WATCH THE FILM
THE RHODES FAMILY
Total Time: 59:24 Overview: In 2023, my parents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary by getting the entire family together to celebrate with them. To honor the occasion, I wanted to give them a unique gift that would not only commemorate the moment, but also entertain and incorporate everyone that would be joining us at the reunion. This film ended up being the perfect gift. 
INDIVIDUAL STORIES
TRAILER
Total Time: 0:40 Overview: This was the very first thing I made and the graphics and old TV surround ended up influencing how I structured the rest of the film. I originally created it to be the movie's trailer, but I liked it so much that I ended-up using it for the opening of the film.
John
Total Time: 7:28 Overview: The film's story is built around who the "Rhodes" are, so it seemed natural to start with the patriarch, since the name originated with him. He loves to be on camera and his energy, enthusiasm and laughter were all big driving forces throughout the film. Whenever I needed to interject a laugh, I could always turn to my dad. 
Connie
Total Time: 5:24 Overview: I wasn't sure what to expect when I went to interview my mom, as I had never seen her on camera before, but she ended up being a natural talent and she even matched her wardrobe to the set. This segment also features one of my favorite edits: the "Hair" vignette, which ended-up taking nearly a day to conceptualize and edit.
THE WEDDING
Total Time: 3:59 Overview: Most of the footage I had access to was originally shot on 8MM, then transferred to VHS, then DVD, then digitized. After all that, there was no chance the quality would hold-up on a full frame, so I made the decision early on to keep the size of the footage small and place it in creative surrounds. This segment had a great example of that when my mom talks about their wedding. 
FAMILY TREE
Total Time: 0:54 Overview: Going into this film, I knew I didn't want a narrator - my desire was to have the story somehow tell itself. But in order to form continuity between everyone, I needed something to connect all the dots; enter, the family tree. 
LIBBY
Total Time: 7:51 Overview: My sister is the sound byte queen. I had another hour of footage I could have featured in the film of just her, as she had so many great things to say. Perhaps I can make another film of just her interview. 
GEOFF
Total Time: 5:53 Overview: I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan and I had just watched Inglorious Basterds a few days before editing this segment. I can remember watching the Hugo Stiglitz sequence and saying to myself, "I gotta use this as my intro". 
ANDREW
Total Time: 7:26 Overview: My brother was the first story that I edited and I used the framework from his segment and replicated for all of the other stories. One small error you probably won't notice is that the TV surround (starting at 2:30) was never perfectly centered and because I replicated this sequence for everything else, it remained uncentered throughout the film. Doh! 
THE RHODES LANGUAGE
Total Time: 3:55 Overview: Our family has a unique language that has been known to confuse people on the outside. It's primarily made up of quotes from Seinfeld, along with a few movies that we grew-up watching together as a family, and this segment of the film was meant to highlight some of our favorite lines. 
VHS MEMORIES
Total Time: 6:01 Overview: For years the only memories we had were (6) VHS cassettes that documented our life's biggest moments. Most of the tapes were filled with boring recitals, church plays and the occasional Christmas morning. So, my objective with this segment was to take the best moments from those tapes and create a highlight reel of our favorite memories. 
HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Total Time: 6:17 Overview: One of the best parts about making this film was getting the opportunity to interview so many people that I had not spoken to in over +20 years. Getting a chance to catch-up on their lives and hear how my parents were a positive influence in their own lives was a truly memorable experience. 
ENDING CREDITS
Total Time: 4:39 Overview: Nearly 10% of the films run time is devoted to the ending credits. I really wanted to pay homage to everyone in my family along with everyone that took their time to join me for an interview. I am also notorious for ending my films with something humorous, and added a few extra nuggets in this film for the viewer. BONUS CONTENT
RHODESIA
Total Time: 1:26 Overview: This was actually the second video I put together when creating this film, and it came together in under 4-hours. I used a "Skyrizi" ad as my muse and then simply swapped out graphics and text with inside jokes between me and my family. When I showed this portion of the film to my family, it was met with pants wetting laughter. 
OUTTAKES
Total Time: 3:06 Overview: I could have made another film with all of the footage that ended up on the cutting room floor, and so I did. Here are some of the best outtakes that didn't make the final cut. 
