“Miss Dockery” film shoot

My friend and fellow artist Milford Earl Thomas invited me to the set of his short film Miss Dockery to shoot some pinhole and TTV photos.

He’s currently creating a fictionalized 1930 Vitaphone-style short film, shot on an antique 35mm HAND-CRANK MOTION PICTURE CAMERA to inaugurate an ongoing project dramatizing Southern Eccentric Octavia Dockery (1865-1949).   As a photographer and lover of all things old and analog… i was really fascinated by the vintage hand crank camera.  Even more fascinating is Octavia’s story:

Octavia Dockery was born into a privileged Southern family in 1865 as the daughter of a Confederate Brigadier General. President Grant escorted the teenage Dockery to her debutante ball, and the unorthodox and quick-witted intellect began a promising writing career with the New York World newspaper in the late 1880s. But a procession of unfortunate events forced her into bleak destitution the latter half of her life as she cared for a deranged friend in a crumbling Natchez, Mississippi mansion populated with chickens, geese, and a sizable herd of goats. These dire circumstances led to her entanglement in a murder case that made international headlines (including Newsweek and Life magazines) in the early 1930s. The sudden exposure by the world’s media cast a glaring spotlight on the bewildered Faulkner-esque Mississippi duo. After acquittal of the crime, the ever-resourceful Octavia parlayed her newfound celebrity into a more comfortable life for her and her companion. Dubbed “Mistress of the Goat Castle” by the world’s journalists, Miss Dockery finally gained the audience she deserved, however unexpected.

Read more about Milt’s project on his Kickstarter page.

Milt is a prolific artist and a filmmaker, probably best know for his silent film Claire which toured international festivals with a live orchestra.