Ian Helliwell
Encyclopedia
Ian Helliwell is an experimental film
maker based in Brighton
, England
. Entirely self-taught and self-funded, Helliwell has produced over 50 short films on Super 8 mm film
since 1994. His work has been screened at many international avant-garde film festivals, including: the Avanto Festival in Helsinki, Rotterdam Film Festival, Hamburg Short Film Festival, Sónar
in Barcelona, Impakt in Utrecht and Kill Your Timid Notion
in Dundee.
His 2007 26 minute sound piece Expo 67 - a Radiophonic Collage, has been broadcast on radio stations in England, France and USA
Exploring direct animation techniques, Helliwell applies cheap, domestic materials (such as felt-tip marker pen
s, household bleach
, and sandpaper
) to strips of super 8 film which he edits with splicing tape, and then transfers onto mini-dv, via a simple telecine
set-up in his bedroom. During the process (which with Helliwell's improvised equipment, simply involves videotaping the images produced by 1 or 2 Super 8 projectors), the reels of film are superimposed onto one another in a combination of different speeds. The video taped results have a charming, homemade psychedelic
quality, which feel more intimate and personal than the many similar psychedelic reels produced in the 1960s.
Since 2008 he has used a computer for the mastering of his super 8 films, adding a great deal more flexibility to the same basic equipment set-up.
Once the visuals have been produced, Helliwell creates an appropriate soundtrack using electronic musical instruments which he himself has customized in keeping with his own homemade, ramshackle aesthetic.
This range of battery powered devices known as Hellitrons, are simple circuits which can be interlinked for a wide variety of tones and rhythms. During 2007 he designed and built an analogue synth - the Hellisizer 2000 - featuring 5 circuits, lights and patch leads, housed in a modified wooden radio cabinet. The Hellisizer is a live performance instrument and can also be heard on the soundtrack to the Atomium Age and EMS 8 short films.
The most recent Hellisizer - model 3000 (multiplay), was designed and built in 2009 and intended as an instrument for up to 5 participants to play simultaneously, in either installation or live performance mode. Through simple interaction with control knobs, the players can reach a wide variety of different electronic sounds.
Helliwell has created 2 photocell based machines 'The Megatherm' (developed 1995-2000) and the 'H-Op 1' (2004), which both involve the interaction of super-8 film with light sensitive resistors, in order to generate electronic sound.
Ian's audio series The Tone Generation, started in 2008, is an ongoing exploration of early electronic music in the era of magnetic tape and analogue synthesizers. Using his record and CD collection, he has been assembling half hour programmes which look at different composers and themes. The first 10 programmes are a worldwide panorama of electronic music, the subsequent editions look at a specific subject illustrated with sound clips, effects and music. The series is engineered by fellow Brighton electronic music maker Simonsound at his studio on the outskirts of the city.
Practical Electronica is the title of Helliwell's documentary project on the work of musician, inventor, engineer, designer and author FC Judd. While covering the various facets of his career, the film will focus on his experimental sound, and shine a light on an overlooked figure who straddled the amateur and professional worlds of early British electronic music.
Drill Bits (2011, 4`45)
Four Poster (2011, 3`30)
Letraglide (2011, 3`25)
Light Activation Feedback (2010, 6`50)
Light Support Systems (2010, 6`)
Time To Readjust (2010, 3`45)
Expo 67 - An Audio Visual Collage (2010, 21`35)
Slip-Slide (2010, 4`10)
The Motion Controllers (2009, 5`30)
Letratone Leader (2009, 3`35)
Colour Supply (2009, 2`15)
Mobile Home (2009, 3`45)
Through The Miniscope (2009, 4`10)
Lines And Pulses (2008, 4`15)
EMS 8 (2008, 2`45)
Scintillation (2008, 1`40)
Street Lights (2008, 3`55)
Accident & Design (2008, 7`20)
Music, Movies & Machines (2008, 6m)
The Atomium Age (2007, 2`25)
Playing Up (2007, 3`45)
Grid (2007, 2`20)
Signal Tracing (2007, 3`20)
Dash Dot (2006, 55sec)
Rust To Dust (2006, 2`25)
Sun Tower 70 (2006, 3`05)
Get Set (2005, 3`25)
Striations (2005, 4`10)
Deflection Currents (2005, 3`15)
Optical Action (2004, 3`50)
Interpenetration (2004, 3`25)
Compound Eye (2004, 3`10)
Filmosounds (2001–04, 5`05, 16mm/video)
Angel Recovered (2003, 3`15)
