Psychotropic Films

Altered States

“MZUNGU” Is loosely defined as 'stranger' in Swahili, is the basis of the film maker's experience and sentiment as he and a small exploratory team in late 2006 navigated through South Africa then Rwanda and Uganda, in search of wildlife and adventure in this experimental film travelogue. I envisioned the structure of MZUNGU to mirror stages of sleep and the corresponding imagery that inhabits the dreaming subconscious mind. Working within this framework, the film is crafted to present visual artistic elements discovered in both raw the footage and audio recordings that documented these locations.

I am excited to present a collaborative effort with Adam Ray: THE DOME, a film made in the remote rural town of Arivaca, Arizona, which showcases in a strange unique perspective, the passion behind the creation of a Cob (straw/clay) structure by an eclectic individual whose diverse interests include solar power, natural building and film making. Synopsis: At the borderlands of Southern Arizona in a remote town called Arivaca, an engineer, builder and solar power enthusiast has been toiling under the desert sun for over 10-years to hand construct an earthen structure that has no equal.

“..It's truly a haunting work. The feelings that constantly swept over me while watching it were of being trapped in a twilight state between existence and non-existence..” - Richard Bone, Musician This work expresses my vision of filming visual opportunities present in an Arizona ghost town. Haunting images of decay; archival footage; the secret life of the sole caretaker and the flight of migratory bats, are inexplicably woven into a mysterious tapestry of storied images unbounded by a sense of time. “..Two images especially haunted me. First the ballerina dancing as the scene cross-fades onto an old piano and secondly, the closing shot where Sundog descends to...where? Back to a waking state, perhaps?..”- Richard Bone, Musician

"..Altered States of Consciousness can be produced by an agent that interferes with normal sensory inputs; motor impulses; emotional tones; or normal cognitive processes.." - Arnold Ludwig

THE DOME (2017)

Day Residue (2007)

The Bats of Ruby is a experimental nature film taken to document the evening flight of a colony of bats that inhabit the abandoned mine shafts in the ghost town of Ruby, Arizona. All the video used in this 10+ minute film was taken by just one departure from the mine shaft caves. Thus the vast quantity of bats that reside and take flight each night is in the hundreds of thousands. Music for this project was provided by ambient-electronic musician John Lyell

Bats of Ruby (2014)

I crafted this experiential film to communicate the experience of a summer monsoon storm encounter one night along the 25-mile length of the Arivaca Road. The drive that night yielded 30-minutes of recoded video that was edited-down to 2-minutes of nature’s fury. Road Storm is a memory of that violent and mesmerizing storm. The sound design I created for the work, came primarily from audio field recordings of the summer monsoon storms in southern Arizona; and also the sounds recorded inside the vehicle during the filming. The combination of the audio layered over the storm imagery creates a powerful sensory dynamic.

MZUNGU (2006-2016) a stranger’s dream in Africa

Day Residue - a psychoanalytic term for a dream related to random yet meaningful events in our day that become the basis for our intricate night-time dreams - for this work, random yet inspired video and media images provided 'day residue' for the creation of this waking dream of present-moment life in the rural Arizona town of Arivaca at the international border with Mexico. Although there was no specific intent in mind as video was captured over several years, the resulting film revealed a juxtaposition of people, places and events in rural Arivaca. Imagery captured and woven into this film provide a subtle glimpse of growing geo-political fear, a drug/military presence and powerful (Orwellian) surveillance technology along the militarized border region. Accompanying the film is a psycho- active electronic score by ambient musician Richard Bone, which provides a lavish soundscape woven throughout this highly textured and stylized digital film experience..

Road Storm (2015) micro-short

Strange Attractor (2007)

Strange Attractor is the only Psychotropic Films that has had a screen- play & story-board associated with its production. Synopsis: A couple’s odd ritual of cooking an onion for each other’s amusement, does not insulate them from mysterious chaotic events that create a distraction. Filmed in mini-DV black & white digital video, then colorized in post-production using a 1985-vintage Commodore Amiga 1000 computer, the resulting ‘retro’ visual texture has roots to the dawn of digital multi-media. In collaboration with ambient/electronic musician Richard Bone, Strange Attractor presents a unique and original short film concept.

The Outskirts of Infinity (2006)

Psychoactive music and soundscapes by electronic-trance-space-ambient musician APRODUCE

(a.k.a. Barry Craig)