I always had a fascination with VHS tapes and old media in general. When I would hear the distorted audio playing from the degenerating tape, it would give me chills that would run down my spine. I knew I had to make a VHS related film, but I wasn’t sure what it might be. To keep that feeling I had alive, I printed out a few photos that gave me this same feeling and taped them on my wall: interior of a Blockbuster video rental store, children riding bikes in suburbia, wall of VHS tapes, wooden paneling, 1970s station wagon.
A few months went by and I discovered an artist who creates his own VHS tapes. Essentially, what he does is transform newly released films into VHS tapes. I reached out to this artist (who wished to remain nameless) via email and I thought this could potentially be the film about VHS tapes I was searching for, possibly a documentary. We agreed to do an interview via email and an actor would repeat his interview, word for word. After the interview was finished he suddenly realized I would need copies of the artwork to film for the re-enactment. After this realization he no longer felt comfortable showing his artwork.
I didn’t want this interview to go to waste, so I thought to make the faux-tapes myself and create a hybrid documentary with the interview, after he gave me the thumbs up to use his words.
For the casting I sent out a casting call on backstage.com and after looking through hundreds of actors, I discovered Erik Bjarnar from Ithaca, New York. Erik was amazing! I knew he had to play the artist. Again, I ran into a problem. Erik isn’t from New York City and he doesn’t have a car. After we discussed the problem on the phone, we agreed to film it in his apartment. Erik’s home was perfect: he is a single forty-something man in a very disorganized motel-like small apartment. Exactly what I imagined the original artist’s apartment to look like.
I drove up to Ithaca, New York from New York City and stayed for two days in a hotel room. I filmed during the day in Erik’s apartment and followed a shot list based on the interview. Erik was amazing and read the lines so well. He appeared so authentic I almost forgot he wasn’t the actual artist.
It was a very fun project and I’m really happy in the way it turned out.