Beyond the Light (2003, 3`35)
Cycles Per Second (2003, 3`20)
Crosshatch (2003, 7`25)
Origami (2003, 50sec)
Particle Acceleration (2002, 4`45)
Colour Stream (2002, 4`40)
Orbiting the Atom (2002, 4`50)
Headache (2002, 45sec)
Coloured Light District (2002, 2`10)
Chromaburst (2001, 4`55)
Linear Phases (2001, 1`55)
Return to the Light (2001, 1`55, triple screen)
Patterns of Interference (2000, 3`05)
The Firing Line (2000, 5m)
Art Flies Free (2000, 3`05)
Rectangular Motion (2000, 4`15)
Megatherm Leader (2000, 4m, super-8 & Megatherm instrument)
Red/Blue Electron Guns (1999, 2`50)
Into the Light (1998, 4`55)
Disc Break (1998, 3`25)
All In A Day's Work (1998, 3m)
Catalyst (1997, 1`25)
Crystallization (1997–2000, 3`45)
Crossing the Equator (1997, 2`20)
Our Honeymoon (1997, 1m, std.8)
Holes (1996–present, 10m, std.8 + live Hellisizer soundtrack)
Chromatic Leader (1996, 4m)
The Burning of a Billion Words (1996, 5m)
Ta Baby (1996, 3m)
Protection Leader (1992–95, 2`40)
Rubble Man (1995, 2.5m)
Danger of Death (1994, 6m)
Experimental film
Experimental film or experimental cinema is a type of cinema. Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema. Its origins can be found in European avant-garde movements of the twenties. Experimental cinema has built its history through the texts of theoreticians...
maker based in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Entirely self-taught and self-funded, Helliwell has produced over 50 short films on Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
since 1994. His work has been screened at many international avant-garde film festivals, including: the Avanto Festival in Helsinki, Rotterdam Film Festival, Hamburg Short Film Festival, Sónar
Sónar
Sónar is an annual three-day music festival held in Barcelona, Spain. It is described officially as a festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Music is by far the main aspect of the festival....
in Barcelona, Impakt in Utrecht and Kill Your Timid Notion
Kill Your Timid Notion
KYTN is an experimental arts festival that occurs annually in Dundee, Scotland. It has been based in the DCA venue since its inception in 2003. The festival lasts a weekend and combines left-field musical performances and experimental cinema showcases...
in Dundee.
His 2007 26 minute sound piece Expo 67 - a Radiophonic Collage, has been broadcast on radio stations in England, France and USA
Methods and Aesthetic Style
His work is notable for its low-fi aesthetic, with Helliwell himself doing everything including producing the visuals and the accompanying music. For this reason, he is more of a fine artist than a filmmaker. However, he is as much a part of the Brighton music scene as the contemporary art scene, and his films are sometimes screened at musical events and concerts.Exploring direct animation techniques, Helliwell applies cheap, domestic materials (such as felt-tip marker pen
Marker pen
thumb|MarkerA marker pen, marking pen, felt-tip pen, flow or marker, is a pen which has its own ink-source, and usually a tip made of a porous, pressed fibres; such as felt or nylon.-Permanent marker:...
s, household bleach
Bleach
Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
, and sandpaper
Sandpaper
Sandpaper, also known as glasspaper, is a heavy paper with abrasive material attached to its surface.Sandpaper is part of the "coated abrasives" family of abrasive products. It is used to remove small amounts of material from surfaces, either to make them smoother , to remove a layer of material...
) to strips of super 8 film which he edits with splicing tape, and then transfers onto mini-dv, via a simple telecine
Telecine
Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....
set-up in his bedroom. During the process (which with Helliwell's improvised equipment, simply involves videotaping the images produced by 1 or 2 Super 8 projectors), the reels of film are superimposed onto one another in a combination of different speeds. The video taped results have a charming, homemade psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
quality, which feel more intimate and personal than the many similar psychedelic reels produced in the 1960s.
Since 2008 he has used a computer for the mastering of his super 8 films, adding a great deal more flexibility to the same basic equipment set-up.
Once the visuals have been produced, Helliwell creates an appropriate soundtrack using electronic musical instruments which he himself has customized in keeping with his own homemade, ramshackle aesthetic.
