EDMONTON -- Even though well-known Edmonton actor Jesse Gervais has appeared in multiple productions in our city, multiples of himself are now in his own productions.
Gervais has been creating a series of videos called Isolation Scenes where he recreates famous scenes from famous movies using blue-screen technology to make it appear he is acting opposite himself.
“I just happened to have two bolts of blue fabric that I was using for another project. I set them up in my office, and after tinkering around with iMovie, I realized that I could duplicate myself,” said Gervais.
Gervais said he concentrates on blockbuster films such as Fight Club, No Country for Old Men, and Brokeback Mountain for his send ups.
“I want to hit all the stuff that everyone knows,” said Gervais. “As much as I’d like to do some deep cut with My Dinner with Andre, it’s probably better to do stuff like Scent of a Woman.”
Gervais does the scenes with his fictitious brother named Jiffy, where the virtual duo never gets things quite right, often arguing and wrestling with each other.
“Jiffy is always my scene partner and he’s always challenging to work with,” said Gervais. ”He does not take direction well, but he’s a much better performer than I am. I need him!”
Gervais said his Isolation Scenes have gotten more and more intricate since he first started creating them and posting them his Instagram and YouTube page.
“A scene may have taken a few hours when I first started but now it’s a matter of days because I want it to look really good, I want it to match the movie that we know and so I try to add all the different edits in.”
While Gervais is getting better at his solo project, he said he can’t wait to work with a real cast again.
“If I were surrounded by other people, I would probably be doing scenes with other people,” Gervais said with a laugh.
