Sychronicity, Life & Peter Evanchuck

 NBFC members Helene Lacelle and Peter Evanchuck are right in the thick of some projects. (Photo by Anthony Knox)

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It's rather amazing how Jung’s concept of Synchronicity can affect one’s creative  life  - when I accidentally met Nelson Adams in Fredericton through a friend, I had no idea he would restart my film career since I had long before self terminated it due to the tiresome, annoying control others had of my work. But he did and as they say the rest is my history as once again I’m making films or rather videos. All due to the advent of Nelson and digital technology – now that’s a living example of sychronicity.

Like many independent filmmakers, I've always admired artists who’s work is very personal; from beginning to end, they create it according to their own self-awareness … very admirable indeed thought I.

"I wish filmmaking was like that," I often thought… well with digital it is – no question. We now can personally ‘make a movie’ like an artist ‘makes a painting’ i.e. completely alone using all our talents and skills to arrive at our personal view of the subject through our world experience. Not tainted by the big shots, the boys in the back room, the majors, the broadcasters, etc., etc...

We can arrive at a finished creative piece of ‘art,’ and then screen it on Youtube or Vimeo. This freedom is astounding for me and all independent, highly creative people who dislike to compromise their creations. So for the past few years I’m back at it – making my movies using digital technology.

The second occurrence that shaped my present ‘way’ of looking at movies happened in a manner that could be construed as negative but  I saw it as a positive – a lesson of learning in the modern age. I halted my movie making to review this 21st century way of achieving one’s art.

We all want to make feature fiction films not shorts, not docs. We want to see our movies in theatres and get the recognition and get big compensation. Well of course that was my folly as well.

Then through a series of mishaps, I learned that it was shorts and short docs that one can make like an artist, not the big features which depend so much on so many, but videos - short docs were the answer.

When cancer struck me again last summer, I decided to put that theory into practice and make a series of 5 or 6 short docs fast and furious using digital technology. Then while convalescing from surgery and 42 days of radiation, I would use my time completing those shorts while I upgraded my skills using a great professional editing software called FinalCutPro7.

So far I’ve managed to put 4 shorts ‘in the can’ as we used to say in the film world and have two more to complete. I should mention they are such fun to make… such fun and after all life lived fully is the best life of all.

To view Peter Evanchuck's recent docs called Peter’s shorts please go to: http://www.movieshandmade.com and scroll down to the bottom of our web page where you will see the posters and the links to youtube.