Search - Fever Dreams and Heavenly Nightmares: The Short Films of Chel White on DVD

No two alike

wiredweird | Earth, or somewhere nearby | 03/27/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"And no one like anything anywhere else. White executes each one in a different visual style, from the classic stop-motion of "Magda," to (mostly?) live action in "Dirt," to a genuinely unique animation, "Choreography for Copy Machine."

Each short video explores something new. "Choreography," for example, demonstrates little-known possibilities of copier's scanning process. As the camera sweeps under the scanning bed, the object scanned can shift. This creates rubbery distortions within a single image, but White can't settle for just one. Instead, he assembles hundreds if not thousands of images into a stop animation of unique kind. Another short, "Eclipse," depicts grief, a special kind of grief that the current political context leaves no room for - making it even lonelier and sadder than it was to begin with. "Soulmate" explores a different kind of loneliness: two lost souls, adrift in the same ocean, never daring to call to the other for help but wishing deeply that they knew how to call.

I usually skip "extras" - most offer little insight or value, others look like the real content was split in two to give an illusion of something more. Here, though, an interview, experimental work, commercial art, and more all contribute their parts to White's work and life. This collection isn't the most far-out set of videos around, but an experimental spirit will help you enjoy them. If your eyes demand a bit more than the usual, treat them to Chel White.

-- wiredweird"

The Machine Song is Amazing.

Eel Bonjack | Amesbury, MA | 08/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Honestly, the other films didn't do much for me (except for maybe the one where the guy turns into a garden), but "The Machine Song", one of the early films in the extras, was worth the price of it alone."