Lead Dust

Lead Dust was a thriller produced by Ted Phillips and Doug Scott. It starred Helen Clifford and Jeff Crosley and was recorded on black-and-white 8mm film stock using a Bolex camera on July 2, 2004.

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A young woman ignores a deranged old man's warnings and wanders into a secluded section of forest beneath a waterfall. A mysterious figure approaches and slaughters her.

Lead Dust was inspired by Ted Phillips's visit to Ithaca Falls in Ithaca, New York, before checking into his summer college session at Ithaca College on June 26, 2004. In reality, instead of a rambling old man, a warning about the lead dust was written on a wooden sign.

His first project in his Beginning Film Production class was a group project with fellow classmate Doug Scott. Ted suggested they film Lead Dust by the falls. The class required that Ted and Doug each produce different edits of the project. Thus, several shots involving more of a struggle were removed from this version.

The first screening took place on July 30, 2004, to an audience of classmates and parents. Lead Dust was uploaded to YouTube on November 30, 2006, where it remained until it was moved to the Cracked Egg Studios web site on July 4, 2010.

• After shooting Lead Dust, Helen Clifford became paranoid that Ted Phillips was trying to kill her.
• When applying to film school, Ted Phillips described Lead Dust in his portfolio with the synopsis above.