The Projectionist Speaks

Filmmaker/visual dude Danny Perez can still walk down the street in Philly without people hassling him about scripts and agents and "this friend" they know who is only three phone calls away from Michel Gondry, but that's not to say your man isn't a lil bit famous in some circles. The 25 year-old Perez is, amongst other things, Black Dice's touring projectionist/visual guru and the director of Animal Collective's insanely awesome "Who Could Win A Rabbit?" video that has had the internet going nuts since 2004. When I heard that Perez had made a video for Black Dice's forthcoming single "Smiling Off", I had a hunch that it too would be insanely awesome and decided to sit him down for a talk about what he does and how he does it. I also asked him if I could get first crack at presenting his latest creation to the world. He said yeah. 

You can read up on our chat below, and also (also also) check out the Simple Mission's exclusive premiere of the video for "Smiling Off" before it is released as part of a CD single that DFA will be dropping on November 1st. As always, I hope you dig.

Follow the jump to begin your trip.

TSM: Give us some background about yourself as a filmmaker. Did you go to school or receive any technical training?

Danny Perez: I went to NYU for film school, which was whatever... you know, four years in New York where everything was paid for. The gear that I had access to through NYU was amazing, but the environment was such that I had nothing in common with anyone there creatively or ambition wise or aesthetically.

TSM: That pretty much covers the bases of things to not have in common with other film students, right?

DP: Basically. Most of the people I met there were pretty worthless.

PROFESSOR PEREZ

TSM: How did you start working with the Black Dice guys?

DP: I went to school with both Eric and Aaron. Aaron went to NYU film school too, but was a transfer student, so he had to take all these classes even though he was older and knew way more that I did. I was actually the TA for a class he was taking.

TSM: "Professor Perez."

DP: Yeah, I was just a surly TA who threw papers at these stupid ass film kids, but I saw that Aaron was cool and so we started to hang out. In 2001 or so, Aaron invited me on a national tour with Black Dice and ever since then, I’ve always come along to sell merch and stuff. I have an increased capacity within the band now, since my work is physically on stage with them. I've developed an instinct for what visuals they like and what they don’t like. I’ve seen them change with every record and know every part to their songs. People still look at their shows and go “wow, they’re totally jamming,” but the band have strict parts with really hairy transitions.

TSM: Not unlike Animal Collective.

DP: Yes.

WHO COULD WIN A VIDEO?

TSM: The video for “Who Could Win A Rabbit?” has become this strange sort of indie music cult film. What's your take on having created something that was so well received for your first music video?

DP: I read these film geek message boards and one person recently posted this comment saying “what’s up with rabbits in films these days? Sexy Beast, Donnie Darko and the Animal Collective video.” Another person wrote back saying “that Animal Collective video sucks—and bad.” I was amazing that it elicited that sort of reaction and that it was name checked alongside feature length films.

TSM: People can get very sensitive about that Aesop's Fables-type shit. How did the concept for the bunnies and all that come about?

DP: (ha ha) The band said they wanted the video to be a loose story about a tortoise and the hare where the tortoise would wind up victorious. They had no idea about anything else and so I had to explain that shit needed to happen between point A and point B. I said to them, we’re gonna have someone design these costumes, we’re gonna get face paint and have these bikes. I did the art direction and had a friend make the costumes. From there, I just put an insane amount of work into mapping out the plot and exhausted the premise for all that it was worth.

TSM: Any funny anecdotes from that shoot? I can imagine it being really fun to work on.

DP: We shot that on one of the band member’s mom’s property right outside of Baltimore. If we had panned the camera one or two feet in any direction, you’d see a house and a driveway. We did the whole thing in two days. I basically told them what to do. Stuff like fall off the bike, ride the bike from here to here, etc. As for the anecdote, I’m generally stressed out when I am on deadline and have no time for comedy, (laughs) but I remember Dave trying to be inconspicuous in his rabbit custom and having this little girl who lived in the neighborhood find him trying to hide in a bush. Fortunately, she was pretty psyched when she discovered him.

YOU CAN'T DO THAT WITH TELEVISION

TSM: Can you take me through the Black Dice video? How did you come up with the concept and how did you execute it?

DP: One night when I was doing live visuals for Black Dice, one of the guys in the band gave me a tape of all this random, late night TV-type footage that he thought would be cool to sample—shit like women doing yoga or some Buddhists at a press conference that I could cut up from the raw footage and incorporate into the visuals. I worked with that material for three months before our European tour. When the idea came up to do a video, we thought it would just be a compilation of all the live visuals.

