Film striping, a process of laminating recordable tape to the edge of 8mm film was an affordable solution of keeping the video and audio source together. A popular method was to film the movie and later dub the dialogue. This would work if you could hit it 99% of the time and match the acoustics to the scene. Most attempts, however, fell short of achieving this and would actually become irritating, the viewer noticing the lips not matching with the audio.
I was told by so-called professionals in the late sixties that the only way to get accurate lip-sync was to purchase thousands of dollars of equipment. However, I discovered that using a $25 radio shack cassette recorder, a $5 rheostat connected to the motor with a battery operated camera, full 30 second lip-sync could be obtained.
1969 - Our first movie, this was produced and directed by Peterson High School's drama teacher, Ronald C. Graves. Filmed in Downtown San Jose, California, various dismal shots show a decaying city and depressed people. With the background music of DOWNTOWN, by Patule Clark, Mr. Graves wanted viewers to see that in the real world, downtown life was not as glamorous as the song indicates.
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1970 - This was our first film with lip-sync audio. Sandy (Pam Anderson), a typical teenage girl witnessed a murder on her way home from school, carried out by notorious mob boss, Joseph Conioto (Mark Pierceall). His right hand man, Larza (Jim Walraven) attempted to shoot her at the scene, but she got away.
Conioto hired a reckless womanizing thug, Ken Peters (Mike Carroll Jr.), to silence Sandy for good. When Conioto protested the $15000 fee, Peters threatened to go to the police.
1970 - A string of mutilations have plagued the city of Sunnyvale. Detective Ershy (Mark Pierceall) is puzzled by the lack of clues. Ecologist, Dr. Edward Rollins (Doug Brusig), approaches the detective with a strange theory: The killer is not human or animal, but toxic pollution that has come alive. He concludes that if industrial factories are not immediately closed, the pollution will take over the world.
1972 - A young man (Mark Pierceall) roams aimlessly throughout the city. As he turns the corner, he finds himself in a lush forest and meets a beautiful girl (Laurie Stilts). Life couldn't be any better, as he enjoys the girl of his dreams in God's country. However, he finds that this was only a dream, as he ends up back in the dreary city.
1972 - Written and directed by Doug Brusig. Filmed in B&W, Scott Johnson (Doug Brusig) returns to his home town, Sunnyvale. As he visits his old high school, he runs into an old friend, Julie (Laurie Stilts), who is studying to be a marine biologist. At 14 Laurie Stilts made an outstanding performance.
The couple begin to fall in love as they walk the beaches and parks. He tells her that he has to leave because his parents are getting a divorce, but she discovers the real reason is because he has brain cancer.
1973 - Written by Doug Brusig. directed by Mike Carroll Jr. Mob boss Conioto (Nathan Shanelec) is at it again, but sinks to a new low. In the loan shark business, client, Mr. Grunner, is behind on his payments. Conioto hires pool hustler, Ken Peters (Mike Carroll Jr.), to carry out a contract on Mr. Grunner's son (Doug Brusig).
See complete movie Punk.avi (64MB).
See official website
1976 - On a typical Friday night, Mike (Mike Carroll Jr.) hooks up with some friends while cruising First Street in Downtown San Jose, California. They meet up at a local 24 hour pool hall to play for a couple games of Eight Ball. But it was 6:00 the next morning and the games were still going and Mike had enough.
Tired of cruising dead end boulevards and all-night pool games, he got on his Honda 750 motorcycle and set out to explore better pastures. Scenes were filmed on Highway 9, in the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and La Honda, California.
1976-1987 - This was our our leap into the 16 mm film format. We began the project in 1976 with a camera on loan from the film department at De Anza College in Cupertino, California.
The project was picked back up in 1987. Using U-matic tape for current shots, we used the 11 year difference to show an older Mark Pierceall.
An old drunk (Mark Pierceall) walks through the city of Santa Clara, California. As he sits down own on a bench, he recollects happier times in his high school years when he had the world at his fingertips - a star athlete, a scholarship and a wholesome girlfriend - all thrown away by his alcohol problem.
1972 - Our Nation and its Environment was produced and directed by Doug Brusig. A documentary focusing on the environment, with various shots of forests in the state of Washington, the film took First place in a regional contest.
Doug Brusig and I were interviewed on San Francisco Bay Area television station, Channel 54 We were asked about the film and asked about future projects.
1991 - In the early 90s, ABC 7 (San Francisco) had a special series called BAY AREA FOCUS. These were short segments about people and places in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I contacted the station after a Happydays reunion that aired on the network, and the news department decided to spotlight my Fabulous Fifties project.
See the 2.51 minute segment BAFocus.wmv (1.87MB)
1995 - I was interviewed on KNTV, now known as the WB. In the 4.5 minute clip, I explain how the the 3D database of a part of Mountain View was created. The video includes a walkthrough animation of that database, as well as Macy's Valley Fair, circa 1957, at that time.
See the segment Datebook.wmv (3.12MB)
1998 - This is an overview of my work in general. In the 2.5 minute clip, it mentions media outlets that have covered my work, as well as a short clip of a real-time walkthrough.
See the segment Overview.wmv (1.5MB)
