This is a filmic-project that I started in the early '80-s.' It was simply, a year's documentation of the firing of the noon-day gun in Halifax. I was much more concerned with the development of a ritual process of being in position to film this moment day-after-day for one-year, than with the film itself. I was attending graduate-school when this project unfolded, so I would have to excuse myself from my teaching-duties or conversations every day in order to attend to a different moment. After a while, the retired legionnaire who fired the cannon became accustomed to seeing me make my way up to the fortress every day; occasionally he would deliberately fire the cannon a little early or late, just to mess with my ritual (and all the similar events in town that were structured on hearing the noon-day gun). Rather than have all these super8 outakes just run end-to-end, I cut them up into fixed lengths (multiples of 10 frames I think it was...) and crudely spliced them together in my studio. You'll notice scratches, dirt and jumping frames. That 'decisive moment' is perpetually distended and dislocated. Until now, the expense of making prints (16mm blow-up was the plan) prevented me from 'finishing' the film (and in some ways it wasn't necessary). I had the film transfered to video at the local supermarket and then I digitized and colorized it at work. You can download the first and second parts of this miniature (60x45 pixel) Quicktime film now.