TSM: How much are the band involved in what visuals are used for the live shows?

DP: The band has a lot of input, because the visuals were literally sharing the stage with them. It wasn’t like I could flash a giant swastika on stage because I think it is ironic or whatever. That’s a bad example, but I’ll say that they let me know what works and what doesn't.

TSM: How about with the video for "Smiling Off"?

DP: After I learned the songs from the live shows, they said to me, the video is all you, we trust you. Unlike the Animal Collective video, where I worked with someone else’s premise, I had full control over "Smiling Off" to do what I wanted. They never asked me to show them anything, but they did tell me that I could not use any of the TV images that were used in the live show, since they were all copyrighted and the band was nervous about getting sued.

TSM: Oh shit.

DP: Yeah, so I had to shoot stuff that would supplement the footage I couldn’t use, like the woman doing yoga. So I thought if I am going to have to shoot so much shit, I wanted to make a tape of "dream footage", where if someone found it, they’d go “this is amazing. I’d love to tweak it out.” From there, I knew I wanted costumes and I wanted to take things out of context—like a TV loop combined with footage of a zoo or something. So, I designed the costumes for the actors and had the girl who did the costumes for the Animal Collective video make them.

TSM: Did you have any ideas about what you wanted to do ahead of time?

DP: I knew I wanted to work with dancers—people who I knew were comfortable with their bodies and could do a lot of physical movements—but didn’t want it to be some arty, bullshit modern dance sort of thing. I found these two great dancers in Philly who were great at just moving around and didn’t need choreography or jazz hands to make you react to their movements, so we filmed them a lot in hopes that some of the footage would make its way to a loop or get cut up in an interesting way.

TSM: It’s crazy that all of the images are commissioned and shot, rather than assembled from other sources.

DP: We shot 10 hours of footage, between the dancers and the alien woman. It was done with a green screen, you know, “GS” footage.

TSM: That must be your film lingo.

DP: Yes, I wanted to shoot the actors against a blank backdrop and then do some sort of ’70s Sci-Fi, Logan’s Run, thing over it. You can look back at a lot of those films like Death Race 2000 and notice that once you get over the cheesiness, it was some whole other shit altogether. Think about people actually building those sets and running around these small scale models and corny plastic things. Then think about a human being being in the same frame as these things that are totally synthetic. That was kind of what I had in mind with the "Smiling Off" video.

TSM: How long did it take to isolate and edit all the elements you used in the final version?

DP: All and all, and this is rushed, like three weeks, seven days a week, 10 hours a day. That’s what I did for that video. Everyone was out barbecuing and swimming in pools and I was clinging to my computer going “uh uh uh”. It was a total mindfuck man. It got a little gnarly. And because it wasn’t a narrative, it was more like, "what’s the best configuration of these images?" "What looks the coolest to me right now?" That shit changes day to day, afternoon to night, so sometimes I would spend days on one passage and then get rid of it entirely, then bring it back in, then scrap it, then…

TSM: What else was thrown into the mix that wasn't shot on film?

DP: There are photographic stills in there that I tweaked out, pictures of zebras and shit that I put in that no one should really notice.  It was shot on DV and then edited on my computer. I made it all in my bedroom. The backgrounds are stuff that I shot as well as photo stills and oh wait, I think the zebra image was actually a whale. Anyways, there are many many forms of media in there.

MUSICIANS CAN'T ACT

TSM: Can you name any music video directors who you would consider to be your influences?

DP: Music videos are usually either performance based and boring or a half assed short film where the narrative gets lost after the first twenty seconds. I’m not really into either.

TSM: Listen up, Babyshambles, that shit ain’t gonna cut it anymore.

DP: Besides, no one wants to see musicians act. Not to be arty and corny, but  my influences are kinna abstract, dudes like John Whitney and Jordon Belson—these kinetic filmmakers from the West Coast. They made their own analogue computers and created these tripped out films on these computers that twenty years later, became screen savers. These cats were doing that in 1971 in their basements, and now it is on someone’s computer in Ohio. I found their work to be really personal and chaotic at all once, which factors into what I am doing now in terms of trying to not have what I do come off as completely designed and meticulous.

FUTURE DAYS

TSM: What’s the response to the video been so far?

