Dirty Lens

NTSC/4:3/TRT 2:47/Color/2001

Dirty Lens is a short cinematic experiment in digitally layered motion. The lens of a prosumer digital video camera was intentionally coated with dust and small particles of dirt, and then that camera was used to capture a series of kinetic images centered on the riding of a bicycle. In post-production the visuals were heavily digitally manipulated, and the result was that the camera was able, through these alterations, to maintain a nearly unchanging constant in the layer of small dirt particles even while the motion of the cyclist was altered, distorted and overlapped dramatically. The result is an extreme layering of the image, with the dust particles and the bike rider occupying completely separate visual media planes, with the implication that the digital manipulation of the material is its own separate, third (ephemeral?) layer.

Prof. Morrow’s films are viewable at his Vimeo channel.

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