Private Project

Wedding Crashers – Good Man

In search for music video material, Finnish band Wedding Crashers remembered guitarist/singer Esa Pottonen's father talking about short films he'd made with his friends in the 1960s as a student in Joensuu, a small town in Eastern Finland. They stumbled upon a short film titled "Murder at the Vicarage", made by Pottonen's father's friends at the time. They paired the 8mm murder mystery film with their song, Good Man, and discovered a match half a century in the making.

  • Risto Lampivuo
    Director
  • Wedding Crashers
    Director
  • Risto Lampivuo
    Writer
  • Aapo Niininen / Wedding Crashers
    Producer
  • Esa Pottonen / Wedding Crashers
    Producer
  • Oskari Halsti / Wedding Crashers
    Producer
  • Risto Lampivuo
    Producer
  • Matti Lehvonen
    Producer
  • Ilmari Jokinen
    Producer
  • Risto Lampivuo
    Key Cast
  • Matti Lehvonen
    Key Cast
  • Ilmari Jokinen
    Cinematography
  • Risto Lampivuo
    Editing
  • Aapo Niininen
    Editing
  • Project Type:
    Music Video, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Mystery, Found footage
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 6, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Finland
  • Country of Filming:
    Finland
  • Language:
    English, Finnish
  • Shooting Format:
    8mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
Director Biography - Risto Lampivuo, Wedding Crashers

Risto Lampivuo (1948–2008), born in Juuka (North Carelia).
Studied Finnish literature in Helsinki University and worked in Lahti as a Finnish teacher up until his death in early 2008. During his high school years in Joensuu (1965–1968), Lampivuo and his friends planned and filmed short films such as Murder in the Vicarage (Murha maalaiskylässä) and Taste of an Apple (Omenan maku).

Wedding Crashers are an indie trio from Helsinki, Finland consisting of guitarist Esa Pottonen, bass player Oskari Halsti and drummer Aapo Niininen. Their music is a contrasting combination of rich three-part vocal harmonies and a striking rock trio sound.
Wedding Crashers released their critically acclaimed debut album "This Is What You Wanted" in 2011, followed by singles and videos in 2015, 2016 and an EP titled ”Side A” in 2017.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I happened to come across the "Murder at the Vicarage" film reel while digitising my fathers old high school film. Somehow, I knew immediately it would fit our song "Good Man".
It was a magical moment to hit play on both at the same time, and realise just how perfectly the mood, length, themes, and dramatic structure fit together. It felt like both the song and the film came to life in a new way – as if they were made for each other some 50 years between them.
Next step was a lot harder, as we had to find out who made the film, all without any credits.
With a lot of good old detective work we managed to do just that, and learned about the director Risto Lampivuo's life and work – and sadly, his passing in 2008.
We were given permission to use the film from Risto's sister, the other actor Matti Lehvonen, and their teacher Ilmari Jokinen, who helped them shoot the film. – Esa Pottonen, Wedding Crashers