Video History Project

People

John Weiksnar

John P. Weiksnar (b. 1966, Buffalo) has been producing documentary and short-form independent videos since 1989 and completely online, digitally since 1997. Works include: "A WNY Wildlife Enigma: Procyon notor" (1996) a whimsical look at a legendary creature allegedly inhabiting the Onondaga Escarpment; "Buffalo Jokers" (1997) the first documentary on local stand-up comedians, all three nationally acclaimed, and their home life after settling in WNY; and "TRAZOW :: math > metal > moiré" (2003) showcasing the cooperation among thinkers, artisans, and local businesses that made an Art on Wheels kinetic sculpture a reality.

His present work, "HEAVE HO - an over-the-top arcaneology of the Niagara Gorge," upends convention with a cliché-free peek at what else has managed to land below the brink. Beyond barrels, bridges and bodies, the documentary reaches 21st-C. audiences via a survey of the gorge carpet with a direct, aesthetic richness. It's a special access, widescreen take on what remains a largely overlooked stretch of terrain due north of the American Falls.

Artifacts range in size from shirt pins to a thousand tons . . . with the quirkiest archaeology in between. The documentary consists of new, HD footage; original and computer enhanced images; rare, archival film footage; and live-action interviews, both on and off site.

Cite this record

"John Weiksnar." Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/john-weiksnar.

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Summary

John P. Weiksnar (b. 1966, Buffalo) has produced documentary and short-form independent videos since 1989 and distributed them digitally since 1997; selected works include A WNY Wildlife Enigma: Procyon notor (1996), Buffalo Jokers (1997) and TRAZOW :: math > metal > moiré (2003). HEAVE HO provides a cliché-free special-access widescreen survey of the gorge carpet north of the American Falls; it uses new HD and archival film footage plus live-action interviews to document artifacts from shirt pins to a thousand tons.

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Last modified 18 June 2011

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