We open on a miniature makeshift circus sprawled out over a bedroom hardwood floor–a creation clearly sprung out of children’s imaginations.
Toys abound as we see soldiers, a doll on which hair has been pasted so to make her appear to be a bearded lady, an odd carousel, even a ringmaster doll who’s holding a whip.
As circus calliope big top stock music plays–and upon hearing a lion’s roar–we are then introduced to the king of the beasts: a cat whose body is shaved but whose head isn’t. The cat is in a cage on which appears the sign “Lion” made out of magnetized letters.
Clearly the kids who made this miniature circus have too much times on their hands.
Supered over this peculiar sight of the big cat is the slogan, “If you don’t amuse them, they will amuse themselves.”
Next a logo for Cliffs Amusement Park, an Albuquerque, N.M.-based, family-owned attraction now celebrating its 50-year anniversary.
Agency on the campaign, which includes “Circus,” is Strascina-Garcia Advertising, Albuquerque. The shop in turn tapped into Smugglers’ Inn, a Minneapolis shop featuring the creative team of art director Carol Henderson and writer/director Jarl Olsen. Henderson and Francesca Strascina-Garcia worked together earlier at Albuquerque agency McKee Wallwork Henderson.
Olson directed the Ciffs Amusement Park spots, with “Circus” shot by DP Joshua Hess on the RED camera.
The campaign was produced by Rebecca Elise Production Services, Albuquerque. Producers were Rebecca Elise and Carmen Silva of Rebecca Elise Production Services.
Editor was Clark Morris of :30 Second Street, Albuquerque.
Audio post mixer was Ed Shultz of Mountain Road Recording, Albuquerque.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More