This range of battery powered devices known as Hellitrons, are simple circuits which can be interlinked for a wide variety of tones and rhythms. During 2007 he designed and built an analogue synth - the Hellisizer 2000 - featuring 5 circuits, lights and patch leads, housed in a modified wooden radio cabinet. The Hellisizer is a live performance instrument and can also be heard on the soundtrack to the Atomium Age and EMS 8 short films.
The most recent Hellisizer - model 3000 (multiplay), was designed and built in 2009 and intended as an instrument for up to 5 participants to play simultaneously, in either installation or live performance mode. Through simple interaction with control knobs, the players can reach a wide variety of different electronic sounds.
Helliwell has created 2 photocell based machines 'The Megatherm' (developed 1995-2000) and the 'H-Op 1' (2004), which both involve the interaction of super-8 film with light sensitive resistors, in order to generate electronic sound.
Ian's audio series The Tone Generation, started in 2008, is an ongoing exploration of early electronic music in the era of magnetic tape and analogue synthesizers. Using his record and CD collection, he has been assembling half hour programmes which look at different composers and themes. The first 10 programmes are a worldwide panorama of electronic music, the subsequent editions look at a specific subject illustrated with sound clips, effects and music. The series is engineered by fellow Brighton electronic music maker Simonsound at his studio on the outskirts of the city.
Practical Electronica is the title of Helliwell's documentary project on the work of musician, inventor, engineer, designer and author FC Judd. While covering the various facets of his career, the film will focus on his experimental sound, and shine a light on an overlooked figure who straddled the amateur and professional worlds of early British electronic music.
Selected filmography
Practical Electronica (2011, 60`)Drill Bits (2011, 4`45)
Four Poster (2011, 3`30)
Letraglide (2011, 3`25)
Light Activation Feedback (2010, 6`50)
Light Support Systems (2010, 6`)
Time To Readjust (2010, 3`45)
Expo 67 - An Audio Visual Collage (2010, 21`35)
Slip-Slide (2010, 4`10)
The Motion Controllers (2009, 5`30)
Letratone Leader (2009, 3`35)
Colour Supply (2009, 2`15)
Mobile Home (2009, 3`45)
Through The Miniscope (2009, 4`10)
Lines And Pulses (2008, 4`15)
EMS 8 (2008, 2`45)
Scintillation (2008, 1`40)
Street Lights (2008, 3`55)
Accident & Design (2008, 7`20)
Music, Movies & Machines (2008, 6m)
The Atomium Age (2007, 2`25)
Playing Up (2007, 3`45)
Grid (2007, 2`20)
Signal Tracing (2007, 3`20)
Dash Dot (2006, 55sec)
Rust To Dust (2006, 2`25)
Sun Tower 70 (2006, 3`05)
Get Set (2005, 3`25)
Striations (2005, 4`10)
Deflection Currents (2005, 3`15)
Optical Action (2004, 3`50)
Interpenetration (2004, 3`25)
Compound Eye (2004, 3`10)
Filmosounds (2001–04, 5`05, 16mm/video)
Angel Recovered (2003, 3`15)
Beyond the Light (2003, 3`35)
Cycles Per Second (2003, 3`20)
Crosshatch (2003, 7`25)
Origami (2003, 50sec)
Particle Acceleration (2002, 4`45)
Colour Stream (2002, 4`40)
Orbiting the Atom (2002, 4`50)
Headache (2002, 45sec)
Coloured Light District (2002, 2`10)
Chromaburst (2001, 4`55)
Linear Phases (2001, 1`55)
Return to the Light (2001, 1`55, triple screen)
Patterns of Interference (2000, 3`05)
The Firing Line (2000, 5m)
Art Flies Free (2000, 3`05)
Rectangular Motion (2000, 4`15)
Megatherm Leader (2000, 4m, super-8 & Megatherm instrument)
Red/Blue Electron Guns (1999, 2`50)
Into the Light (1998, 4`55)
Disc Break (1998, 3`25)
All In A Day's Work (1998, 3m)
Catalyst (1997, 1`25)
Crystallization (1997–2000, 3`45)
Crossing the Equator (1997, 2`20)
Our Honeymoon (1997, 1m, std.8)
Holes (1996–present, 10m, std.8 + live Hellisizer soundtrack)
Chromatic Leader (1996, 4m)
The Burning of a Billion Words (1996, 5m)
Ta Baby (1996, 3m)
Protection Leader (1992–95, 2`40)
Rubble Man (1995, 2.5m)
Danger of Death (1994, 6m)