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Graeme Whifler (born May 10th 1951) is an American photographer, screenwriter and director, best known for his collaborations with The Residents and other Ralph Records artists in the 1970s and 1980s.

Whifler stopped working with Ralph Records in 1982, but continued to work in music videos and television throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Whifler has directed three feature length films, Ancient Prophecies, Ancient Prophecies III: New Visions of the Future, & Neighborhood Watch.

History with The Residents[]

Graeme Whifler

Whifler in 1981

Graeme Whifler was born in San Mateo, California on May 10th 1951. He met Residents, Uninc. in 1971, when a high school friend of his suggested he visit the group's apartment. Whifler and the group became friends, and he helped them paint their roof black.[1]

By 1974 Whifler had begun assisting The Residents with photography and art projects, also helping them to direct and shoot a sequence in their troubled (and ultimately unfinished) feature film Vileness Fats. Around this time Whifler also took the photograph which would become the cover of the group's 1978 EP Duck Stab!.

Whifler's collaboration with the group expanded into the creation of a number of music videos; both for The Residents and for other artists signed to their record company Ralph Records. The first such project was an abandoned film project based on songs from the Duck Stab/Buster & Glen album (later resulting in the 1980 music video "Hello Skinny"). Whifler's video work for Ralph continued into the early 1980s, resulting in the short films "One Minute Movies" in 1980, and "Songs For Swinging Larvae" for Renaldo & The Loaf in 1981.

His collaboration with The Residents ended in 1982, after he declined to direct the group's Mole Show live tour (having had no prior experience in this field). Whifler continued directing music videos and television into the early 2000s, co-writing the screenplays for Sonny Boy in 1989 and Dr. Giggles in 1992. In 2005 he wrote and directed a feature film, Neighborhood Watch.

The Residents' video archive was digitized in 2015 by Don Hardy, for the documentary film Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents. Although Whifler did not participate actively in the making of this documentary, it prominently features restored clips and outtakes from his video work for the group. Whifler has since said that he feels he has not been credited appropriately for his work featured in the film.

Whifler posted new HD restorations of "Hello Skinny", "One Minute Movies" and "Songs For Swinging Larvae" on his YouTube channel in October 2019. The videos were restored from the original negatives by Peter Conheim for the Cinema Preservation Alliance. The new restorations have since been unlisted on YouTube (however as of February 2021 they have not been deleted).

Credits on Residents releases[]

Filmography[]

  • Hello Skinny (1979)
  • One Minute Movies (1980, Co-Director)
  • Man In The Dark Sedan (1980)
  • Songs For Swinging Larvae (1981)
  • Secrets and Mysteries: Jack The Ripper (1983)
  • True Men Don't Kill Coyotes (1984)
  • Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats? (1984, Co-Director of 'Napoleon' Segment)
  • With All My Might (1984)
  • Gratitude (1984)
  • America's Most Wanted: James Charles Stark (1988, Actor as 'James Charles Stark')
  • Sonny Boy (1989, Original Screenplay)
  • Remembering World War II (1989, Producer)
  • Dr. Giggles (1992, Writer)
  • Ancient Prophecies (1994)
  • Ancient Prophecies III: New Visions of the Future (1995)
  • Action League Now! Season 3 (1998, Producer)
  • Ripley's Believe It or Not! Season 1 (2000)
  • Ripley's Believe It or Not! Season 2 (2001)
  • Ripley's Believe It or Not! Season 3 (2003)
  • Neighborhood Watch (2005)

See also[]

Resources[]

External links and references[]

Wbrmx-sml-transparent The Delta Nudes / Residents, Uninc.
(1967 - 1974)
Vfshoppingcart-sml-transparent Vileness Fats
(1972 - 1976)

Scene by scene
1: Arf and Omega · 2: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 1 · 3: Town 1 · 4: Mother's House 1 · 5: Weescoosa & Ninnie 1 · 6: Cave 1 · 7: Weescoosa & Ninnie 2 · 8: Weescoosa's Flashback · 9: Weescoosa & Ninnie 3 · 10: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 2 · 11: Town 2 · 12: Desert 2 · 13: Lonesome Jack & Peggy · 14: Desert 1 · 15: Mother's House 2 · 16: Town 3 · 17: Banquet Hall · 18: Cave 2 · 19: Bridge 1 · 20: The Master Plan · 21: Cave 3 · 22: Desert 3 · 23: Night Club 1 · 24: Desert 4 · 25: Night Club 2 · 26: Desert 5 · 27: Cave 4 · 28: Night Club 3 · 29: Desert 6 · 30: Night Club 4 · 31: Cave 5 · 32: Night Club 5 · 33: Mother's House 3 · 34: Night Club 6 · 35: The Window of Never

Cast and characters
Saint Steven / Lonesome Jack (Jay Clem) · Weescoosa (Sally Lewis) · Arf and Omega Berry (Palmer Eiland and George Ewart) · Ninnie (Danny Williams) · Steve's Mother (Marge Howard) · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Smyk) · Weenie (Danny Williams) · Uncle Willy (Hardy Fox)
with
Irene Dogmatic · J. Raoul Brody · Barry "Schwump" Schwam · Hugo Olson · Bill Dewalt · Diane Flynn · Homer Flynn · Tony Logan · Dennis Sealy · The Mysterious N. Senada as himself

Crew
The Residents: direction, screenplay, music, sets, costumes · Graeme Whifler: lighting, sets, second unit direction · Diane Flynn: costumes · John Kennedy: editing

Settings
Vileness Flats (Mother's House · Ninnie's House · Banquet Hall · Willy's Hot Spot) · Motel · The Cave · The Desert · The Window of Never

Soundtrack music
"Aircraft Damage" · "The Importance of Evergreen" · "Eloise" · "Kamikaze Lady" · "Lonely At The Top" · "Fever" · "Russian Love Song" · X Is For Xtra ("Theme From X" · "Slow Texture" · "Asonarose" · "Soundtrack Music Piece 17")

Related works
The Boarding House performance · Santa Dog · Meet The Residents · Not Available (X Is For Xtra) · The Third Reich 'n Roll (video) · "March de la Winni" · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! performance · Fingerprince · Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? (soundtrack · PAL TV LP) · Video Voodoo · Twenty Twisted Questions · Icky Flix (soundtrack · "The Knife Fight" · RZ VF) · Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents · Double Trouble ("Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare" · trailer) · Triple Trouble (soundtrack)

Related articles
Atomic Shopping Carts · The Bell Boys · Residents, Uninc. · "My MammySycamore St. studio · Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · The Ugly Grey Theater

  1. Ian Shirley - Never Known Questions, 2015
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