Premiere: Clara-Nova — “Echo”

This playful video for Clara-Nova’s “Echo” is comprised of 230 sets of images, each containing 4 frames taken simultaneously using a retro “Quadrascopic 3D” camera (the Nishika n8000). Each frame was scanned individually and then “animated” by hand and the resulting boomerang-style loops bring to life a song which describes how we humans relate to one another. According to director Clara Aranovich it’s also an homage to some of the earlier works of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs.

“Photography does not create eternity, as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption.” -André Bazin

Aranovich writes, “This has long been my favorite quote about cinema; it gets to the heart of the nostalgic power of film, a power that overcame me at a very young age and has led me to pursue it ever since. Celluloid has always carried a mythical quality to me, from my first foray into (terrible) 35mm photography as a child, to shooting/cutting/splicing 16mm as the age of 15, to my very first job on a feature film set as a camera loader. Needless to say, I adore celluloid, and for this track I proposed a return to it.”

Clara-Nova was excited about this idea and the chance to spend a few days exploring Los Angeles and meeting people in their community. “I love to wander around the city without a set destination and this video reflects that.”