Tecnicontrol®

February 2017 –– 

With the robotic projection-mapping project BOX, which was completed in late 2013, Munkowitz played a vital role in imagining how robotics and screen content could be married together in a choreographed piece of art. Countless techniques were learned, and it’s common that when a project finishes a whole grip of new ideas present themselves.

One of those concepts was the exploration of robots wielding large LED Screens instead of projection-mapped canvases. This choreography would be shot with a motion controlled camera to enhance the perspective illusions. Add to that a concept of a ‘Dream Zone’ – essentially an infinite runway of screens and lighting instruments representing the panacea of what lies beyond. Finally setting the entire exercise in a richly crafted living room set and telling the story of a Television abduction, and you have a concept film that satisfies all these curiosities.

The Film

–– 01

The Approach

–– Television Abduction

The goal was to immerse viewers in an infectious, surreal energy of signal transmission, reminding them of the childlike wonder that TV can still evoke through a vibrantly rendered world that manipulates space, light, and sound. Stylistically, they employed numerous light sources to evoke distinct moods that arc alongside the narrative. The first half of the film takes place in an architecturally refined living room, dripping with mood and class. LEDs glow gently from the creases of the room, the edges of the shelves, and the seams of the walls, elevating the atmosphere of the space while still being grounded with a sense of realism.

The TV in front of our character are unusually large, and when it starts to rise off the ground, there’s a tension that ensues, questioning the scale and movement. From there, the opportunity to create the illusion of depth where it doesn’t exist within amazing patterns, vibrant colors, and unexpected animations was paramount. They wanted viewers to feel like they’re witnessing something new with design and automation here, using the language of our patterns (with Moco and LED screens) to create 3D effects, depth, and parallax.

Finally, plunging into the Dream Zone, where a seemingly endless sequence of televisions hover in space, into a TV wonderland; like a portal taking us into a whole new world of television. Laser and Sharpie light volumes compliment the arrangement and pass through the environment with an aggressive nature. In this moment, the music becomes colder, more tightly industrial, like we’re witnessing a rebirth of transmission dualities. The camera pulls out of the Dream Zone and witnesses the Television finally enchanting and consuming our character in a poignant finale – Tecnicontrol® had its way as she plunges into the Televisions, lost forever.