Connect four on the dance floor: Light, liquid, shape and colour locked into a pixel playground.
This is the film festival version of a commission for British dance duo Basement Jaxx. During their concerts, the film was shown on a 7 x 2 meter LED screen behind the band. The concept of the film is based on the grid structure of the screen itself. The LED screen is made up of 60 square panels, four rows of 15. Each of the blocks that make up the screen becomes a tile in the overall picture, a pixel in the construction of the visual narrative.
- 5th Prize - Animation Category, Ginosa Film Festival, Ginosa, Italy, 2012
- Best Animated Music Film, Animafrik, Accra, Ghana, 2011
- Diploma, Golden Diana International Film Festival, Austria, 2011
SCREENINGS 2013-2020
- AV Experimental II (Online Edition), presented by Analog Room and Goethe-Institut, Dubai, UAE, 2 Jul 2020 (curated by Gabriel Soucheyre / Videoformes)
- Taichung International Animation Festival, Taichung, Taiwan, 11-20 Oct 2019 (Director in Focus 2)
- Filmfest Dresden International Short Film Festival, Dresden, Germany, 4-9 Apr 2017 (Animated: Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Sonar Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1 Apr 2017 (Max Hattler - Sonar+D)
- Hongik University, Seoul, Korea, 19 May 2015 (lecture)
- Monstra Animated Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, 17 Mar 2015 (masterclass)
- School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, 12 Jan 2015 (lecture)
- University of the West of England, Bristol, UK, 3 Dec 2014 (lecture)
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 19 Nov 2014 (lecture)
- CalArts, Valencia, California, USA, 17 Nov 2014 (lecture)
- Norwich University of the Arts, Norwich, UK, 7 Nov 2014 (lecture)
- London College of Communication, London, UK, 30 Oct 2014 (lecture)
- National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, UK, 29 Sep 2014 (lecture)
- Fest Anca, Zilina, Slovakia, 18-22 Jun 2014 (Profile: Max Hattler)
- KASKcinema, Ghent, Belgium, 20 Feb 2014 (lecture)
- Sint Lucas Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium, 19 Feb 2014 (lecture)
- Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Middlesbrough, UK, 12 Feb 2014 (Max Hattler masterclass organized by Animate Projects as part of Animex)
- Nozstock Festival, Bromyard, Herefordshire, Fri 26 Jul 2013 (Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Schaustelle, Munich, Germany, 15+16 Jun 2013 (Max Hattler: Selected Works)
- AniFest, Teplice, Czech Republic, 27 Apr 2013 (lecture)
- Frenz: Art in April, Strongroom, London, UK, 17 Apr 2013 (screening/talk)
- Exploring Your Future, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK, 13 Feb 2013 (lecture)
2011-2012
- HEAD - Geneva University of Art and Design, Switzerland, 22 Nov 2012 (artist talk)
- Ginosa Film Festival, Ginosa, Italy, 21 Nov 2012
- Petersburg Computer Animation Studio, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2 Nov 2012 (presentation at Theories of Modern Animation seminar, hosted by Konstantin Bronzit)
- The Factory, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, UK, 27 Aug 2012 (lecture)
- Max Hattler Presents..., Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, UK, 23 Aug 2012
- Lago Film Fest, Revine Lago, Italy, 20-28 Jul 2012 (Max Hattler retrospective)
- Golden Kuker Animation Festival, Sofia, Bulgaria, 12 Jun 2012 (Max Hattler Panorama)
- ISFF Detmold, Germany, 8 Jun (Zwischenbilanz: Max Hattler Retrospective)
- Go Short, Nijmegen, Holland, 18 Mar 2012 (Max Hattler Special Screening)
- Exposures Festival, Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK, 22 Feb 2012 (Music, Video, Art?)
- Max Hattler Special Screening, Off and Free Film Festival, Seoul, Korea, 17-23 Nov 2011
- Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em, Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin, 5 Nov 2011 - 15 Jan 2012 (group show)
- Animafrik - African Animation Festival, Accra, Ghana, 25-28 Oct 2011
- Mestre Film Fest, Venice, Italy, 15 Oct 2011
- Animatou, Geneva, Switzerland, 1-9 Oct 2011
- CAMP Festival for Visual Music, ZKM/HfG, Karlsruhe, Germany, 22 Sep 2011
- New Screen New-Castle, Newcastle, UK, Sat 10 Sep 2011
- Golden Diana International Film Festival, Klopeiner See, Austria, Aug 2011
- International Kansk Video Festival, Kansk, Siberia, Russia, 19-27 Aug 2011
- C the Film, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh, UK, 4-30 Aug 2011
- NOVA Contemporary Culture, EAV, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 20 Apr 2011
- Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, 29 Mar 2011
- Middlesex University, London, 28 Mar 2011
- Max Hattler: Audiovisual Abstractions, AA School of Architecture, London, 14 Mar 2011
- Max Hattler Masterclass, Anima Festival, Brussels, Belgium, 11 Mar 2011
- University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK, 7 Mar 2011
- Byron Bay Film Festival, Australia, 4-13 Mar 2011
- University of East London, London, 8 Feb 2011
