Mysterious WV

07/20/2026

IN THE FIELD (On lunch hour) for the first time with Super 8 camera and B/W movie film. Yea! Why filming in Charleston for a Huntington case? Well, the residence where the murder occurred in 1936 no longer exists. Soooo....I'm seeking out multiple homes/buildings with sections that closely resemble the exterior of the "murder house". Lots of tight shots of brick facades and white-trimmed windows. Low angle shots to hide signs and multiple wires. Branches and shrubs just visible enough to show movement in breeze. Tricks of the documentary trade. Also, use of film forces me to limit shots to 10 seconds and frame VERY carefully. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

06/23/2026

FEEDBACK: OK folks, vote time. I've been asked several times to profile the 1936 murder of Juliette Enslow...primarily due to her connection the Staunton-Clark murder in 1953. For a while I have resisted this owing to the age of the case and the fact that a suspect was arrested and tried...but ultimately exonerated. Now, I feel more open to the idea inasmuch as it can present both a fascinating and technically unsolved case, but also the opportunity to touch on many historical topics along the way.

So...what do you all think? Should I cover this case next?

06/13/2026

PLEASE SHARE: Keystone Cases. Premieres tonight at 8pm est on MysteriousWV's YouTube Channel.

PLEASE SHARE: MISSING-Teresa Lynn RhodesOn September 27th 1975 13-...

06/10/2026

Just filmed the opening and closing stand-ups for Keystone Cases...the upcoming feature...here in the sweltery jungles of w...eh...I mean the lush, tranquil forests of West Virginia. Lol. Don't be fooled by the pic, in the stand-ups I was wearing a trench coat and filmed 4 separate segments. My car's air conditioning never felt SOOOOO good! Now...home to sync audio with video and put all the pieces together. Plan right now is to Premiere Friday night June 12th. Cheers...and...stay cool.

06/04/2026

NEARLY THERE!!!

05/26/2026

Editing the narration for the Theresa Rhodes portion of the next feature. 😁

05/19/2026

Felt SOOOO good to get back in the field this past week and weekend. 2 days in beautiful SW Pennsylvania covering 2 cases; 1 fairly well known, 1 not-so-much. Even better...shooting some on actual 35mm film for the first time. 1 roll of Tri-x B/W and 1 Roll of Ektar.(Color). My favorite "weapon"...a Minolta Maxxum 7000...the first REAL 35mm auto-focus SLR from 1985. Works even better than my digital SLR. Can't wait to see the textures and grain. Just gotta lay down a narration track then stitch things together. This time..
Lol...I actually managed to keep thr length where I wanted to; probably 25-30min for the 2 cases combined. Ok, back to my toil and sweat. 😁 Ciao for now!

04/27/2026

To elaborate on a previous post, something I have been working towards for several months is integrating some images taken on actual film stock...35mm for still images and Super 8 movie film for some moving images. The camera shown here is an early 80s Super 8 movie camera. In a "previous life"...1999/2000 to be exact...I was trained/educated on both while in college. Sadly cost made it prohibitive to pursue this much beyond 2006. Recent advances in film/scanning technology and simplifications in chemistries have made it economically feasible to return to using film. The biggest savings is having the ability to develop films on my own and then scan rather than print them on expensive photo paper. The introduction of 8mm/Super 8 film scanners and new Super 8 negative film stocks have also placed this process back into my budget range.

While it is relatively easy to simulate the look of film using editing software, the results...especially with motion picture filters...is just NOT the same. As advanced as the software is there is just NO WAY to accurately recreate the look and "feel" of film other than using REAL film. Since so many of the cases I profile feature cases that date back to times when film was prevalent this seemed like an appropriate step. While I will obviously continue to utilize digital technology for the majority of my work, the inclusion of filmed images/scenes will...I feel...add to the realism when the need arises to visualy recreate a scene from the 1980s and earlier.

I know of no other True Crime channel which utilizes this approach...so it will also be one additional ingredient to help set MysteriousWV apart and provide all of you with another unique feature. As things progress I will endeavor to keep you all visually updated on how this new process is coming along and just how it is created.

NOTE: I was recently able to put some of this "new technology" to work. As the St. Albans Police Department was gracious in allowing me access to their Darleta Hurt case file I did my best to return the favor by scanning the 35mm negatives of their crime scene photos and proving them with digital copies. These scans actually showed more information...around the edges...than was visible on their prints from 1987.

04/25/2026

Incorporating real film images into my videos is going to be fun. Just finished a little TLC on these recently aquired gems and ready to test them...in the field...with good ol' Ektachrome! Good grief, I haven't shot a roll of Ektachrome in over 16 years...and THEN it had been renamed Elite Chrome. Yuck! "Momma don't take my Ektachrome away!" OK, not the actual lyrics...but true to today. Cheers!

04/13/2026

What do you think? Real or fraud???

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