2024 Films: Mess Up

Mess Up by Mark G.E.
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Premiere)

Running Time: 3 minutes
Music Video

Sunday Sept 8th, 6:30PM + Awards
Avalon Atmospheric Theater
2473 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53207

TICKETS

The band Xposed 4Heads performs in a dystopian future reflecting on challenging times.

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Director Bio:

At twelve years old, Mark G. E. got his first camera and has been making movies ever since. Tending to work in the short film genre, Mark has always been intrigued by tales of irony. His style is at times romanticized German expressionism (Fritz Lang, Carl Theodore Dreyer) & American noir (Orson Welles), usually coming from a conceptual art approach. To date Mark has made over 300 movies.

Visually, Mark is inspired by films from the twenties and early thirties such as Vampyre, Pandoras Box and Battleship Potemkin, "because they show the strings." His writing interests have always been along the lines of Poe, Gorey, Grimm, Kafka and Serling. Though, much of his taste may be on the dark side, he has always maintained a love of the absurdly witty. His interest in the human condition led him to obtaining a Ph.D. in Psychology.

"I am most intrigued by the strangely beautiful. In works like Dark House, Visual Catalog and The Unfortunate Gift, I have spent the last few years exploring the lyricism in suffering," says Mark, "It seems that through holding close the darkness of the human condition, one can discover the hope that exists therein."

Mark tends to develop an idea based around a technique that intrigues him. For example in The Unfortunate Gift, Mark was interested in creating a film that had the effect of randomly flipping through a book of text and pictures that left impressions of a story, but did not give the complete narrative. Through the use of fifty 8 second human tableaus with text, the viewer is given the pieces of a Victorian Era tale that unfolds into a mystery.

A Visual Catalog of Movement Disorders is part of a complete gallery installation that includes photographs by Theresa Ala Mode, clothing, furniture and personal articles found in estate of Dr. H_. The film was shot on Super 8 and distressed by rolling it around on the floor to interfere with projection. The piece focuses on a series of unfortunate souls who have inexplicable movement disorders. The piece was choreographed by Chicago-based performance artist Joseph Ravens.

As founder of the Joy Farm Performance Troupe, Mark assembled an ever-changing cast that created a monthly comedic television show described as a cross between Monty Python and the Twilight Zone. The show presented 6-8 minute short sketches, performance art and longer mini-movies. The Joy Farm writers worked off of influences such as Preston Sturges and 60's comedy shows mixed with David Lynch.

Director Statement:

I wanted to create a video with dystopian future imagery for a song about trouble in the world. I asked the band to wear white lab coats and black latex gloves. I used an AI art program to create dystopian brutalist backgrounds reflective of a dangerous and depressing world. My son, filmmaker Alexander Eberhage (Who) created the visual effects and edited the project.