U.S.Matt DuhaMel

Jeff troupe

Creating “media that matters”

Immersed in landscape painting

By Rosalea Collinge

Current Academy of Art University film production student Matt Duhamel has completed a short film that has not only been winning awards online, but is current-ly under consideration for a whole host of film festi-vals. “Last Day With Lizzy,” which was made for Georgia McInnis’ MPT 130 OL2: Motion Picture Language class, follows distressed father Mark as he tries to rebuild his relationship with his daughter Elizabeth. During the film, which is 13 minutes and 43 seconds long, Mark is forced to come to terms with a tragic past and accept that all may not be quite as it seems with his young daughter.

“The film was inspired by my daughter Maddie,” said Duhamel. “Unfortunately, since 2007, our relationship has been estranged and we haven’t spoken or seen each other since. ‘Last Day With Lizzy’ is a symbolic look at our own relationship and at other parents who have lost a child due to death, divorce or

By Lindsey Davis

Jeff Troupe graduated with a B.F.A. in Computer Animation from Academy of Art University in 2005, but after eight successful years in the gaming industry, he gave it all up to pursue painting full-time. He and his wife left the Bay Area and moved to Alturas, a small frontier town in California’s northeast corner, nestled between the Nevada border and Modoc National Forest. Now he’s celebrating his first solo show at the Alturas Art Center, comprised of 50 medium and small scale landscape paint-ings that were on view during all of August 2014.

“I have dreamed of

other circumstances.”To make the film,

Duhamel used a local volun-teer cast, including Clinton Coltrin (Mark), Jill Adler (Cheryl), Eric Bott (Orderly) and first-time film actress Amber Murdock (Lizzy). In addition to an amazing cast, Duhamel said, “We also had a wonderful crew, including our director of photography, Bob Melanson, who did an awesome job capturing the film’s unique style. Since we only had one day (12 hours) to shoot, the cast and crew were literally running to the next location, cameras and equipment in hand.”

Short of the Month, a start-up that hosts monthly online short film contests, has awarded “Last Day With Lizzy” both Best Director, for Duhamel’s talents, and Best Male Character, for Coltrin’s portrayal of troubled father, Mark. Speaking about the awards, Duhamel said, “At first I was shocked. I couldn’t believe I’d actually won an award. I guess sometimes I don’t feel worthy of my work, which I believe can be com-

mon among artists. I look back at the film and think, ‘I should have changed that,’ or ‘Why did I write that line that way?’ or ‘I should have had the actor deliver that line differently.’”

However, Duhamel has learned a lot from this experience and his attitude towards the finished product is very positive. “Though the film is far from perfect, today I’m very happy with my first short narrative and I’m very appreciative of the attention it’s getting. I don’t expect to be the next big Hollywood director, this is not my goal.”

Instead, Duhamel’s aim is more modest. “Writing and directing indie films that spread compassion, accep-tance and understanding is my main goal. I like to call it ‘media that matters.’ If I can continue creating films that meet this goal, then I can say that I’ve succeeded in the industry.”

“Last Day With Lizzy” is currently under consideration for the following film festivals: Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival, Tacoma Film Festival,

24fps International Short Film Festival, Colchester Film Festival, Student Filmmaker Awards, Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival and more.

The film is an Official Selection for the Shorts Showcase Festival 2014 and has been accepted into the Logan

Film Festival in Utah, to be shown on September 27.

For more information about “Last Day With Lizzy,” visit www.metamorafilms.org.

making my living creating landscape oil paintings since I first picked up the medium in high school,” Troupe said.

His work in computer animation mostly consisted of modeling subjects, which has been useful knowledge in transitioning to oil paint-ing. “Thinking about every object in your painting as a three-dimensional object with mass translates to a more tangible, weighty feel-ing on the two-dimensional canvas,” he explained.

Troupe uses Google Maps as a tool for selecting scenic locales for his work, but will often pull to the side of the road when he sees something he just has to paint while driving. Each work can take

anywhere from 15 minutes to three hours, but for scenes that are particularly inspiring, he uses photographs in addition to a plein air painting to create a larger work in the studio, where he can dig into the details he admired most.

“Being outside and being immersed in your subject matter is the most appealing thing to me about landscape painting,” he said, explaining that sounds and smells help him depict his impressions of the natural beauty that surrounds him.

“You know you’ve suc-ceeded when someone says about your work that they ‘can almost smell the pine trees’ or ‘can hear the relaxing sound of the babbling brook,’” he said.

“The magic of landscape paint-ing is when you can project the full sensory spectrum to the viewer in a visual medium.”

One of the artist’s favorite works in his Alturas Art Center show is titled “The Classics” and features an old red truck with a flatbed that visually leads into the frame of a house in the background. The top of the canvas is cov-ered in a swath of dark green trees and the work, which was completed in a single sitting, captures multiple complex elements on one canvas. “It has broadened my horizons as to what I feel confident tackling in a plein air painting,” Troupe said. “I think it tells a bit of a story and gives insight into life in small town California.”

Next, Troupe plans to ex-pand his portfolio to include more wildlife. He’s spotted pelicans, bald eagles, ante-lopes and deer while painting his landscapes, and he uses photography to freeze the animal in a particular pose to paint later. There are also a number of national parks within driving distance of Alturas that Troupe hopes to paint over the coming months. “The area seems to have endless potential for landscape painting subject matter,” he said.

Rosalea Collinge is the Copy Editor for Academy Art U News.

Lindsey Davis is a Staff Reporter for Academy Art U News.

Matt Duhamel. Courtesy of Matt Duhamel.

A visitor at the Alturas Art Center views Jeff Troupe’s August 2014 exhibit. Courtesy of Jeff Troupe.

“The Classics” by Jeff Troupe. Courtesy of Jeff Troupe.

san francisco | academy of art university | September 2014 volume 1 | page 5