Boulder Chase

Length: 0:13

This one was directed by the boy. And by directed I mean he was out the front door barking orders before I even had my camera.

[YouTube link]

Maze

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:25

A bit of hay bale fun from October 2007.

Brick Wall (Run IX)

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:46

October 2007. In which the boy takes matters into his own hands.

Sigue (Run VIII)

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:21

At this time a year ago (when I captured this), the boy was running the loop at a serious clip. It was a pace not unlike this (running this same track in the house) that triggered the heart/anxiety incident that landed me in the ER this summer.

The word, of course (Spanish for "go on!"), was learned from Dora. Or Diego. Who don't teach children the Spanish language so much as they teach them random words to shout at the top of their lungs.

Recorded the same night as Bowling.

Run VII

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:22

Two reasons I post so infrequently are, I'm realizing, just one reason. First, the single unedited shots that make up the majority of my posts (about the boy, anyhow) are tough to capture. They require patience, and a lot of wasted footage waiting to see if something is going to happen. Second, I am acutely aware that these kinds of videos ask for a certain level of patience from the viewer, to wait and continue watching to see if this is the kind of single-take video that ends with a narrative payoff, or one of those that's all about the journey. My concern for the viewer makes editing take longer than one might imagine, as I nudge the starting and ending points by a few frames to get the feel of the transitions just right.

As time has gone on, however, and I browse back through the history of Matchbook Films on my iPhone, I realize that the videos I return to again and again are the ones that are less about storytelling and more about momentshowing. And I remain convinced that within these videos there is something revealed that is about more than how much I adore my own kid.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself. But until my audience drops down to one, I intend to keep sharing these favorite moments, like this one I'd forgotten about from August 2006. Lake Calhoun, Minnesota. The boy has gotten out of the water and into a dry diaper, when he suddenly decides to run off down the path.

The Gingerbread Man

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:46

Back in April we flew down to San Diego, to celebrate my dad's mom's 90th birthday. On two previous trips to my Aunt Julie's house, the boy had read (and subsequently remembered) a small picture book adaptation of The Gingerbread Man. This time, however, the book became not just a vehicle for reading and memorization, but a toy. And one that created an opportunity for him to play with my aunt, who is positively brilliant at engaging with kids.

I often wish he had more adults like her in his life.

Also: this video features a forgotten method for descending carpeted stairs that I wish I wasn't too oversized to employ myself.

Run VI

[VIDEO REDACTED]

My first version of this was about half this length. I chopped it down to create a non-stop barrage of boys running and shouting. Total mayhem.

But the boy complained. He had seen the unedited assembly and loved it. When I presented him the finished piece he was mad that I had wrecked it. To humor him, I reassembled the four original shots and let him watch that a few more times.

Then I looked back at my "official" edit, and my heart sank.

The boy's edit was better.

Sure in the raw footage there are moments of dead space, and some awkward transitional framings, but in attempting to remove the rougher bits I had taken out all sense of context, of pacing, of beginning, middle, and end. It was just a bunch of random shots stitched together. Maybe I could have slapped on a pop song and turned it into a music video. (Maybe I'll still do that.)

For now, however, consider this the boy's first project as editor. I can't wait to see what he's making when he's five.

Length: 2:50

Run V

Running. Shirtless. And with a balloon.

And still in command of mommy and daddy.

Length: 1:16

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run IV

It's only funny until someone gets hurt.

Length: 0:38

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run III

Daddy steps in to help demonstrate the difference between "stop" and "go."

And the boy gives a shout out to Magic Monkey Bob.

Length: 1:08

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run II

Here the boy runs through the house with his good buddy J,
back in their salad days when they could walk (or run) about
in broad daylight with pacifiers in their mouths.

Both have been in detox for a few weeks now, and both are taking it one day at a time.

Length: 1:09

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Beach Balls

Ben's friendship with O is uniquely participatory. Even with his same-age cousin, Ben still mostly plays in parallel (in which neither toddler appears to pay attention to the other). But these two love to get each other going.

Length: 1:46

Flashless? (Click here.)

Run

When we bought the house he wasn't walking, but I imagined one day he'd enjoy running around the loop of hallway that connects the kitchen to the rest of the house.

Little did I know.

Length: 3:11

Flashless? (Click here.)

[P.S. You can already hear his near-mastery of the alphabet here at age 22 months.]