Hi Chip,

Congratulations on making the film. I hope it raises a bunch of money for
the feature. Great to read this article.

Going on 7 weeks now and still no housing except 3 motels and several
thousand dollars in their pockets.

Will be back in touch when I get settled. BTW my new cell is 413-548-0760.

Look forward to the time when I can catch up with you and to hear how your
and Ann's 63 new things session.>

Cheers,
Diane

Hey guys,
>
> More press about Phineas Gage (and my little film).
> Enjoy!
>
> (Google for the photo itself)
>
> Picture of a legendary brain-injury patient surfaces
>
> By CATHERINE BAUM
> Staff Writer
> Tuesday, July 21, 2009
>
> NORTHAMPTON - A Northampton filmmaker said he was amazed to hear of the
> recent release of what is reportedly the only known photographic image of
> 19th-century legendary brain-injury patient Phineas Gage, whose accident
> is the subject of a short film he shot in Westhampton and area towns last
> month.
>
> "It's like people discovering old photos of Lincoln," said Richard "Chip"
> Roughton, who last week started editing the short film "Phineas Gage," the
> preface to Roughton's full-length film on the rise and fall of lobotomies.
> Roughton lives in Northampton and has a film studio in Easthampton.
>
> "He's not at all what I envisioned him to look like," said Roughton, who
> has researched brain and behavior and Gage's accident for a decade. The
> man in the image is tall with slick, dark hair and one eye shut.
>
> "It's funny; Maybe it's the name Phineas Gage," Roughton continued. "I
> always imagined him red-headed and curly-headed, with big bushy sideburns.
> Kind of all Irish, even though I know he's not Irish."
>
> Massachusetts photographers last week discovered a daguerreotype image of
> Gage holding the 13-pound rod that penetrated his head in 1848 in a
> notorious accident on a Vermont railroad. The former railroad construction
> foreman's behavior changed after the incident - he died 11 years after the
> accident.
>
> The image, to be published online this week in the Journal of the History
> of Neurosciences, has been in the possession of Jack and Beverly Wilgus
> for 30 years, according to the Los Angeles Times. The couple thought Gage
> was a whaler holding his harpoon, the newspaper reported, but whaling
> experts online disputed that claim and someone else suggested it was Gage.
>
> The daguerreotype was brought to Harvard Medical School's Warren
> Anatomical Museum, where Gage's life mask is kept. The creation of
> so-called life mask was a frequent practice in the 19th century. It is a
> cast made from someone's face post-mortem. It was common to make life
> masks of famous poets and authors to reveal representations of their nose
> and face.
>
> Roughton learned of the finding Monday and immediately called the cast and
> crew to tell them the news.
>
> At first, Roughton said he didn't believe the image was Gage because he
> had trouble seeing the scar on Gage's cheek. In addition, he said, the
> rod, which was propelled in an explosion through Gage's left cheek and out
> through the top of his head, looked too thick to Roughton to actually be
> the one that injured Gage.
>
> But upon further research, Roughton learned the writing on the metal rod
> in the image matches the writing on Gage's rod.
>
> "They were able to line up the engravings," said Roughton. "It seems
> pretty foolproof that it is the actual guy and that's pretty amazing."
>
> Mia Bauman, a New York City makeup artist on set for Roughton's film last
> month, said the scar appears more prominent on Gage's life mask than it
> looks in the daguerreotype. She also studied the wound on his skull at the
> museum.
>
> "From the photograph I can't even see the scar," Bauman said. "I didn't
> even think it was him at first. As a makeup artist, I feel I didn't do his
> scar justice."
>
> She was on point with Gage's hair, however. In that time period, Bauman
> said men either parted their hair to the side or in the middle.
> Considering Gage's social position for his character development in the
> film, Bauman decided to part Gage's hair on the side and comb it close to
> his head. The character, played by Sean McCormick, also wore an eye patch.
>
> "It's weird to see him alive and young and fresh looking," Bauman said.
> "It gave him more humanity." Roughton, who owns Rough Pictures in
> Easthampton, said he hopes to have the final cut of the short film
> complete in the next couple of weeks. He may show "Phineas Gage" to
> friends and people involved when its complete, but said he has no plans to
> release the film to the public until he releases the full-length film.
>
> Catherine Baum can be reached at cbaum@....
>
>