The pipes of James Cleland Richardson…once lost…now found…the stories in reminders. (Pipes of War image, ca. 2012).
The Reminders Before Us
And they come back to us in our dreams…in ways that reminders place themselves before us…we see them with our eyes, our hearts…hear their soft rasp beside our ears and at night with a gentle breeze across our pillow – as if their virtual hand remains there to remind us – we are safe. They are familiar – they are near and each chance when we might thank them..…it was their time that gave us ours.
I watch the Academy Awards (Oscars) each year…and listen…what do the recipients say who do they remember…who was important in their lives. Each note of the soundtrack, every lyric…what words do we find within them, where do we journey with these notes?
There is story in every step of conflict and peace, rural and urban, all peoples, all languages. Find the camera, still or motion, recorder, pen or keyboard. Find the reminders, the words, the sound. And always recall the ones who brought you here, who brought you to this place…the reminders placed before us…it was their time that gave us ours…
And all of this today because of lyrics…a new film from a reminder…of parents that took us to the pictures and pass by at night with the breeze.
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From Mary Poppins Returns
Do you ever lie
Awake at night?
Just between the dark
And the morning light
Searching for the things
You used to know
Looking for the place
Where the lost things go
Do you ever dream
Or reminisce?
Wondering where to find
What you truly miss
Well maybe all those things
That you love so
Are waiting in the place
Where the lost things go
Memories you’ve shed
Gone for good you feared
They’re all around you still
Though they’ve disappeared
Nothing’s really left
Or lost without a trace
Nothing’s gone forever
Only out of place
So maybe now the dish
And my best spoon
Are playing hide and seek
Just behind the moon
Waiting there until
It’s time to show
Spring is like that now
Far beneath the snow
Hiding in the place
Where the lost things go
Paul has worked with the Paradigm Motion Picture Company since 2009 as producer, historian and research specialist. Paul first met Casey and Ian WIlliams of Paradigm in April 2007 at Ieper (Ypres), Belgium when ceremonies were being held for the re-dedication of the Vimy Memorial, France.
Paul's sensitivity to film was developed at an early age seeing his first films at RCAF Zweibrucken, Germany and Sardinia. Paul returned to Canada in 1967 and was captivated by David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Bridge on the River Kwai". Over time Paul became increasingly interested in storytelling, content development, character, direction, cinematography, narration and soundtracks.
At the University of Victoria, Paul studied and compared Japanese and Australian film and became interested in Australian film maker Peter Weir and his film "Gallipoli" (1981). Paul was inspired when he learned Weir visited the beaches, ridges and ravines of the peninsula. "Gallipoli", the film, led Paul on many journeys to sites of conflict in England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Malta, Hawaii, Gallipoli, North Macedonia and Salonika.
When Paul first watched documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, "The Civil War", Paul understood how his own experience and insight could be effective and perhaps influential in film-making. Combining his knowledge of Museums and Archives, exhibitions and idea strategies with his film interests was a natural progression.
Paul thinks like a film-maker. His passion for history and storytelling brings to Paradigm an eye (and ear) to the keen and sensitive interests of; content development, the understanding of successful and relational use of collections, imagery and voice. Like Paul's favorite actor, Peter O'Toole, Paul believes in the adage “To deepen not broaden.”
While on this path Paul always remembers his grandmother whose father did not return from the Great War and how his loss shaped her life and how her experience continues to guide him.
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