARNEAU THEATRE and it’s only TEN BUCKS! Please come out, dress up (wear sweat pants if you really want to) and let’s celebrate our fair city.

BANDS!
Field+Stream!
Jom Comyn!
James Renton!
Mitchmatic!
Jessica Jalbert Band!

COMEDIANS!

Craig Martell!
Mike Robertson!
The Cunning Linguists!

SHORTS!

Rapid Fire Theatre!
Giulliano Palladino!
Mission Accomplished!

THIS WHOLE THING IS SPONSORED IN PART BY THE COOL DUDES AT STEAMWHISTLE! GARNEAU THEATRE! MONDAY FEBRUARY 13TH! 10 BUCKS! 7PM!

Also, this is my going away party, so please come and have a good time with me one more time. Deal? Deal.

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