- Best of Golden Kuker 2010, Sofia, Bulgaria, January 2011
- Structuring Strategies: Max Hattler, CalArts, Valencia, California, USA, 25 Jan 2011
- Sound & Stories Amplified: Max Hattler & Jonas Odell, Solothurn Film Festival, 22 Jan 2011
- Max Hattler FOCAL masterclass, Solothurn, Switzerland, 21 Jan 2011
- Rythmetic Int'l Experimental Animated Film Festival, Bègles, France, 20-23 Jan 2011
- Max Hattler: Relations & Abstrations (curated by Klaus W. Eisenlohr), Directors Lounge, Berlin, 8 Jan 2011
2010
- MGFest: Motion Graphics Festival, 30 venues across USA, incl. Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington DC
- Videomedeja Festival, Novi Sad, Serbia, 17-19 Dec
- Animae Caribe, Port of Spain, Trinidad, 25-27 Nov
- Animanima International Animation Festival, Cacak, Serbia, 17-20 Nov
- Met Film School, Ealing Studios, London, UK, 15 Nov
- Exground Filmfest, Wiesbaden, Germany, 12-21 Nov
- Kinofest, Bucharest, Romania, 3-7 Nov
- Linoleum Festival, Moscow, Russia, 28-31 Oct
- International Animation Film Festival Golden Kuker, Sofia, Bulgaria, 13-17 Oct
- Goethe-Institut, Ankara, Turkey, 13 Oct
- Presentation of Abstract Animation, Cultural Centre, Myslowice, Poland, 24 Sep
- MUMIA, Brazil, Betim & Nova Lima, 6-12 Sep; Belo Horizonte, 13-19 Sep
- Gürtel Nightwalk, Vienna, Austria, 28 Aug
- Abstracta, Rome, Italy, 26 Aug
- Melbourne International Animation Festival, Melbourne, Australia, 21-27 Jun
- Lightbox Animation Festival, Sligo, Ireland, 19-20 Jun
- Videofestival, Bochum, Germany, 10-12 Jun
- International Short Film Festival Detmold, Detmold, Germany, 9-13 Jun
- Max Hattler Director's Talk, Ursula Blickle Videolounge, Vienna, Austria, 31 May
- Leiden International Short Film Festival, Leiden, Holland, 28-30 May
- Vienna Independent Shorts, Vienna, Austria, 27 May - 2 Jun
- Fastnet Short Film Festival, Schull, West Cork, Ireland, 27-30 May
- WIZ-ART Festival, Lviv, Ukraine, 20-23 May
- Athens Video Art Festival, Athens, Greece, 7-9 May
- Jornada de Comunicación, Universidad Marista, Mexico City, 30 Apr
- Habitacion del Ruido, Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, Mexico City, 28 Apr
- Videomedeja on Tour at Rex Cinema, Belgrade, Serbia, 23 Apr
- European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany, 21-25 Apr
- Ferienakademie 2010, Kloster Roggenburg, Germany, 6 Apr
- Flatpack Festival, Birmingham, UK, 27 Mar
- University of Westminster, London, UK, 8 Mar
- BYDESIGN 10, Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, USA, 5-11 Mar
- Kunst ist Versuchung, Kloster Roggenburg, Germany, 24 Feb - 6 Jun
- Ravensbourne College of Design, London, UK, 17 Feb
- 6th Berlin International Directors Lounge, Berlin, 14 Feb
- London Short Film Festival, London, UK, 8-17 Jan
2009
- Videomedeja, Museum of Contemporary Art, Novi Sad, Serbia, 11-13 Dec
- Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK, 7 Dec
- Ravensbourne College of Design, London, UK, 20 Nov
- Fredrikstad Animation Festival, Norway, 14 Nov
- DOK Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, 26 Oct - 1 Nov
- Premio Simona Gesmundo, Italy, 26-28 Oct
- Tindirindis Int'l Animation Film Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania, 21-25 Oct
- Optica Festival, Madrid, Spain, 16 Oct
- Curtocircuito Festival, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 10-17 Oct
- Darklight Festival, Dublin, Ireland, 8-11 Oct
- Branchage Film Festival, Jersey, Channel Islands, 3 Oct
- ArtsFest, Wellington College, Berkshire, UK, 23 Jun
- Acting for Animation Symposium, Volda University College, Volda, Norway, 7 May
"... an arena abstraction for Basement Jaxx ... Old school video games and '80s video walls inspired Max Hattler's visuals for Where's Your Head At ... Rather than treat the display as one fluid screen, he took advantage of the grid's '80s video wall look and designed flat, two-dimensional visuals that resemble old school video games such as Tetris." 'boards
"phenomenal ... an electric arcade of crazy kinetics." Animation Show
"awesome visuals" Creamfields.com
"distinctive" Televisual
"Hattler keeps things ambient and kinetic, a wise choice." Video Static
"Ein Raster aus gleich großen Quadern, die passend zu den Beats beleuchtet oder animiert werden. Durch die zumeist zweidimensionale Optik entsteht ein typischer 80er-Jahre-Look, der von Analogien zu frühen Computerspielen noch unterstrichen wird." Vienna Independent Shorts
"Für die aktuelle Tour des britischen Danceprojekts Basement Jaxx hat VJ-Künstler Max Hattler unübersehbar alte Videospiele als Referenz für seine LED-Visuals hergenommen." PAGE
"ein wahrhaftig visueller Augenschmaus ... darf nicht ungesehen bleiben." Electru
"madness ... we love it, it looks great!"
CREDITS
Director, Producer: Max Hattler
Animation: Max Hattler, Milad Firoozian (3D), Noriko Okaku, Rodrigo Vives, Papaya Gonzales
Music: Basement Jaxx
Commissioned by: Basement Jaxx / Punk Garage Ltd.
Available formats: HD, Beta SP, DVD
Orig. size: 7x2 m LED screen / 1080x288 px / 15:4
Length: 5’55”
Year: 2009