The shooting star that darts across the screen in Secaucus filmmaker Gregory Griffith’s short film about his hometown seems too conveniently placed to be true. That’s because it is.
The “star” is actually a plane trail that happened to come into focus as Griffith shot the clip. “It’s actually a time lapse,” Griffith said of the light streak.
Griffith’s short video is a 2:48 amalgamation of everything Secaucus, from Mill Creek Point to Duck Pond to Laurel Hill to Town Plaza.
Griffith’s video has gotten a lot of attention since Mayor Michael Gonnelli located it on Facebook and played it at the May 9 council meeting. It also appeared on the town’s TV station and on Secaucus’ municipal website. Shot and edited with an ultra professional flair, Griffith’s work is easily believable as Secaucus’ actual introduction video…though it doesn’t even have one.
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“I thought it would be a good way to practice.” – Gregory Griffith
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You can watch the film at his Vimeo channel at https://vimeo.com/215913404.
“Just growing up around here and just walking all over town, you see all these different sites,” Griffith, 26, said of why he made the film. He also has a certification from Manhattan’s New York Film Academy.
“I just got this new camera and I wanted to make a new video, just to teach myself all of the ins and outs of it. I thought it would be a good way to practice.”
He began creating the film in April, concluding at the beginning of last month. “There were a lot of shots where I had to go back, because I messed them up,” he explained. “I had to go back and wait for good weather so I could get the shot again, because it rained a lot. I would have to wait a week after I would shoot a day and wait another week for a nice day to go out.”
Local reaction
He initially placed the film on his Facebook page after completing it, uncertain as to whether or not it would garner reaction. His initial plans were to send it to Gonnelli, but the clip gained attention faster that he expected it would.
“He found it before I could send it to him,” Griffith said. “Within, like, 12 hours, people were sharing it all over. He found it and shared it on his own Facebook before I even sent him an email.”
According to Griffith, the video views shot to over 10,000. He intentionally placed it on Facebook because the service automatically plays videos. “I knew as soon as people saw the first shot, and they’re from Secaucus, they’d want to watch the whole thing,” he said. “I tried to hook them in.”
Renewed confidence
The last time Griffith spoke with the Hudson Reporter, in 2010, he explicitly said he focused on creating films as opposed to acting, (his “first passion”) because he “sucked” [as an actor].
At the time, he was in post-production for “In Your Dreams,” a dramedy shot in town where a man puts himself into a coma so he can be with the love of his life. He was certain that his future in film would be behind the lens.
But almost seven years after the fact, not only does Griffith regret that statement, but has realized that he has acting potential. This year, he began taking comedic improv classes at New York City’s Uptight Citizens Brigade Theater. The performances at the end of each class have helped greatly.
“I don’t think I’m a crappy actor,” he said. “People told me I’m good. It’s just fear of auditioning, to be honest.”
“I’m building up the confidence,” he said. “Every time I do it, I’m glad I did. I just have to make up my mind about what I want to do.”
A leading man?
Could that possibly be a starring role in a superhero thriller, ala “Iron-Man?” Not entirely.
“I’ve been told that I would be good at a leading action role, but not like The Rock, or an action star,” Griffith said. “Something like an indie-movie, like a dramedy sort of lead. Maybe Michael Cera, people say. Not literally him, but that sort of demeanor where he’s like kind of shy, but still funny.”
He admits that he wrote “In Your Dreams” with the lead as himself in mind, but ultimately decided it would be too “narcissistic” if he cast himself as the star in his own film. But today, if something along the lines of “Superbad,” the classic teen comedy that helped shoot Cera into stardom, came toward Griffith, “I think I could do that role now, honestly. I think I would have a lot of fun with that. I would do it a little different than Cera, but he killed it.”
Griffith’s ultimate goal is to write, act and direct his own movies. But until then, he’s still working on creating a reel.
For future clips, he wants to shoot something involving cooking, and has another promotional film in mind, this one focused on a metropolitan juggernaut: New York City.
“That’s actually the video I really wanted to work on,” he shared. “The Secaucus video was just practice, and it ended up being really good. Now I have to take more time to make sure this is better than the last one. I can’t follow up my video with some crappy, subpar movie that isn’t as good as the first one.”
Hannington Dia can be reached at hd@hudsonreporter.com
