© Psychotropic Films LLC 2017
Day Residue
Psychotropic Film’s solar-powered Post-Production Studio
made of earth, evolves in Arivaca, Arizona
A studio is a place where ideas are imagined and projects take shape.
Typically a studio is laid-out for efficient tasks, ease of equipment use and
access to practical resources.
However, as the design of my studio has evolved during this building’s
construction over the past ten years, I’ve thought very little about practical
aspects of this ‘space’. Maybe there was a reason for this. What I realize
now as the building has evolved, is that the architecture itself, not
necessarily the utility of the space, will provide the environment for
deliberation, contemplation and timelessness, required to inspire the
creative process for digital film/media projects in development and yet
imagined.
The Arivaca Film Exhibition Achieves 13-Year Mark
When you live in an isolated rural town, you need to create your own
entertainment. Back in 2006, I wanted to create a film event for the
community in order to bring interesting and informative independent
films that have relevance to the area, environment and people.
I wanted to differentiate the Arivaca Film Exhibition from a typical ‘film
festival’ in the sense that I curate the works from what I discover from
area filmmakers to provide unique content, not readily available on TV,
the theaters and even sometimes the Internet.
Held the first weekend each March, the Arivaca Film Exhibition is a
hidden gem.
THE DOME Wins ‘Best of Arizona’ at the 2017 AIFF
Director Adam Ray of Taxman Films and Bart Santello of
Psychotropic Films
teamed-up and collaborated on a doc-u-film
project THE DOME which was completed in March of 2017, just in
time for the Arizona International Film Festival in Tucson this past
April.
THE DOME was well-received at the AIFF and claimed the prize for
the “Best of Arizona” category, with our film depicting the
construction of an earthen studio topped with a cob (straw/clay)
dome. The film has not been published online at this time, but the
‘teaser’ is available for now.
Psychotropic Films
receives Trademark from the United
States Trademark and Patent Office
After a year-long application and review process, Psychotropic Films
was
awarded a Trademark designation in October of 2011. The Service Mark is for..
“…FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION IN THE FIELDS OF MUSIC, DIGITAL
VIDEO AND MOTION PICTURE FILMS, NAMELY, AUDIO, STILL,
PHOTOGRAPHIC AND MOTION PICTURE IMAGES CAPTURED IN
DIGITAL OR ANALOG MEDIA FORMATS; AUDIO/VISUAL
MULTIMEDIA CONSULTING SERVICES IN THE FIELDS OF RECORDING,
EDITING, DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION, AND POST-PRODUCTION, IN
CLASS 4I (U.S. CLS. 1OO, 101AND 107)….”
“Very recent experiences, experiences from the day,
immediately preceding sleep, serve as the basic elements of
dream construction.” -
- David Foulkes
Psychotropic Films has successfully employed
AlgoSoft’s digital restoration software VIVA-PRO for the
restoration of the 1918-film “The Trail To Yesterday”.
VIVA-PRO uses artificial intelligence within complex
mathematical algorithms which pinpoint frame to frame;
artifacts, scratches, color blotches, emulsion damage,
fading and other degraded film anomalies and correct
automatically.
“I didn’t have the experience or resources for traditional
industry restoration software; but found VIVA-PRO a
fresh approach to resoration with an AI algorithm
approach, with ample customization options. The
results were impressive. Importantly, this first-pass i
n the restoration process gave me the confidence that my
preservation effort on the restoration of ‘The Trail
To Yesterday’ a 1918 Metro Pictures release, will be
professionally accomplished.”
- Bart Santello, filmmaker & editor
Psychotropic Films
TM
My growing interest in the restoration and preservation of vintage
media, led me to join The Association of Moving Image Archivists
(AMIA). As a digital filmmaker, I’m also interested in fragments of
filmic-elements which contain unique imagery for re-utilization in a
modern film in order to generate a visual memory of history, events
and people.
“Many of my films to date use historical media and vintage imaging
equipment. Now with the opportunity to restore a studio film from the
early feature-length, silent film era, I’m compelled and motived to
learn more about the technical and artistic aspects of film
restoration.”
- Bart Santello
Psychotropic Films
TM
July 2018
APRIL 2019
Adam Ray of Taxman Films and Bart Santello of
Psychotropic Films are proud to announce that the
‘collaborative’ version of their film - THE DOME has
been selected to screen at the
2019 Arcosanti International Film Carnivale
on Saturday the 27th of April 2019
Details can be found at their website
http://www.arcosantifilmcarnivale.com/arcosanti-
films/
AUGUST 2019 Psychotropic Films
TM
is employing the latest software technology that utilizes artificial
intelligence (AI) to assist in the analysis and repair (restoration) of “The Trail to Yesterday” (1918). The
following presentation by Algosoft-Tech (below) discusses the latest advances in AI and how AI is utilized in
software to locate and correct defects in film. You can see in this presentation at 35:45-min, a featured a
scene from The Trial to Yesterday demonstrating the effect of the Algo-Soft software to assist in the
restoration of film scanned to digital from 104 year old 35mm nitrate film stock.
How Recent AI Breakthroughs Are Transforming Moving Image Restoration
I received a call from Guilio Scalinger who
runs the Arizona International Film
Festival in Tucson that he was looking to
screen one of my shorts as part of the
Screening Room’s 30-anniversary event.
Fortunately, I just completed version 2 of
my film “Intangible” which is the updated
and mastered version of the prototype
version of Intangible that I created in the
2007-2009 timeframe.
This version 2 is presented with the film
elements scanned in HD along new
imagery from additional found film that I
have been collecting over the past 10
years. This allowed me to remove any
material that was weaker ‘artistically’ and
replace with superior imagery from an
imaging standpoint.
The music now uses the final release of
the song ‘Intangible’ from the album of the
same name by AProduce & Loren Nerell,
rather than the work-in-progress version
used in the 2009 prototype of Intangible.
INTANGIBLE (2019) shown at the
30th Anniversary of The Screening Room, Tucson, Arizona
December 2019
March 2020
Announcement: INTANGIBLE has been accepted into the 2020 ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL
FILM FESTIVAL (AIFF) in Tucson, Arizona. Normally held mid-April each year, but due to the
COVID19 virus the event has been moved to October. Psychotropic Films
TM
is looking forward
to presenting this work to both a local and international audience. INTANGIBLE is a film
about memory and decay utilizing found footage from decades old 8mm film.
Information at the AIFF website here: FILMFESTIVALARIZONA.COM