I Built a Cage

When the zoo closed, my friends all left.

  • Robert David Duncan
    Director
    https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5399017
  • Robert David Duncan
    Writer
    https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5399017
  • Robert David Duncan
    Producer
    https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5399017
  • Robert David Duncan
    Key Cast
    "Abandoned toy"
    https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5399017
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Micro short
  • Runtime:
    1 minute
  • Completion Date:
    June 23, 2019
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    iPhone
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Robert David Duncan

My core training in acting is from the Stella Adler Studio in New York. I love acting and filmmaking and Vancouver where I now live is a beautiful place to make films. I am interested in the dramas, delights, passions and heartbreaks that take place in everyday interactions (or lack thereof) between ordinary people. Most of my films have dealt with human-scale issues such as tough choices, love, dreams, hope and finding meaning and fun in life. I love an underdog story! My motto is don't let anything get in the way of telling a story that might uplift someone - film it with your smartphone if that's what you have, but get it done and share it with the world.

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Director Statement

"When the zoo closed, my friends all left" says the abandoned toy bear in "I Built a Cage." I stumbled across another sad-looking lost toy the other day, and decided to shoot some footage of it. When I was considering the footage later, a narrative kind of jumped out at me, so I wrote and recorded it and stitched the whole thing together.

Though I find lost toys quite sad, I've been happy to be able to cobble together a growing cluster of little films from these chance discoveries. I don't think it would be the same kind of experience if I were to stage the scene and place the toy there, because there's something magic in the moment of discovery that seems to inspire me.