super8porter / LIST OF BICYCLE MESSENGER /

John's film

- The List of Bicycle Messenger -

300 Films - New Films - Top 25: Next / Previous Film

The List of Bicycle Messenger (1994, super 8, colour, 4 minutes, sound on film)

A Camera Dance, using time-lapse/pixilation.

During ten years as a bicycle courier in Toronto, John saved all of his small, hand-drawn lists made while on the job to keep track of his 20-30 pick-ups and deliveries each day.

For this film he built a rudimentary animation stand onto his bicycle crossbar, allowing him to shoot the lists close-up, with the bicycle handlebars and cityscape seen behind them.
He walked the bicycle forward, stopping every metre to shoot one list, in chronological order, on one frame of film.
He shot 2,000 lists and 2,000 frames during 6 hours of walking the animation-stand-on-wheels through 2 kilometres of downtown Toronto. When projected at 18 frames per second, the bicycle appears to being going very fast and the scene lasts just 2.5 minutes.

The sound combines "chatter" from John's courier radio, and John counting the years, and the film begins with a sync-sound introduction by John in full gear, talking to the camera.

The title, and title scene in the film, is a variation on John Huston's movie The List of Adrian Messenger (1963).


	John's film - The List of Bicycle Messenger - 300 Films - New Films - Top 25: Next / Previous Film *The List of Bicycle Messenger* (1994, super 8, colour, 4 minutes, sound on film) A Camera Dance, using time-lapse/pixilation. During ten years as a bicycle courier in Toronto, John saved all of his small, hand-drawn lists made while on the job to keep track of his 20-30 pick-ups and deliveries each day. For this film he built a rudimentary animation stand onto his bicycle crossbar, allowing him to shoot the lists close-up, with the bicycle handlebars and cityscape seen behind them. He walked the bicycle forward, stopping every metre to shoot one list, in chronological order, on one frame of film. He shot 2,000 lists and 2,000 frames during 6 hours of walking the animation-stand-on-wheels through 2 kilometres of downtown Toronto. When projected at 18 frames per second, the bicycle appears to being going very fast and the scene lasts just 2.5 minutes. The sound combines "chatter" from John's courier radio, and John counting the years, and the film begins with a sync-sound introduction by John in full gear, talking to the camera. The title, and title scene in the film, is a variation on John Huston's movie The List of Adrian Messenger (1963).