Underplayed Gems

T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G (1969)

T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G poster
Directed by
Paul Sharits
Country
United States
Rating
5.8 of 10 from 23 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A 12-minute film with a static frame shows rapid flickering images and repeated flashes. The filmmaker says the word "destroy" over and over until the sounds blur into new meanings, creating a disturbing psychological effect.

flickeringrepetitiveunnervingdisorientinghypnoticminimalistvisceralclaustrophobic

What happens

T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G is a 12-minute short film directed by Paul Sharits in 1968. It uses many of the strategies characteristic of the structural film movement, including a static frame, flicker effects, flash frames and continual audio and visual repetition. The audio track consists exclusively of the filmmaker uttering the word "destroy" over and over until the word begins to lose its meaning and creates the impression of different combinations of words being spoken. Unlike many clearly algorithmically-driven films of the structural film movement, T,O,U,C,H,I,N,G does not simply follow a sequence of mathematical transformation, but deploys combinations of audio and visual effects to elicit emotional and psychological responses in viewers. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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