better days video
when were the happiest times? can we put a year on it? are fuzzy fond memories & feelings used to shape society's future? can we get a handle on them, see the truth?
better days attempts to awaken our collective nostalgia, confuse our memory, and shake us into the present moment, with the goal of inspiring positive action.
and so here's 15 years of video and 35mm street photography condensed into a two minute music video, in a sort of hyperspeed ken burns style. 😆 of course. it's all lived experience while on tour, observations from the road, and travails of daily life.
analog video is an important part of the composition. old crt monitors immediately anchor that sense of nostalgia, & digital capture offers a clarity not seen in the old days, furthering the confusion. realtime glitch with the video synth, wild chaotic, barely controllable, definitely not repeatable.
the beauty of natural textures is a third actor. by combining high resolution digital capture with the old displays, we can see every grain of distortion clearly, a thing that was not possible until recently. click that 4k setting. when you zoom into the high-res of the low-res, you see there's a different fractal resolution waiting. the intent is to let the inherent beauty and wonder of the natural world shine through in a way which is immediately obvious to all, and creates an analog to memories themselves.
though many of the settings are stark and industrial, they are interwoven with tender moments with animals and nature, live concerts and meaningful moments between friends. throughout the film's progression we see the interplay between control and chaos, beauty always seeping through the cracks. it reminds us that we have some control over what we build, but we're only guests here in the cosmos, and that we must collectively work together for a better world.