Receptor/Transmitter (1 min)

Inspired by Whirlers and mad beats. Drawn on my mobile using Animation Creator (great app, but it was painful) & messed-around-in in Sony Vegas. Music by Scorn: Greetings From Birmingham (I don't have any rights to the music, just a big fan).

X (film short)

X from Karl Armen {A||K! PRODS} on Vimeo.

A man rides his bicycle upside down… Or, is he right and the world is not?... I made this film in Nosvaj & Eger (Hungary), summer 2012. It was produced as part of the Slow Film Workshop run by Csaba Bollók and a great crew of filmmakers and tutors. I shot it with an Olympus ep-3 in combination with Bolex and traditional Olympus lenses. My fondest memories are making friends with my European and Turkish counterparts, drinking spritzers (I think I overdid it), watching people backflip on a trampoline (penalty for losing at a game of darts) and helping refine the Anglo-Hungarian pidgin language! https://www.facebook.com/XFilmShort

-Winner: 'Best Film' award at Slow Film Workshop 2012 -Screening: CineMAiubit 2012, Romania, Animation / Experimental Competition -Shortlisted: Fantasia International Film Festival 2013, Quebecois short film competition -Shortlisted: Golden Apricot International Film Festival 2013

WireTap: Hyper-Quench

This short animation was for a contest held by WireTap, a darn funny CBC radio show. I think the folks there liked it (they featured it on their blog), though I didn't win. I was actually unqualified to participate in the first place since a family member of mine works there (should have known better!). At any rate, I loved animating in this style to the dialogue provided by WireTap. The goal for me was to try out different ideas quickly and see which are giving the freshest feel to the super inventive dialogue. In this sense, I think more traditional, pre-planned animation methods and representations would not have worked to my advantage. That being said, there were some pretty inventive drawn animation submissions. In fact I think this one was the best submission I saw.

Electric Armenia

Electric Armenia from Karl Armen on Vimeo.

I have returned from Armenia 3 months ago after a year and a half of living, working and doing volunteer work there. I was shooting footage roughly on a weekly basis, trying not to miss out on key and everyday happenings that were occurring around me. I loved being in Armenia, it became a second home to me.

I shot with an aim to make a fiction movie but did not know what form or structure it would have. The country being ancient but also in post-soviet reconstruction, I knew that the movie had to include both symbols of old and new. So when I shot, I kept in my mind to record- when apt and possible- old and new elements using the same camera moves, so that I can juxtapose them smoothly during editing.

Sync Test

Sync Test from Karl Armen on Vimeo.

My friend John Mavreas, master artist and illustrator gave me a Sound Fx tape a couple of years ago. Excitedly he said "Armen, you can use this for your films!". John loves cassettes and so do I. What I love more are sound effects. My sister and I used to record ghost fx and play them back on a hidden stereo to scare our 5 year old brother when we were kids. Sound fx will trigger your imagination, if you let them.