LA-based studio Actual Objects talks about how they suspended reality in collaboration with electronic musician VTSS.
In the opening scene of VTSS notoriously fast In the music video, a lone motorcyclist speeds around a bend on the edge of a dark forest. As night falls, riders blend into the looming sky above and the asphalt covering the road below. The unknown biker continues his journey, speeding through a swirling green-lit underground tunnel that fades into the background as he picks up speed, clearly eager to reach his destination.
Suddenly, the video turns bright red and cuts to a flashing scene showing a lone, menacing woman shrouded in darkness, then cuts to a deserted, hazy black rock beach. As if from somewhere far away, the lonely woman reappears, as if foreboding. She stands on the rocky shore and waits, looking searchingly across the hazy horizon and watching the waves crash before the tide recedes. And there she is waiting for the biker’s arrival.
Created in the 180 Studios XR space at 180 The Strand, this collaboration with LA-based Actual Objects is one of four new video series by Martyna Maja aka VTSS. The Polish-born artist, based in London and active in the Berlin and London techno scenes, has since emerged from the shadows with moody, pop-inspired anthems that invite listeners to uncover her multifaceted character. invite.
In both the video and full page of this special collaborative feature, Actual Objects co-founders Claire and Rick Fallin combine original footage with AI, CGI, and VFX to blend the natural and digital worlds to create a reality. quickly pause. They destroy illusions. fact We brought together creative pioneers to discuss nostalgia, futurism, and digital/human interfaces.
This feature originally appeared in Fact’s Fall/Winter 2022 issue, which can be purchased here.
CLAIRE MOUCHEMORE: The Countless Actual Objects project draws heavily on sci-fi scenes, supernatural and alien-like beings, and video game motifs, expressed through a combination of nostalgia and futurism.video of notoriously fast Contains similar themes. What inspired the concept for this video?
Claire Fallin: I’ve been concentrating on this book lately. The Home of a Psychopathic Woman: The Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films Kier-La Janisse’s memoir about mentally ill women who appear in horror movies was a great reference. Possession, this is one of our favorite movies of all time. This project was also heavily inspired by the work of Jonathan Glaser. under SkinAnd we really abstracted the story, but we wanted to position Martina as a character similar to the otherworldly women this film follows who tempt men to death.
Rick Fallin: Movies holy motors And the use of something surreal and visceral also tried to bring into the motorcycle scenes by introducing an element of realism that still felt very strange and creepy. We always have a reference that acts as a starting point for a storyline, but it’s usually discarded by the end of the process and becomes something completely different. We try to fill out the story as much as possible until something more subtle remains.
Martina Maja: What is the name of this song? notoriously fast, that was definitely the starting point. The whole process was quick. It was a friendship between the three of us and a quick collaboration that came together in just a few weeks. The video features me riding a bike, so it’s very consistent with the “fast” narrative.
CM: Martina, you used to Bithiosus torus The EP features several different characters “too raw and relatable to be completely fictional.” How did these characters emerge?
MM: Compared to the music I’ve made in the past, I approached this new EP in a more personal way. I never felt like I could reach a level of vulnerability by making beats. Once I started writing and incorporating lyrics, I was able to convey different versions of myself. Some are exaggerated. The other characters I explore throughout this EP reflect how I behave in my normal life, but may not be visible to everyone every day. What I like to see is that I’m sharing a more intense version of myself that other people don’t have. Know or come to expect.
CM: Claire and Rick, how did the task of expressing this idea and visualizing these characters in video break down?
RF: Actually, a lot of the inspiration comes from other videos in the series that are linked to the EP. Because we had looked closely at other videos and were aware of the throughline concept. We’ve been fans of Martina for many years and were familiar with her and her work, so we had a pretty clear idea of how to develop all these different characters.
CF: The original story is subcutaneouslylet’s call her the sea witch [laughs], a sea witch was being chased by bikers while she cleverly lured them towards her and dropped them into the ocean, leaving the bikers to die. We play with the duality of our characters and ultimately reveal that they are all the same humans, invaders, hunters, and sirens, all fighting and living within one person. I wanted to.
CM: Actual Objects videos often combine footage with AI, CGI, and VFX to create different environments. Claire and Rick, how do you combine the natural and digital worlds in this video?
RF: For us, bringing these two worlds together has always been at the heart of our work. Even the name of the studio is “Actual Objects”. The whole idea behind this name is that in many ways, even digital or 3D objects are still technically physical. The metals and rare earths that make up hard drives are inherently natural and physical, and the digital world requires these naturally occurring materials to exist.
CF: 180 Studio has an amazing XR stage, which we used to create preset 3D virtual environments for different parts of the footage. Sometimes we want to break the illusion and remind people how we transform environments or specific spaces by leaving something that shows our process. for example, notoriously fast In the video, the XR stage we used in the studio turned out to be much more realistic than we had imagined, leaving us with shots where Martina and the background were out of sync. It’s clear that she’s not physically and literally riding down the road on her bike. highway tunnel. In the image, I added her AI bits around Martina’s neck to make everything look a little more alive and creepy. This part was done by Case Miller, who is also part of the Actual Objects studio. He’s a genius and has created a lot of cool AI-based work with us.
RF: With this video, we tried to really play with and blur the lines between what’s real, where it’s filmed, and how it’s made. We want people to question where things are happening. “Is this a liminal space?” Is it all CGI? It’s about the push and pull between nature and technology, and how they aren’t always so separate. It’s all rolled into one, and we do that with every project. Most shots in the video have been altered in some way. 180 The Strand There’s also a fully CGI shot created by scanning Martina in a biker outfit, sitting motionless on a bike in the studio. We processed everything with AI to make it look like she was moving. So it’s an AI-processed version of a real bike in a fake setting, with some really crazy interpolation effects that morph and morph the raw footage.
CM: Martina, this EP heralds a new era of a more expansive, genre-less VTSS sound. How has this new direction changed the way you approach music production?
MM: VTSS has always been me, not a project. It’s always me.I named this EP Bithiosus torus This Latin phrase, which also inspired my artist name, is an endless energetic feedback of cause and effect where, by definition, something negative leads to something beautiful and vice versa. It’s a loop. I chose this EP title because I wanted to open the door to who the person behind the name was. I didn’t want to be anonymous anymore and when I was DJing, that was everything. In this new chapter, we invite people to see and experience VTSS characters. After all, the VTSS character is an exaggeration of me and many of my traits. VTSS has accompanied me on my journey and will continue to evolve, just like me. I also have severe ADHD, so I get bored easily and like to keep changing things up.
CM: Your recent accomplishments as VTSS have led you to take a more personal approach to music releases. bitiosus ring For the EP, we shot four music videos visualizing each track. How have you brought yourself forward in this video and the others in the series?
MM: This EP is a chance to finally combine all of my interests. I’m really excited to finally be able to create something deeper and work with visual artists to connect the dots.and Bithiosus torus, I’m giving myself permission to go where I want without fear that every track will sound vastly different from each other. This is the first time I feel like a record really cuts across my many musical interests. Introducing the visual aspect was a very important part of this project. It’s not normal to release four videos for a four-track EP. In fact, it’s completely crazy. It’s been a lot of work, but I’m really excited to be able to show people what VTSS really is. She is grateful to have been able to work with them to realize that vision. Collaborating with so many creators on these four of her videos was a highlight of the project and helped her express herself beyond music.
This feature originally appeared in Fact’s Fall/Winter 2022 issue, which can be purchased here.
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