One of the blessings, (and curses), of making this film, was going through over 100 hours of footage. About half of which was home video material. (I guess I come by my archival nature honestly)!

Dad used to have a giant video camera when we were kids. It came in parts: a heavy base into which you put the VHS tape, some sort of converter box that ran to a power outlet and had a handle of its own, the actual camera itself, a heavy, noncollapsible tripod, and a separate light, that burned your retina if you happened to glance at it accidentally. I think it required a heavy equipment license and you couldn’t operate it if you’d taken NyQuil within 4 hours of turning it on. He’d lug this thing to every event, from our Brownie fly-ups, to First Communions to family Christmas and everything in between. And I’m grateful that he did. He didn’t know he’d be leaving us so young, and I’m grateful to have so much evidence that he existed. Though, as a filmmaker now, I gotta say, I really wish he’d learned how to stay with a shot for long enough that I could cut it!! Stop painfully zooming already!!!!
Going through this footage allowed me to spend time with a whole bunch of people that no longer walk alongside me. Grandparents, Great Aunts and Uncles, family friends, pets, my folks, old neighbours. Unfortunately, I could only use a small fraction of the material in Murphy’s Law – though I know you’re all dying to watch 60 hours of my home movies right!?! Right!?! So because I couldn’t put it all in the film, I’ve decided that I’ll share a few cute clips in this forum from time to time. It’ll give life to some special people and some sweet times again, even if only for a moment.

If you have old family footage kicking around your house that you haven’t looked at in years, I encourage you to drag it out, put on the kettle, and dive in. Spend some carefree timelessness with your past. It feels good.

Here’s Dad, a.k.a. Marlon Brando, Christmas 1996.