Andrew Benson

Last year, Peter Burr approached me with an intriguing 

 he was starting for a travelling show, and wanted to know if I would contribute a video. The concept was that a group of video artists would each make 30 second videos about "the Zone" from Tarkovsky's film 

I immediately jumped in and started reading the old Russian science fiction novel. Before I even sat down to watch Stalker, I had a clear view of the visual style and process I'd use, and in fact never bothered to watch the movie (highly recommend it) until after my video was finished. I'm excited to be included in a really fantastic group of artists and what promises to be a pretty great show. For my part, I created a 3D animation with Maya that was exported as a Collada file and then brought into Jitter's jit.gl.model object. In Max, I created particle effects, applied generative and animated textures, and created a number of other special effects using OpenGL geometry.

Still From "Into the Zone" - Andrew Benson

Max-driven live cinema show will be making it's first US stop at the Museum of Moving Images in New York

interview with Peter Burr at the Creators Project

New York media artist Peter Burr presents SPECIAL EFFECT, his newest mash-up of live music, video, and staged theatrics. In this performance, Burr becomes the live ‘presenter’ of an imaginary television show featuring fresh new works from the underground animation label Cartune Xprez. These video segments are all inspired by the Zone, the site of an unnamed cataclysm in Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 sci-fi film Stalker. The Zone is off-limits, forbidding and mysterious; but also pregnant with hope, for deep within the Zone, it is rumoured, there exists a room where wishes may be granted. 
Special Effect includes original video pieces by: 
James Duesing 
Amy Lockhart 
Yoshi Sodeoka 
Billy Grant 
Michael Bell-Smith 
Ola Vasiljeva 
Jacob Ciocci 
Andrew Benson 
Jeff Kriksciun 
Chad VanGaalen 
Philippe Blanchard 
E*Rock 
Luke Painter 
Brandon Blommaert 
Stu Hughes 
Michael Robinson 
Sabrina Ratté 
Brenna Murphy 
 
Original music by Seabat and Lucky Dragons

SPECIAL EFFECT TRAILER

Last year, Peter Burr approached me with an intriguing Kickstarter campaign he was starting for a travelling show, and wanted to know if I would contribute a video.  The concept was that a group of video artists would each make 30 second videos about "the Zone" from Tarkovsky's film Stalker, and/or the book it was based on Roadside Picnic. 

I immediately jumped in and started reading the old Russian science fiction novel.  Before I even sat down to watch Stalker, I had a clear view of the visual style and process I'd use, and in fact never bothered to watch the movie (highly recommend it) until after my video was finished.  I'm excited to be included in a really fantastic group of artists and what promises to be a pretty great show.  For my part, I created a 3D animation with Maya that was exported as a Collada file and then brought into Jitter's jit.gl.model object.  In Max, I created particle effects, applied generative and animated textures, and created a number of other special effects using OpenGL geometry.

This Friday, the touring Max-driven live cinema show will be making it's first US stop at the Museum of Moving Images in New York.  For some more info, check out this interview with Peter Burr at the Creators Project.

Special Effect Brings Live Cinema to the Museum of Moving Images