Bloopers #1

Brooklyn-based artists Michael Bell Smith, Sara Magenheimer, and Ben Vida were in residence to produce a new video for their commissioned performance Bloopers #1. Using EMPAC’s Black-magic 4K camera, they filmed multiple house-hold objects, as well as actors, on a custom-built rotating platform embedded into a vinyl green screen. Close-ups, wide angles, and tracking shots were then edited in post-production onto multiple backgrounds to create the effect of stock footage in the style of commercials and television shows. The video was incorporated into a live multimedia performance presented later at EMPAC. With the question “Why do we hate some objects and love others?” as its starting point, Bloopers #1 used set pieces, dance-pop, cinematic cliché, and live performance to playfully tease the boundaries of language, crowds, and the nature of things that draw them.