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This black and white footage was shot in 1963 at Florida State University, and re-discovered in the FSU archives in 2005. The original project was designed as a United Way public relations film titled 'Toward a Greater University'. The footage gives a rare, early glimpse of an almost unrecognizable Jim Morrison before his days with The Doors. The first 15 Minutes of the film project are circulating amongst collectors.

< Click Here To See an early photograph of Jim Morrison in Harold Pinter's 'The Dumbwaiter'!

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Another 8mm film project is reported to have been made while Jim Morrison attended FSU, although the whereabouts of this film are unknown. It appears likely that Jim was involved with numerous film projects while attending FSU that no longer exist, or have yet to be identified by researchers. This 8mm film listed here supposedly features 'guys peeking around bushes' and other obscure scenes shots by Jim.

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This silent color film was said to have been shot in 1964, but may have been shot in early 1965. Jim Morrison does not make an appearance in this film, however he is said to be responsible for the camerawork. No credits are given. The original 16mm film is still owned by Max Schwartz, who also stars in the production.

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16mm film directed by Jim Morrison. There is a possibility this film was titled 'A Feast of Friends'. When projected, Jim was scolded by his teacher Ed Brokaw for failing to properly assemble together strips of film. In later years, Ed Brokaw expressed that Jim had 'finally done it', referring to his success as an artist. For more information on this film, see Alex Prisadsky's comments below.

Although portions of this project were shown in Oliver Stone's 'The Doors', the film was in fact a re-creation. Ray Manzarek claims the film as a prop was very similar to Jim's original project. Many searches, including one by Oliver Stone himself, have been conducted through UCLA's archives in an effort to find the film. Other films by friends of Jim are available in the UCLA catalogue, including Felix Venable's Psychedlic film, Frank Lisciandro's student films, and material featuring Michael McClure.

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Jim Morrison is credited with sound in this 16mm, black & white film by Alex Prisadsky. Various portions of the original audio soundtrack recordings are used in the film, however several portions were re-recorded by the director for the final cut. A very special thanks to Alex Prisadsky for sharing his comments here on MildEquator.com!

"Jim Morrison was the sound man on my first student film at UCLA. I asked a bunch of the crew and my friends at the housing coop where I lived to wear dark suits for the film - Jim didn't have one. That was one reason I asked him to be the sound recordist. The other was that he had shown a remarkable affinity for sound. 6 or 7 of us were in a group that took turns crewing for each other's films on successive Saturdays, in the Spring of 1965. Jim had shot part of his film the previous Saturday, in which we all played a noisy audience. A stag film we were watching broke and the screen was white with projector light. As the sounds of protest escalated, some of us made shadow puppets on the screen and yelled even louder. He had us repeat this for many takes. The experience made us literally high and influenced me to try to create that kind of crowd chaos, in my own way, in my film the next week.

In 'Five Situations', Jim's job was to record sound to go with each scene after filming of the scene was completed (the film was not shot in sync sound). For instance, after the bottle breaking scene, he had someone break some more bottles so he could mic it closely. Maddeningly, many of the bottles were bouncing instead of breaking. After awhile I yelled 'cut', but he insisted on more bottle smashes until he got what he wanted. After we finished shooting all the picture takes of the bathroom scene, we did another run through for sound. Jim decided he wanted to be in the mob, not outside it, during the jostling. He stood in the middle of the group in what was essentially a mosh pit, recording the concussions as well as everything else. When I was editing the film, I decided to try slowing down the sound to see how it "worked". The scene worked much better with the sound slowed down this way, so I transferred it and put it in. I did the same with the bottle breaking scene.

Long digression: The concept of judging an edit on whether it 'worked' or not, yes or no, black or white, was introduced to us by Edgar Brokaw. He taught the advanced editing class and the script writing class that both Jim and I took. He was to have been the advisor for our Saturday Workshop group. (Due to his illness, another professor took over.) Brokaw was harshly critical of Jim's film at the student screening because Jim had failed to 'double splice' his edits and they wouldn't go through the projector (ironically, much like the broken stag film in his project). For all that, Brokaw was among the few on the faculty who respected Jim's talent. I remember seeing Brokaw years later, probably the early 70's; he had a big poster of Jim with The Doors on the wall of his office. He said something like "Jim made it work", meaning he found a way to turn his vision into art."

