Fort York
saturday, june 22, 2024

twister

With the short film Footsteps

In Summer 2020, at the height of the pandemic, 100 lucky attendees got to experience one of the most memorable screenings in TOPS history, as a real life windstorm transformed Twister into a truly immersive 4D spectacle (and left our A/V technicians holding down the screen with their hands). In 2024, before this summer’s sequel Twisters hits theatres in July, we’re bringing back the original to the TOPS screen, with Toronto’s cityscape as our big-screen background. Diving into the adrenaline-fueled work of tornado chasers with groundbreaking special effects, Jan de Bont’s 1996 blockbuster is an icon of 1990s cinema, featuring a cast of legendary character actors, including dearly departed Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, and Cary Elwes. A truly masterful thriller that has stood the test of time, Twister turns the unconventional scientific profession of chasing tornadoes into a heroic endeavour worthy of the biggest possible screen.

But what about those who toil behind the scenes to make cinematic spectacles like Twister so impactful? Toronto documentarian Jeremy Benning’s short film Footsteps answers this question by shedding light on the often overlooked but absolutely essential “below the line” labour of foley artists. These talented craftspeople use a diverse array of everyday objects and recording equipment to create sound effects from howling tornado winds to the softest footsteps and everything in between. Benning pulls back the curtain on an acclaimed post-production sound facility north of Toronto where a team of dedicated (some might say obsessed) creative workers ensure that movies don’t just look great, but sound great too.