Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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photography by Eric LEvin Celluloid Hero Boston-Based filmmaker RabeR UmphenoUR takes viewers inside the process of making a movie—in more ways than one. by jennifer demeritt As part of his film about the art of filmmaking, Raber Umphenour is creating a replica of the 35mm projection booth where he used to work. "Orson Welles called celluloid 'ribbon of dreams,' and I think of it that way," says Raber Umphenour, a Boston-based do-it-yourself filmmaker who is w r it ing, direct ing, a nd f ina ncing a love letter to celluloid. "The entire film takes place in a 35mm projection booth," he says. "It revolves around this pivotal period when the industry is shifting from 35m m celluloid to dig it a l project ion." I n Apr il, Umphenour will release a series of short films that take viewers behind the scenes of his production (check them out on Vimeo or raber.co). "It's not the glamour people typically see, but all the adventure and ups and downs of learning filmmaking." T he project ion boot h, in fact , plays a leading role, and it's where Umphenour himself worked for nearly a decade, at the Avon Cinema in Providence, Rhode Island. "I was up there reel after reel, show- ing classic films, foreign films, indie films. It couldn't have been a better job for a young filmmaker." To recreate that experience in his movie, Umphenour is building a replica of the Avon's projection booth in his studio. "But the set has walls that can move away and a ceiling that can f loat off that will enable us to get the cameras in at different angles." Umphenour studied set design at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, but he's been infatuated with the camera since he was 3, when modeling mogul Eileen Ford discovered him and his twin brother, launching a career that landed him in countless ad campaigns. On a whim as a teenager, he joined Circus Smirkus in Vermont, where he per- formed a slackwire act. After he was sidelined by an injury, Umphenour started writing plays with his twin brother in order to stay creative. The path to moviemaking, he says, was no accident, but a way "to fuse stage design, opera, theater, magic, circus, puppetry—all these things I was interested in." To make his feature (slated for release in 2016), Umphenour has many collaborators, including some of his neighbors at Midway Studios in Fort Point. As a board member, he crusaded to acquire ownership of the building and secure its future as a live/work space for creative professionals. Now he's reaping the rewards. "So many people here are participating in the film, either by creating props or helping with camera work. It's great when you can walk down the hall and say, 'Can someone lend me a lens?' and three people poke their head out the door." raber.co BC INSIGHT Who needs Hollywood? "Filmmaking is fueled by passion, and Boston attracts some of the most imaginative people in universities, tech, and the arts, who work hard and think deeply." Inspiration point: "The Boston Harbor walk is my go-to place, where I can go on long walks and ramble dialogue to myself." 56 bostoncommon-magazine.com PEOPLE Talent Patrol