DP: I’ll be able to give you a better answer after you post it on your site, but as of right now, the guys in Black Dice and few of my other friends said to me “this is totally you.” I sent a still of the video over Jon Galkin over at DFA and he said “it’s like H.R. Pufnstuf meets Alejandro Jodorowsky.” I was pretty psyched on that. Some people say that the video has a sexual element to it, but that might just be because sitting around in front of a computer when you want to go outside and do "summer things" will make your work a little weird.

TSM: What are your future plans, mayn?

DP: I just finished up a video for Blood On The Wall for the song “Reunite On Ice” and will probably be working with Eric from Black Dice (and Terrestrial Tones) on a live video instillation piece over the winter. I don’t aspire to be a music video director, but right now, making videos with bands I love is much more interesting than having to sit around on a set with a walkie talkie up your ass staring at the catering table as you wait around all day for some lady to walk in the frame.

TSM: True story.

DP: I think if I showed the "Smiling Off" video to a music video production company, they’d be like, “you are fucking insane!” I don’t think Coldplay are going to be calling me any time soon, but hopefully some dude who is looking to get a little more abstract will be able to be like “if this dude is that crazy, maybe I can dip into something a little weird too.”

INSTRUCTIONS

Click here to watch the exclusive world premiere of Black Dice's "Smiling Off" by Danny Perez. As a word of caution, it will take a few minutes to download because we went top shelf with the Quicktime quality.

Also, it may cause seizures. That's what Danny told me. If you'd like to tell Danny something, you can email him at diptriana@yahoo.com. Dude just got his wisdom teeth pulled, but soon as they heal up, he'll holler back. It might take a sec though, because he's on tour right now.

For a complete list of BD's fall tour dates and more info on the "Smiling Off" singles that will include remixes by the DFA, Luomo and ZZ Pot, check out the DFA website.

Thanks to Danny and DFA for doing what they do and being awesome cats to work with. Thanks to you, good reader, for making it this far.

Comments

[Lurvid]

Dude kind of comes across like a dick.

[LaughingMan]

Fuck I was looking to commission an abstract video for a big artist so I was all excited to come across this, but damn this crap is just garbage plus the guy thinks he's like in the same league as Richard Kelley or Alejandro Jodorowsky or the Kroffts? And why does he talk like Bam Margera? This video isn't so different from this:

http://www.pizazz.info/pizazz.mov

[mysweetbeard]

i love the "who could win a rabbit" video

[Gravity Grave]

It's cool when "artists" who do work for unlistenable wank like Black Dice call people "pretty much worthless". Impressive.

[Seb]

Ooh, I get it, it's Gondry's "Around the World" video crossed with the cover art for the Boredoms' "Chocolate Synthesizer".

Meh. It's been done, both before and better.

[Deniz Yeter]

i dont like the video, it doesnt really go with the song at all

the visuals should have gone better with the sounds, like image changes for beats or whatever

more meshed together i guess between the sound and the visuals

danny's a nice guy though, and black dice is amazing

unlistenable? you probably never listend to one of their songs in entirerty

[ajw]

blarg... this video is awkward... its somehow faux-amateurish

[sakx]

Liked the first part of the video, with all the doubles, triples of the dancers. Very disturbing romper-room vybe. Everything after the "heaven" sequence just couldn't top what had come before.

[gun]

this kind of SUCKS and i'll beat danny's ass in philly BITCH

[myxpltic]

this video it totally a bad faux amateurish - it wants to be all high art - ooh look at me i am an eccentric obscure artist ooh!

double blarg. i couldn't connect to the images in any capacity as everything was abstract - the stilted greenscreen non-performance, the bad after effects stylings with the box clouds, and the way too long loop of action in the beginning. it stopped being interesting after 30 seconds.

i also decided to see that rabbit video - and i really wasn't impressed at all and did not see any connection or originality that gummo and donnie darko had - despite someones claim that danny perez was tapping into that same success of those two films that focused on dark themes and rabbit costumes. the video was actually trite to be honest - and thought itself to be shocking when plenty more can be shocking. if you wanna make successful funny gruesome shocking obscene art films check out paul mccarthy or vito acconci or susan de beer

black dice music was easy on the ears, and i actually kind of liked it. but the visuals fell way far too flat for me.

gondry you are not. jodorwosky you are not. h.r. puffenstuf.... almost.

lol

[peter worger]

oh my god you all fucking suck. you accuse this video of your comments own faults. good job calling it trite, i hate you. and if you didnt even know the music then fuck off this isnt for you because your a pretentious piece of shit who just fell into name-dropping by the end of your comment because you want to impress someone else who likes to complain. gummo was never mentioned, fuck you. FUCK YOU!!!!! the video was hella tight.

