Bill Etra

Movies

Raymond Roussel: The Day of Glory
Self
A tortuous journey, in the company of the Spanish painter Salvador DalĂ­, around the figure of the enigmatic and visionary French poet Raymond Roussel (1877-1933).
How to Scramble The Cosmic Egg's
Director
"A substantial late work by Bill Etra". A "fast version" also exists.
Avalon
Director
Avalon is a real-time animation made to demonstrate the possibilities of Bill Etra's prototype digital video synthesizer that he, at the time, called "The New Machine". Set to Django Reinhardt's "Avalon".
Beach Blanket Armageddon
While performers Frankie and Annette are going new wave and even punk, they find out that the old tunes and attitudes are not completely washed away.
Group Portrait: Six Artists in Video
Self
This is a documentary about video artists Bill & Louise Etra, Woody & Steina Vasulka, and Kit Fitzgerald & John Sanborn.
Ms. Muffet
Director
Computer/ video interface piece by Bill and Louise Etra with Dr. Lou Katz.
Lady of the Lake
Director
Made by Bill and Louise Etra with the Rutt/Etra Video Synthesizer in 1974. "A short piece of Gothic horror."
Narcissicon
Director
A narrative self-discovery theme done in real time in Art Nouveau style.
Abstractions on a Bedsheet
Director
Bill Etra's "Abstractions on a Bedsheet" was made with the Rutt/Etra Video Synthesizer under PDP11-10 computer control. Bill said that the climax took as long as the rest of the piece to compose and program.
Heartbeat
Director
An early work by Bill & Louise Etra, with Peter Crown. Made with biotelemetry equipment and video synthesizer at the TV Lab, WNET, NYC.
Laser Quantum L
Director
An early work by Bill and Louise Etra.
Mars: An Optic Aspic
Director
Set to Holst's Mars, the Bringer of War, Bill Etra's original performance on 9 B&W monitors was shot in real-time on 16mm color film by Woody Vasulka. The 16mm film added some unexpected and welcome color effects that lend themselves to the composition and the choice was made to leave them in.
Street Scenes
Camera Operator
In the late spring of 1970, nationwide protests against the war in Vietnam focused in the Wall Street area of New York City and ultimately in a major anti-war demonstration in Washington, D.C.. A group of New York University film students documented the demonstrations as they happened in both cities. Later, in New York, the massive amount of black and white and color 16mm footage was edited into this important record of the day-by-day events. The extended final scene, shot by Edward Summer in a hotel room in Washington, D.C., is a spontaneous conversation among Martin Scorsese, Harvey Keitel, Jay Cocks and Verna Bloom who, along with a large group of NYU students, found themselves frustrated and perplexed by the events and hopeful that the protests would result in change.
Tales from Beneath the Sheets
Director
Reclined underneath a bedsheet, Louise Etra reads an excerpt from chapter 3 of Legman's "Oragenitalism: Oral Techniques of Gential Excitation". Visual effects done on the Rutt-Etra synthesizer.
Tales from Beneath the Sheets
Reclined underneath a bedsheet, Louise Etra reads an excerpt from chapter 3 of Legman's "Oragenitalism: Oral Techniques of Gential Excitation". Visual effects done on the Rutt-Etra synthesizer.