The small film began as an exercise in form, particularly editing. The visual effect of editing to create a sense of flight and otherworldly motion has been done since movies like Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera, and this particular effect was popular in the Pop Art experimental films of the late eighties in New York. I’ve always wanted to not only make one of these films, but to merge the visuals with my other two passions: text and music. So once I completed the film with my friend Da’Mon Jackson and picked the track from my friend Daniel Macchio’s Tape Recorder album, I knew I’d want to write a poem that would match the rhythm of his music and the rhythm of the visuals. Though the absence of narrative threads and character arcs are what has come to be expected from experimental films such as At My Own Pace, the idea of enjoying a film on a strictly visceral level without needing to follow a plot or sympathize with characters has always fascinated me. While we can’t suspend disbelief as we watch an exercise in form, we’re forced to actively participate in its own construction. There’s something kind of wonderful and refreshing about that. It gives me great pleasure to share this film with people.
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Edgar Muniz was born in Anaheim, CA. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and a Master’s Degree in English from Cal State Fullerton University. His fascination with film began at a very young age. As an only child, he spent much of his youth on his own watching movies and obsessing over how they were made. When he’d spend summers at his cousin’s house in Hawaiian Gardens, they’d take his dad’s Hi-8 camcorder and make short films around the neighborhood and in their backyard. As he grew older, Muniz’s fascination with film became a deeper passion and love for the art of filmmaking. Influenced by the complexities, power and possibilities of cinema, he began to make more ambitious and personal films. Film became a medium through which he could explore what’s most important and interesting to him. He currently teaches English at Mt. San Antonio College and is working on his fifth feature-length film.