Panic Films

This is a new video I just finished last night. I love making short, quick experimental videos like this and I really like how this one turned out. The light leaks come from a technique called “lens whacking” where you detach the lens and hold it in front of the camera. It’s nice to try different stuff and when it works out just right, I’m happy.

Yesterday I had the honor of having a video projected onto the walls of a gallery inside the Museum of Contemporary Art. The video was a collaboration with my friend Vernon McCombs called Tycodoki Six. The Glitch Art 0P3NR3P0 Share Fest was part of the Internet Superheroes series at the MCA. Above is some video I shot of the various artists work being projected on the walls and below is the video I made with Vernon.

Tycodoki Six from Arturo Valle on Vimeo.

Here’s a time-lapse I put together from 1am thru 5:30pm of yesterday’s storm. This is the view from my living room window. Some early morning frames were cut because nothing happened while it was still dark out. It seriously looked like a still frame for over 10 seconds. When the sun came out the exposure was too bright so I crossfaded the cut when it was fixed after I woke up. A frame was shot every 15 seconds and sound was recorded on my phone from the TV reports on the storm.

Tycodoki Six from Arturo Valle on Vimeo.

From Vimeo: Experimental video art collaboration with Vernon McCombs. Live analog feedback, video mixers, and the untimely demise of a Tyco VideoCam recorded live.

My Tyco VideoCam died in the process of making this video. I think the feedback was too much for it to handle and you can see the image fall apart over the 45 minutes that we recorded. Vernon and I started this project during our unemployment last year after leaving Playboy. We eventually got work and finished it in the fall and I’m finally getting around to posting it online for everybody to see.

Chris Cunningham: jaqapparatus 1 on Nowness.com.

For some reason, the name Chris Cunningham popped into my head today. His work was always a huge inspiration and it’s nice to see what he’s up to these days in this video from nowness.com. I’m expecting nothing but greatness out of Chris Cunningham and I’m glad he’s not disappointing me.

It’s 1am Sunday night, technically Monday morning. Hello. This is called Weekend. It’s an experimental video I shot with timelapse photography this weekend. Now it’s time for bed. Goodnight and thank you.

Last month’s video diary is finally here. Over the summer I decided to run away for my birthday and spend it in LA with some very special people, and that I did. It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. I came back to Chicago to dive into jobs that took up my evenings and I’ve finally come around to editing the video. Shot with my phone and 60D in two of the most beautiful cities in the world, that was my September.

As I’ve been doing since December, here is my monthly video diary for August 2012. This month features lovely suburban geese shot with my DSLR, filming the show Shameless in River North, more CTA trains, and a dog named Ike. Check out last month’s video here.

Jem Cohen has been one of my favourite filmmakers since I first saw his work in college. Above is an excerpt from his beautiful film called Lost Book Found. This is definitely one of my favorite short/experimental films ever. He’s also known for the Fugazi documentary DVD called Instrument and music videos like REM’s Nightswimming.

I’m glad that I’m still working on these monthly video diaries. Unlike the others, this one was shot with my Canon 60D as well as my G2X phone. Since I’m not married to the phone as my main camera, I’ll shoot with whatever I have in my hands at the time. I like the variety. It’s also nice to look back and remember what I did, who was there, and make it into something new each month.