I'm Short, Not Stupid Presents: 'How to Keep Smoking'

I miss the days when the things I do were portrayed positively in the media. Things like being rebellious, drinking to excess, throwing caution to the wind, and smoking until my lungs gave out. Now, it's all: Fit in, drink responsibly, safety first, smoking kills you. How do I fight the good fight in this world full of fear and fascism?

First, they told us not to smoke inside. Now, we can barely smoke outside. I can’t even impress strangers by smoking three cigarettes at once—they just sneer at me like I'm a dick, as if smoking hasn't been cool in 50 years. It makes no sense. Smoking used to be soooooo cool.

Thankfully, we’ve got a martyr in our midst. His name is John Wilson. Over the last who-knows-how-long, he’s meticulously put together a video guide on how to keep smoking. Through rambling, ramshackle insights, points are formed and abandoned, but one thing is for sure—you'll want a cigarette after seeing the film.

The short is three smoked cigarettes long, so you can really get a good buzz going if you watch it right. Also, be sure to check out my equally informative interview with the filmmaker, John Wilson, below.

VICE: What's your favorite type of cigarette?
John Wilson: Any cigarette that isn’t taxed in New York City.

What does you mom think of this movie and your dirty, nasty habit?
Oh, I don’t smoke. My mom also doesn’t really watch anything unless my dad is watching it.

Well, what does your dad think of your movie?
I’m pretty sure my father would be able to relate to the film, although he’d never admit it. I haven’t really shown it to any family yet because it might make them very sad.

Your video is chock-full of helpful tips, but if you had to choose one single takeaway for the audience, what would it be?
That you really need to commit to something, if you want to do it well.

Is there a single clip in the movie that you can't believe you captured? I laughed out loud when I saw the stylish bachelor and the convertible full of smokers. 
I really knew I had a movie once I got that convertible shot. Things like that just started appearing once I decided to take this idea seriously. The bachelor moment was actually captured during a low-budget film shoot that I stumbled upon in Bushwick. It’s really interesting how acting looks in real life when you remove the production.

You seem to shoot constantly. Do you have an idea of the film you're trying to make when you start? Or are you just gathering footage for a bunch of films at once? 
I always have a little camera on me whenever I leave the house. This project actually began over a year ago, as a film called Midtown Cigarette Break. It started mutating once I tried to quit smoking.

I ended up shooting other people smoking whenever I wanted a cigarette and fleshed out the rest of the film with daily observations. I’ve been using the same camera for a while, so it’s easy to dig up footage from three or four years ago, if I need to.

How do you organize your footage? John Baldessari has a huge collection of images organized by subject. Do you do something differently?
I organize all my footage by the date it was shot, and then arrange everything in a timeline once I begin a project. I also keep a meticulous daily log. That makes it a little easier to search by keyword when looking for a specific event.

What's next?
I want to make New York Post: The Movie. It’s about a man who wakes up one morning and finds that he’s trapped inside a copy of the New York Post.

Jeffrey Bowers is a tall, mustached guy from Ohio who's seen too many weird movies. He currently lives in Brooklyn, working as an art and film curator. He is a programmer at the Hamptons International Film Festival and screens for the Tribeca Film Festival. He also self-publishes a super-fancy mixed-media art serial called PRISM index.

Follow Jeffrey Bowers on Twitter.