Tony is looking for love, but he’s hiding a sinister secret.
Possibly a video dating agency video FROM HELL.
Devised as a completely anonymous viral video designed to bemuse and mystify an online audience, ‘Video Dating Tape’ is a synthesis of character-lead writing/direction with experiments in obsolete video formats.
Written, directed and wrangled by me, ‘Video Dating Tape’ was shot on Hi-8 tapes and edited in a VCR with circuit-bent electronics disturbing the signals at every step.
Driven by a grassroots publicity campaign using Reddit and other social platforms, ‘Video Dating Tape’ is still a subject of fervent discussion and theorising online and has gained over 250k views through word of mouth alone. It has been included in numerous reaction videos and video essays. In 2018, Thrillist described it as one of the ‘scariest viral videos in Youtube history’.
Set in a fictional 1979 in which Britain has been hit by a surge of paranormal phenomena, this public service information film explains the horrors of the outside world and what to do in the event of an attack.
I wrote, edited, animated, voiced and composed sound design for this 2020 viral film devised as a Lovecraftian parody of Covid-era public service broadcasting, harkening its visuals to the cold-war era ‘Protect and Survive’ films.
This film was my way of reacting to the barage of terrifying public communications at the time - and to practice faithful reproductions of retro aesthetics. It was also a chance to explore my passion for researching old, unusual and esoteric archive films - bringing them to life in unexpected ways.
A sequel to ‘Survive Eldritch Anomalies’ - another Covid-era comedy-horror exploration of archive films and retro aesthetics. Written and edited by me.
An experimental and darkly-humorous take on the dangers of excessive sunbathing, this was a wilfully subversive use of stock footage and archive media, manipulated with VFX and colour grading. Written and edited by me.