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Oh Johnny (4:18)
Ellen Lake | Oakland, CA
Combining 16mm films from the 30s and 40s with digital video from today, Elizabeth Patterson tells the story of the loss of her husband Johnny, killed when the Ticonderoga was bombed at the end of WW II. Using home movies from Elizabeth Patterson's closet (I recently discovered two ammunition boxes filled with 16 mm reels) as source material, this short will examine ideas about war, romance, place, memory, time, and technology.
Ellen Lake received her MFA from Mills College in Oakland, California in 2002, where she studied film & video, sculpture, and installation. She is currently creating a new body of work incorporating images from cell phone and other digital media with clips from 16 mm films from the 1930s and 40s. Her first piece from this series, “I was never glamorous, I was just around” has been shown at Heaven Gallery in Chicago, Aurora Picture Show in Houston, and the 2007 Boston CyberArts Festival. Additional work has screened at film festivals, art museums, and micro-cinemas around the world. She is the recipient of Bay Area Video Coalition’s 2005 Mediamaker Award.
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Oh Johnny
This video is done really well. I like it. If it weren't for this video then I wouldn't know what kinds of things that the Americans go through.
Thank you!
Ellen,
I am so impressed by your film. You made it both very easy to watch (because of the love and fun) and very hard (because of the heartbreak of losing one's lover, father, friend, etc. to war). So timely. Plus it was a treat to get to learn more about and see your family. Definitely a gift and thanks for sharing it!
Eliza
Brava!
This is a beautifully rendered and moving account. The images of that time are indelible, and you have managed to make the interwoven stories feel seamless. It is as profound a mediation on time and memory as it is on the losses of war. I am very impressed.
Jessica Fisher
Oakland, California
Well done Ellen
Such a intimate glimpse of what it must have been like for many, many families. Those videos are priceless and you have woven it all together with great sensitivity. loved the music.
Sandy Sonnenfelt
Congratulations, Ellen! An
Congratulations, Ellen!
An important contribution on the universal subject of war from a very personal standpoint. It is impressive how you are able to tell a vital part of your grandmother's life story in such a succinct format. I love the juxtaposition of 16mm and digital video. While watching the film, I imagined my little daughter's 'Papa' having to go to war and not returning - an unbearable thought and yet a reality for many women and children in the world today.
Anke F.
Bayreuth, Germany
Oh Johnny
I am a college friend of Pru Patterson Lake (the little girl in the video and Ellen's mom). I've known Pru, Jim and Betty since 1960 and am amazed at the resemblance between Jim and John.
Ellen, you have done such a beautiful job with this. I know your grandfather would be proud if he could see it. What a moving tribute to him, your grand-mother, and all the young men who died in the war.
I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Susan Olson
Smith '64