- a dedication video to Jeff R. Alexander (1970-1988).
Understanding the Video-
"Learning to Fly"
- a dedication video to Jeff R. Alexander
(1970-1988).
This is a dedication video that I made shortly after the accident
that took the lives of two high school friends, Jim Schroeder and
my closest, Jeff Alexander in January of 1988 in Jeff's '84 Canyon
Red SVO. This song from Pink Floyd was Jeff's favorite, he played
it over and over. After the accident, the words of the song took
on a whole new meaning. The words of which will forever remind
me of his life's dream, the accident, and what he is probably
doing right now.
You see, part of the excitement of owning an SVO for Jeff was
the acceleration and sound from the turbo at 17psi boost, a
feeling of 'flying' that was truly a 'fatal attraction'. He had
longed to fly and get off the ground, he even went to Space Camp
in Florida one summer. However, due to medical problems he would
never get his chance, this fits with the words of the song
'condition grounded, but determined to try'.
The video opens up with black & white footage of Jeff and Jim
in
Jeff's '84 SVO, Jeff was driving and Jim was video taping, just
playing around one afternoon after school. We were all part of
the Video Production class of 1988 at Dearborn High School, MI.
We were a wide variety of students brought together by the fun of
making videos. We were also 'family' to each other after the
accident, helping each other cope with the tragedy. The strange
thing is that when you see this introductory clip, the camera pans
up and shows the other side of the road (to the left), it was on
that side of the street where the accident happened. As the
dedication video continues, you see Jeff, Jim, myself and other
fellow students at the local cable company's video studio doing
a live broadcast show called 'Back-Porch Video', it used to air
on Saturday nights on a local cable channel. Jeff is the one with
black hair and over-coat (no glasses), and Jim is the one with the
yellow sweater, glasses and the red hat, I'm the one in white
Hawaiian shirt on the sound board. Our whole class would have
loads of fun doing those live shows. None of us expecting a
tragedy would soon be knocking at our door...
I'll explain rest through the words of the song...
For more on Jim Schroeder, please click here...
Music By:
Pink Floyd - "Momentary Lapse of Reason" - 1987.
"Learning to Fly"
- Please Note: Lyrics from the
song are in green, personal
narrative in yellow.
Follow along with video.
'Into the distance a ribbon of black
Stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a wind swept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction holding me fast, how
Can I escape this irresistible grasp?'
- this defines the black asphalt of a road 'ribbon of black'
- that we loved to race on. The footage of the road, taken after
- the accident (Outer Drive- Dearborn), was done with a camera
- I mounted on the front Jeff's dad's '84 SVO (both Jeff and his
- dad each owned one), Jeff's dad was driving, an ex race car
- driver himself. The clouds represent the feeling of flying
- when driving a SVO.
'Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I'
'Ice is forming on the tips of my wings'
- footage is from SVO's Headquarters in Lincoln Park. We went
- there one night after school and asked the people from SVO if
- we could tape there, they let us! They even let Jeff drive
- his car out of their garage door, Jim was on the roof filming
- down while Jeff drove it out. A fun night for SVO enthusiasts!
'Unheeded warnings, I though I though of everything'
- a reminder that his dad constantly asked him to slow down,
- even our video production teacher, overhearing one of Jeff's
- stories of racing asked him to slow down. But you know youth,
- we thought we were invincible, death was the furthest thing
- from our minds. The clip is Jeff (holding a shotgun-making a
- video at the time) with his dad passing behind
- him in their garage.
'No navigator to find my way home'
- a shot of Jim (glasses), who was considered to be Jeff's
- navigator, the one who usually rode 'shot-gun' with him. Jeff
- said Jim had a keen ability to sense where the police would be
- speed trapping. I was always chasing after him in my '79
- notch-back Mustang Turbo with my other friends Matt Orris and
- Bill Jones in my car (also friends of Jeff and Jim). Jim was
- Jeff's 'navigator' the night of the accident as well.
'Unladened, empty and turned to stone'
- a photo taken when Jeff and I traveled to California during
- the summer of '87 for a school in video technology that our
- video teacher set us up to go to. Fading from color to black
- and white symbolizes his passing on ('turned to stone').
'A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I'
- as stated above, Jeff wanted to fly very badly but was
- 'grounded'. So he used his SVO as an escape into the world of
- flying. Clips are of Jeff right in front of Dearborn High
- getting into his SVO, and a fade in of his Space Camp ID &
- his Drivers License.
- Clips that follow are from footage from "Fun Car to Drive" and
- other SVO clips contained on this CD that we would watch over
- and over during lunch break in high school. A photo of Jeff
- working on his SVO in his driveway. A clip of Jim, Jeff and
- myself as we were filming another car video after school on
- the side streets of Dearborn. A clip of my '79 Turbo peeling
- out right in front of Dearborn High (typical 17 year old
- stuff, Jeff loved that clip), and more footage from FMC.
- The sweeping right hand turn footage symbolizes the fatal
- right hand turn, and the transition over the cliff is the
- transition to the next life where he is free to fly where ever
- he wishes, without being 'grounded'.
'Above the planet on a wing and a prayer
My grubby halo, a vapor trail in the empty air
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night'
- Now, not limited by the flesh, he's free. The eerie line is
- the last, 'Could blow this soul right through the roof of the
- night' which ties into a eye witness account that saw the
- accident, said that he saw Jeff go through the roof of his SVO
- as it was split in two after hitting a tree in the middle of
- the driver's door. Also shown is a fade in of a clip from the
- news report that carried the coverage of the accident on TV.
'There's no sensation to compare with this,
Suspended animation, a state of bliss
Can't keep my mind from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I'
- Still photos of Jeff are faded in, taken on the California
- coastline on US-1 during our trip from Hollywood to San
- Francisco. The fade from flying back to the asphalt
- represents his current state opposed to my current state, I'm
- still driving. The final footage is his dad's suggestion to
- symbolize the thought of both Jim and Jeff on the 'other-side'
- behind the glass (taken at the video production studio).
Thank you for taking the time to read this explanation of this
dedication video. My hope to all who see this video is that you
get one message out of it: Life is fragile and short, it's not
forever, but for the short period of time we are here, enjoy it,
try to make the most of every day, because there is no telling
when our time will come, for one thing in life is certain, that
time will come. When it does for me, I hope to join them both for
a good old fashion race among the clouds, flying free...
Joseph W. Priskorn 1/30/99
"We'll fix it in the final edit..." - Jeff
Alexander