Vital Signs

From: Mösdeux Blog - May 31, 2006

We were contacted by Hott Productions to produce a four minutes film for their PBS documentary film, “History Through Deaf Eyes.” Hott’s request: “Make an experimental film.” Mösdeux’s thoughts: “Uh, an experimental film about what?

After several hours of discussion about what kind of an experimental film to shoot for, Wayne and Chad finally came up with an idea: “To show that American Sign Language (ASL) is a cinematic language.”

Simply put, Vital Signs reveals how the mind of a deaf person functions while telling a story. In comparison, an average hearing person would visualize words in their head while telling a story in detail whereas a deaf person would imagine a scenery (time of day, blocking of people and emotions).

Vital Signs is a short story about a character who was told he has a terminal heart condition with only one week left to live. The story of the character is portrayed using cinema and an ASL narrator, Roger Vass, Jr., who allows his fingers to tell the story dynamically and beautifully.

On an exciting note, Mösdeux proudly announces that Vital Signs is their first film that incorporates sound production. This exciting breakthrough for Mösdeux would have not been possible without Julia Dameron (sound director), Russel Wiener (composer) and Amie Farquhar (sound editor and mixer).

Julia Dameron’s Words
“We wanted to express sound through the deaf world, and to translate it in a way that the hearing audience can connect to the narrator. We didn’t want to use actual dialogue; we wanted music and environmental sounds to express emotions and action yet preserve the original spirit of the film.”

Many thanks to you guys and we look forward to working with you for our upcoming productions.

The Big Question: Release Date
Yes, the question everybody has been asking, “When can I see it?”

Official Online Release Date
Thursday, June 1, 2006