Copy Shop: short film with unorthodox photocopy technique

March 21, 2005 9:36 PM

Copy Shop   is a 12-minute dialogue-free film by director Virgil Widrich about a guy inadvertently duplicating himself over and over (320 x 240 streaming Real format download link). The most interesting aspect of the short, however, is that it was made frame-by-frame of photocopies, manipulated for jarring visual effects and then shot with a camera to put together the final cut. (Mentioned previously by film aficionado pxe2000.) Also see Widrich's photocopied short Fast Film with even more calamitous, unraveling effects. Get this guy toner refills for his birthday.
posted by planetkyoto (14 comments total)

Maybe on film the effect is nicer, but this looks like an after effects plugin could do most of the same work that copying 18,000 frames did. I'd love to see a print on an 11inch wide reel, though. Imax, eat your heart out.
posted by CharlesV42 at 10:21 PM on March 21, 2005

Yeah, I'd wager most of the 'wow' factor of it being done with actual photocopies is lost on a 320x240 stream.

I thought that was Philip Glass... in fact I don't know how it couldn't be... yet I didn't see his name in the credits; but some (presumabely) Austrian guy. I've heard most Glass out there, and though I didn't recognize the particular composition, the style is unequivocably his. The recording was a new one (the quartet/quintet is listed at the end).

If it's not Glass it's a worthy homage.
posted by pelletierm at 10:27 PM on March 21, 2005

That was amazing. I have a friend who works part-time at Kinko's. I'm gonna pass this along to him.
posted by painquale at 10:36 PM on March 21, 2005

"fast film" was awesome.
posted by juv3nal at 11:43 PM on March 21, 2005

Thanks for the cool links...

Still on topic, is this White Ninja comic.
posted by Balisong at 12:04 AM on March 22, 2005

wow, eggcellent!

i really liked the fast film too :D
posted by kliuless at 4:56 AM on March 22, 2005

A Quicktime version is available on the fantastic Zed TV.
posted by furtive at 8:17 AM on March 22, 2005

You can get this on DVD, if you're in the UK or have a friend who is, on the "European Short Films" available from Cinema 16. I have both of these DVDs, the Euro and the British one, and they're great. The European one is worth having just for "Copy Shop" and an old favorite of mine, "Giselle Kerozene." (Note that these are region 2 discs)
posted by BoringPostcards at 8:27 AM on March 22, 2005

Virgil Widrich... the Widricher... making copies...
posted by bobo123 at 9:26 AM on March 22, 2005

BoringPostcards - Giselle Kerozene ranks in the top 5 of my all time favorite shorts. For all who haven't seen it, seek it not now.
posted by ScottUltra at 10:24 AM on March 22, 2005

or, alternately, seek it out now.
posted by ScottUltra at 10:25 AM on March 22, 2005

ScottUltra, did you first see it on "Night Flight" back in the early 90s? That's where I saw it. I kept a ratty VHS tape of that broadcast for YEARS until this DVD came out.
posted by BoringPostcards at 10:38 AM on March 22, 2005

this music uses some techniques from steve reich, like having two ostenatios and displacing them slightly more and more each bar. listen to something like piano phase or violin phase for that kind of thing. i mean the score is minimalst but not really phillip glass.
maybe i just associate the phillip glass minimalism to something much more boring.
posted by klik99 at 12:27 PM on March 22, 2005

The score sounds much like a Kronos Quartet performance, and they've done Glass and John Cage (this stuff reminds me of him too).

Amazing noir here, and a fine balance of mystical content and clever style. I love the bit at 9 min where the clones wave to each other with copied hands.

The film reminds me, thematically, of Being John Malkovitch and Neil Gaiman's story "We Can Deliver it Wholesale" (or some similar title).

[this is damn good]
posted by NickDouglas at 12:07 PM on March 23, 2005