Alex Prisadsky
http://www.Prisadsky.net
Copyright © 2011 Alex Prisadsky

A Special thanks to Alex Prisadsky for his contribution to this page! To watch 'Five Situations For Camera, Recorder and People', please visit http://www.prisadsky.net or click HERE to see the film on MildEquator.com!

Screenings:

12/10-19/1965 - UCLA Royce Hall Auditorium - Westwood, CA (Exact Screening Dates Unknown)

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Described as "A faux case study of a male hustler, produced by the 'California Institute of Neuropsychiatry'" by UCLA, this student film by Ronald Raley credits 'J. Morrison' onscreen. His apparent role in the film is that of a cameraman and partial director. This film lies in the UCLA archives and is occasionally shown at public events.

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Ray's first appearance on film. This is fellow UCLA film student Jose Gonzalez's 1964 student film, titled 'The Wino and the Blind Man'. Niko Kopp plays the wino, and Ray plays the part of the blindman.

Screenings:

05/21-22/1965 - UCLA Royce Hall Auditorium - Westwood, CA (Exact Screening Dates Unknown)

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Ray's UCLA student film from 1964, starring Dorothy Fujikawa, and Henry Crismonde (aka Hank Olguin). At the start of The Doors career, Hank allowed the group to use his piano and living room for their very first rehearsal in September of 1965. The Whisky A Go-Go can be seen in this film, two years before The Doors make their performance debut at that venue in 1966. An artist by the name of 'Billy Lee Riley' is performing at the Whisky during this time period, and in very early 1965 a live-at-the-Whisky album is released, indicating that this student film was likely shot in late 1964. The first known UCLA Screenings take place between May 21st and 22nd, 1965. This film was officially released on the 'Collection' DVD.

Screenings:

05/21-22/1965 - UCLA Royce Hall Auditorium - Westwood, CA (Exact Screening Dates Unknown)
01/06/1968 - Cinema Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

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Ray's second U.C.L.A. film shot during the spring semester in 1965. A showing of 'Evergreen' can be seen in this film, as well as Jim Morrison and fellow classmate Paul Ferrara who appear briefly in the party scene. Also shown is the 'Lucky U Cafe', a UCLA student hangout where The Doors would later enjoy meals. UCLA student film screenings are scheduled to take between May 13th and May 28th, 1966. This film was officially released on the 'Collection' DVD. Click HERE to see a screenshot featuring Jim Morrison's appearance.

Screenings:

05/13-14,20,22,27-28/1966 - UCLA Royce Hall Auditorium - Westwood, CA (Exact Screening Dates Unknown)
09/11/1971 - Cinema Theatre - Los Angeles, CA

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'Who And Where I Live' is an 8-minute, 8mm color design film by 'Raymond D. Manczarek' featuring Dorothy Fujikawa. At UCLA's Royce Hall, the project was used as a stage film in which The Doors are said to perform a musical 'soundtrack' while the audience watches on. Known UCLA screenings of this film presumably take place on December 10th and 11th, 1965 with The Doors providing music, but may have been shown on later dates (December 17th, 18th and 19th). This film has never seen an official release.

Screenings:

12/10/1965 - UCLA Royce Hall Auditorium - Westwood, CA
12/11/1965 - UCLA Royce Hall Auditorium - Westwood, CA

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A UCLA student film by The Doors official photographer and 'Feast Of Friends' director Paul Ferrara. This film starred Richard Blackburn and Jeannie Appel.

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A UCLA student film by Felix Venable shot in 1965. Jim Morrison is thought to have taken part in the production of this film, however details are unknown. Described as "A series of vignettes set to varying scores are exemplified by highly refined and intuitive camerawork and editing. This influential film is intensely and quietly psychedelic, suggestive of acid experiences and a shifting sense of fragmented consciousness."