USA, Animation, 2004, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:05:30
A first love is corrupted as a man recalls his affair with a beautiful circus contortionist in this stop-motion animation of wooden manikins. At its heart, Magda is an off-center parable about lost innocence and the corruptibility of human nature. Visually, the film explores the use of extreme telephoto lenses, creating enigmatic scenes that reveal themselves over time, and ghostly figures drifting in-and-out of focus. Magda is filmmaker Chel White’s third adaptation of a story by radio artist and writer Joe Frank. (The previous films are “Dirt” and “Soulmate”.) ... more info
USA, Animation, 2005, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:01:30
Dark and humorous, this extremely short film is a stream-of-conscious look at the writing process, told with animated images straight from the subconscious… or somewhere. The narrative originates from an unpublished satirical essay by poet Scott Poole about his own writing process. It was the inspiration for filmmaker Chel White to build this one-minute film upon. Influenced in part by collage films of the 1960’s and early 70’s, this film jitters and pops with a hodgepodge of crazy images. Some are derived from digital still photographs of actor Don Alder and various prop elements relating to the narration. Others are bits and pieces of photo collage overlaid to further push the fre... more info
USA, Animation, 1991, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:04:00
A bizarre mixture of the surreal, the sensual, the beautiful, and the absurd, all tied together in a quickly paced collage of humor and photocopy fetish. All of the film's images were created solely by using the photographic capabilities of a photocopying machine to generate sequential pictures of hands, faces, and other body parts.... more info
USA, Experimental, 1998, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:04:00
A man’s strange obsession with dirt starts as a childhood game, but eventually manifests itself on a most surreal level. The dark, expressionistic images create an allegory for individuality and self-sufficiency, in this off-beat ecological parable. “Dirt” marries Chel White’s filmmaking with the satirical writing of Joe Frank.... more info
USA, Narrative, 2000, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:14:00
Eerie, erotic, and touching, Soulmate is a complex study of alienation and sexual obsession. Told from the point-of-view of a 55-year old woman, it explores longing and objectification through the unconventional story of a landlady and her younger male tenant. Soulmate is based on a story by National Public Radio personality Joe Frank, known for his bold and original radio plays.... more info
USA, Experimental, 0, Color, 00:00:00
A dream-film, comprised of memories of love and loss smoldering in the mind’s eye. ... more info
USA, Experimental, 2001, 35 mm, Color, Dolby Digital, 00:11:00
Passage deals with the poetic and the terrible, with innocence and corruption. Haunting underwater portraits of people are juxtaposed with archival films of war and atrocities to create a film that is part collage, part visual poem. Taking its cues from the ethereal music of Gustav Holsts's Neptune, the aqueous portraits allow each person's vulnerable core to surface, exposing a deep primal innocence. Simultaneously, wars are waged, brutalities committed, and the worst of the human race evolves. But in this sea of humanity, all is not lost to the corruption of the human spirit. Passage made it's world premiere (as a silent film) in Film Harmonic, a program of short films and liv... more info
USA, Experimental, 2003, Color, Magnetic Stereo, 00:03:00
A haunting poem describing a life eclipsed is the basis for this short collage film. Utilizing old NASA and science films inter-woven with original footage, the film’s enigmatic images trail the path of the poem, creating a film about a unique kind of loss. The often-controversial subject of a woman's right to choose is depicted from a perspective that is pointedly more personal than political.... more info