Pictures from the Shoot

And here's our Phineas, Sean McCormick, moments before he gets some iron in his diet.

Phineas Found!

In the ten or so years that I've been working on this project, I've experienced many a strange and wonderful coincidence. Here is the latest: Some photo collectors have just identified the man in an old daguerreotype portrait in their collection--a photo they've had for years--as none other than Phineas Gage, making it the only known photo of poor old Phineas in existence.

The coincidence is Phineas's story serves as the prologue of my film. I just shot it last month.

Nice story in the Boston Globe here. The LA Times broke the story.

I didn't buy it at first. The iron seemed too thick (we'd had a local blacksmith recreate one to the exact specifications and ours seems thinner). And I just didn't see the similarity to his life mask. Plus everybody knows Phineas has got Big Ol' Sideburns, c'mon! Anyhow, they were able to line up his face to the life mask and the rod (or its engravings) to the original, so I guess it's him.

Phineas toured with Barnum for awhile after the accident, cashing in on his lucky accident, and I know from working on the most excellent documentary, Sideshow, it was common for such acts to sell photos as mementos. The fact that he's posing with his iron makes me wonder if this is such a souvenir. There must be more out there somewhere. Check your grandparents' attics, people.

Phineas of the Dog World

Our historical advisor on the Phineas film just sent me this article and it actually took me a moment to figure out why. Still not caught up on sleep I guess. More pictures and video with the article, but I'll cut to the chase: they pulled the fork out and the puppy lives. Only now he's a foul-mouthed, degenerate who can't hold a job...

If Prefrontal Lobotomy = Film, Transorbital Lobotomy = Digital

Dr. Walter Freeman, the genius-hero-villain-protagonist-antagonist of my film brought the prefrontal lobotomy to the United States in 1936. At the time, it was literally brain surgery -- doctors had to drill holes in the patient's head to reach the brain -- so a neurosurgeon was required to perform it (though Freeman, a neurologist, handled more than a few himself before being reminded he wasn't exactly qualified to scrub in).

The surgery required trained medical professionals, a modern hospital, and specialized surgical equipment. And the entire procedure required time. Put aside whether or not this particular operation was a good idea. Just look at it as a normal surgery, for a moment. A serious operation, but nothing controversial.

After years of perfecting his technique (he and his neurosurgeon partner, Dr. James Watt, called it 'The Precision Method'), Freeman knew there had to be a way to make process more efficient. To give poorly funded state hospitals access to the surgery and to have to more patients lobotomized quicker.

If there was a way sever the same connections (the white matter between the frontal lobe and the rest of the brain) without drilling the holes, you could do away with the need for an actual surgeon.

Enter the Icepick... (into the orbital cavity).

With just a modified icepick and a hammer, practically anyone could be trained to perform a Transorbital Lobotomy (TOL). No need for surgeons, no expensive tools, no formal training. No need for surgical procedures either. Freeman began doing TOLs in his office as an out-patient procedure. For anesthesia, he used Electric shock.

Before, there was a lengthy prep period, the actual surgery was grueling, and the recovery (or post) was given just as much consideration as the production itself. Now the entire procedure could be done in less than 10 minutes and the patient was sent home with a pair of sunglasses (for his now black eyes).

Suddenly everyone can perform lobotomies, everyone's got the tools in their home. If you've got a hammer and an icepick, you are a lobotomist.

I don't mean to impugn the quality of the transorbital lobotomy or to insinuate that if one wields an icepick she lacks the skill to hold a scapel. I've seen transorbitals that blow the roof off the so-called popular, big budget, star-studded prefrontal lobotomies out there. And I'm sure it's just beginning.

So it's probably a good thing that so many people have access to the tools necessary to perform these operations, right? I come from the old school where you had to be formally trained and apprentice and work your way up (cue the violins), and you walked 40 miles in the snow just to assist on a lobotomy. You were lucky if you got to touch the surgical instrument at the end of the operation, to clean it off.

But enough from the old man. It's become clear to me that this is the age of the transorbital, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. I am trying to embrace it. The first scene of the film I've envisioned for so long has actually just been shot in digital. As my wife and I like to say, 'I can be taught tricks.' Thanks for your patience as I make the transition.

Welcome to my blog.

Mind your head.