Phillop Baucom seeks Robert the Doll's permission for a high school video project as Kaylee Bird adjusts camera in the background.
from the KEY WEST ART & HISTORICAL SOCIETY 281 FRONT STREET, KEY WEST, FL 33040 295-6616 Fax: 295-6649
Attention: News editors, news directors, features editors and programming directors. Please use the following item as a news story, public service announcement or community event. Pix available. For immediate release Nov. 4, 2004.
As Robert the enchanted doll celebrates his 100th anniversary as the island's most popular symbol of the supernatural, a Key West High School television student is attempting to put some of the Robert lore on videotape. On Wednesday evening Phillip Baucom, along with videographer Kaylee Bird and assistant Sarah Frederick ventured into the darkened Fort East Martello Museum to meet Robert where he makes a home in a display case in one of the old bastion's casemates. The students are enrolled in Key West High School's Television Production Course. Fascinated by the tales of Robert and his spectral influence on Key West, Baucom, a junior is shooting a short video history of Robert, which he hopes to enter in a national student television competition in Los Angeles. I went to the Blame It on Robert Party last month and I thought, 'Wow! It would be great if I could do something on Robert.' So I got David Sloan's book (on the history of Key West's ghost) and started a storyboard. Unlike some other photographers who have tried to make pictures and videos of Robert at the museum have experienced mysterious camera and film malfunctions, Baucom and his crew were careful to show the enchanted doll proper respect. Before turning on the tripod-mounted video camera, they approached Robert sitting on a chair in his case bathed in an eerie yellow light and politely sought his permission to include him in their shot. When finished, they didn't forget to offer him their thanks. Others who failed to acknowledge the doll's powers - including a professional film crew-have experienced Robert's perturbation when their film was found ruined or their cameras failed to function properly. Although Baucom's student video team was a little spooked as it worked in the dark shadows of the old fort, filming went smoothly. Besides the footage at the East Martello, Baucom has scheduled shots at the Key West Cemetery and the house at 534 Eaton St., where Robert lived for many years in the possession of the late Robert Gene Otto, a Key West artist.
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| Phillop Baucom seeks Robert the Doll's permission for a high school video project as Kaylee Bird adjusts camera in the background. |