[andrew tomasello]

All you cats need to stop being so critical.

Chill out, different strokes for different folks.

I thought the video was pretty neat, and if you want to give it shit cause the video was too abstract than thats ridiculous, black dices music is pretty abstract, so its pretty fitting.

Also, if you wanna give someone a hard time for being productive and honest in an interview, you should stop verbally masturbating on a messageboard instead of doing something productive. I am guilty as well for posting this.

[mr. myxpltic]

hella tight?

lol

[james]

dude definetly seems pretentious.
the beginning was cool. black dice rule.
check nate boyce's eats tapes video for some really trippy work.

[percy yukimoto]

whatever. like i'm going to listen to someone who thinks mccarthy or debeer are worthwhile. way to show off yr knowledge of "hip, contemporary artists". it's cool to know that the subscription to artforum that you got as a graduation present from the art institute of chicago is paying off.

but yeah, i can't knock acconcci, but everyone knows that, so that still doesn't earn you a point, sucka.

danny is a fine fine man. you don't like it? go watch a matthew barney film and jerk off to it.

-hr...

[Shawn]

Forcefield rip off a bit with the costums etc??? i think so

[maria]

Nate has directed two tigerbeat6 videos in the last year. Both pretty similar to dude's:

Soft Pink Truth (right click to DL):
http://www.brainwashed.com/common/video/mpeg/soft_pink_truth-kitchen_lo.mp4

and

Eats Tapes:
http://www.tigerbeat6.com/eats_tapes_pteryd.mov

[davage]

nice interview here. thanks to the source.

i'm a longtime black dice listener plus and artist/musician and i must say, all of the hate posts on this thread are killer. if you don't dig the video, like me, you don't have to dog the creator and the band. why don't people have conversations anymore? they just fucking bitch each other out (is this ironic - am i bitching out bitch outers? perhaps.).

i don't know shit about this guy who did the video. come of a bit pretencious? yeah. oh well. he's probly not as bad as his classmates were at nyu. better luck next time making a video. leave it at that.

as far as dice getting ragged on, i can totally grant the folks that aren't into their sound their repectable opinion. why they're pissing themselves off reading about them...? i don't know. taking cuts at the large talent pool in that band just makes you a jackass to anybody with a good head and a couple ears attached though.

rock on bd and the dude who got this interview. i got to see a bad video as a good counterpoint to all the really cool visuals i've seen from the band.

[davage]

and oh shit, i forgot the only completement i had for this video - it's a big one:

it apparently caused some seizures.

that makes it a redeemable failure to me...

[BLOW]

You guys suck balls .. this is hot shit.. rethink your plans..

[randy bucholz]

i got a boner.
but i watched it fucking.
still gettin stoned,
what up...

[concert artist]

Awsome site !! keep up the good work. really liked it .
check out concert artist Review site, it has music artist review along with dates of concerts in future. James Blunt Review Death Cab For cutie Review ALice cooper Review fiona Apple Review Panic at the Disco Review | Beach Boys Review | Goo Goo dolls Review | Alan Jackson Review | ARctic monkeys Review | Fall out Boy Review | Bob dylan Review | Michael Buble Review | Sheryl Crow Review | Avenged sevenfold Review | Brooks and dunn Review | George Michael Review | Joe satriani Review | Andrea Bocelli Review | Alkaline Trio Review | Kid rock Review | RAscal Flatts Review | All american Rejects Review | Angels and Airwaves Review | Aretha Franklin Review | Barbra streisand Review | Ben Harper Review | Celine Dion Review | George Strait Review | Gretchen wilson Review | James Brown Review | Kelly Clarkson Review | Lynyrd skynyrd Review | Mindless self indulgence Review | Pearl Jam Review | Red Hot chilli pepper tickets Review | THe Fray Review | Alice in Chains Review American Idol Review Anthony Hamilton Review Ashlee Simpson Review Barry Manilow Review Black Eyed Peas Review Brad Paisley Review Dave Matthews Band Review Elton John Review Gavin De Graw Review Godsmack Review Guns N Roses Review | Jimmy Buffett Review Kenny Chesney Review Madonna Review | Ozzfest Tickets Review Radiohead Review | Jon Bon jovi | Depeche Mode
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[james]

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