Digital Video magazine — May 2012
‘CatCam: The Movie:’ Imaging and Ingenuity in Seth Keal’s Documentary

CatCam: The Movie charmed audiences at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, where it received the Short Film Jury prize for documentary shorts before moving on to screenings at the Aspen Shortsfest, Full Frame, Sarasota and Tribeca.

The film features Mr. Lee, an adopted stray cat who routinely disappeared from his South Carolina home for days on end. Intrigued by Mr. Lee’s whereabouts, his caretaker, a German engineer named Juergen, created a camera designed to fit around the feline’s neck. Engineered to capture continuous photographs, Juergen hoped the camera would help him discover the mysterious life of his newest household member. After several false starts, Mr. Lee finally returned with an intact camera and photographic evidence of his travels. Intrigued by his findings, Juergen published the photographs on the Internet, unaware that his small engineering project would send shockwaves around the world.

Keal saw the photographs on the Internet, and was instantly struck by their beauty. “I didn’t set out to make a film about a cat,” he insists. “It’s a story about engineering and the human need to solve mysteries. Juergen had a question he wanted to answer, and happened to have the skill to be able to do it, so he made the camera and what he got back was something he didn’t expect. “

Traveling to South Carolina to film Jeurgen’s story, Keal and DP Charles Miller employed the Canon EOS 5D for the three-day shoot. “This was our first stab at using the 5D, and it had its challenges, but the movie looks fantastic,” Keal says. “We were filming Mr. Lee as he was walking around and performing for us, so focus was definitely an issue, but when he was still the shallow depth of field allowed us to capture an amazing amount of detail.” (Read full story…)