In the film, models in their space-age collars and drop-waist pants appear and disappear into pixelated swirls. Somma created a lot of the effects like this by altering the footage while filming with a digital video mixer. “I am experimenting with how analog technology can corrupt digital video signals in real time,” he explains over email.
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Much of the video’s creativity comes from working within the restrictions of a small budget. Instead of renting professional lights, Somma pillaged an assortment of fluorescent bulbs from kits you can find at any Home Depot. “It would have cost the same to just rent one light for an entire day,” he notes. “I also chose to use fluorescent lighting to exploit the distortion and interference it can create while filming, which professional lighting avoids by having the frequency of lights calibrated appropriately.” By filming at a particular shutter speed to match the fluorescents’ 60HZ frequency, Somma captured flickers and strobe-like effects.
Although he did achieve some of the video’s effects in post-production, the fact that most of these effects were done in real time really makes a difference. Somma brings a certain tangibility to digital video, something which we sometimes lust for in older mediums and often forget can be conveyed digitally.
The video brings Bladerunner to mind, with its retrofuturism and especially its atmospheric score composed by Benoit Pioulard, who processed vocals through pedals and tape decay to make a soundtrack that’s pregnant with malaise. “Overall I wanted the video to have a feeling that washes over you,” says Somma.
And, it’s indeed a haunting audiovisual experience.
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