10 Dec An Oshawa Yuletide: Christmas film
It’s Christmas in the summer time! The Oshawa Museum approached Empty Cup Media to create a video in lieu of their annual Holiday Lamp lighting Tour in the early summer of 2020. They anticipated that Covid would have an impact on their ability to host in person events so they were proactive about making an alternative. At the time, planning in the summer for winter time Covid alternatives seemed like a stretch, but the Oshawa Museum was spot on in predicting that the province wouldn’t allow for events in small spaces come Christmas time 2020.
They initially wanted a video to somehow substitute the experience that museum goers have when they attend the lamp lighting tour (which is a walk through tour of the Henry House). But after some chats with Lisa Terech we decided to turn it into a short film that was a blend of historical facts and some silliness. Lots of script passing happened as we worked together to make something engaging, historically accurate and funny. Colin took lots of inspiration from Wes Anderson when writing the script and composing some of the shots. We filmed it over 2 days with all the actors (it should have been 3) and Colin did a handful of short pick ups to film extra b-roll, Santa Clause and the flaming plum pudding.
Dan Liscio from North Brothers Films in Whitby helped with some writing and with the shooting during the 2 main days. He also took these lovely behind the scenes photos. Together we shot everything in 4K 10-bit with our GH5 bodies. Since the film takes place in the mid 1800s, Colin used his vintage Helios lenses to give some shots a bit less contrast and ghosty corners. The big silver lens in the photos is the Helios 40 85mm f/1.5. It’s heavy and beautiful.
The film came out to be about 10 minutes and we are very proud of it. It was a pleasure working with the Oshawa Museum on this project. They gave us all the creative control and were enthusiastic to out of the box ideas for some parts of the film. Enjoy “An Oshawa Yuletide” when you’re in a festive mood.
