Walter Ungerer

Digital stills and video footage of a child on a beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, are manipulated and obscured to create a nostalgic atmosphere of remembrances. The Amiga computer has now been replaced by the Macintosh. The editing program is the Media 100.

Abstract contemporary sculptures at a museum, male and female mannequins at a downtown mall, the Venice Beach and Santa Monica Promenades with their various attractions of hawkers, exhibitionists and vendors; these are all the subjects of this film. Added to the collection are a ride on a carousel composed of beautifully restored antique horses, a tram ride to the heights of the Getty Museum, an inner city LA bus ride, and the journey to the Boston airport from Maine. This material is blended together by layering, multiplying and repeating sequences to produce a array of colors, shapes, objects and sounds. that reflect the effects of a brief visit to Los Angeles.

How the universe evolved, and how humans developed are questions that arise with our awareness of life on the planet. There seems always to be much conjecture about it, but no clear answers. Mystery and wonder are pervasive. This film stems from my thoughts about it. As the images I created evolved into continuous sequences, it pursued a direction hitherto unknown by me until it was a film, and finished.

The film begins with abstract images of continuously changing in color, shape and texture. Slowly it reveals the source and real identity of the original subject-matter, and in so doing has transcended the abstract world for reality. Yet, they co-exist. Time lapse video clips form the basis of this work.

Though birds and people appear to have some similar qualities; affection, caring, tolerance, aggressiveness, belligerence, combativeness; in the scheme of things, we are all waiting our turn in the queue.

A man meets a woman at a deserted railroad station somewhere in northern New England. It is the middle of winter; snow is falling. The two drive to a remote farmhouse. Two strange children, who never speak, appear at the window; an old woman calls them away.

The film title is an abbreviation for no comment. With all due respects I find this to be an appropriate description of this film, which is based on abstract drawings, obscure images, and distorted sounds.

Walter Ungerer’s Monarda (2010) has been screening across the country as part of the 2011 Black Maria Film Festival, a traveling program of new experimental cinema. Like much of Ungerer’s work, the 10-minute Monarda explores the mystifying qualities of nature. Beginning with a shot of grass, Ungerer quickly abstracts his images through digital manipulation until they are barely recognizable. Traces of natural forms (leaves, twigs) ground what is an otherwise indescribable procession of images. Though the visuals evade literal synopsizing, there’s a simplicity and concision to the film that allows the viewer to get caught up in their own experience rather than get sidetracked on decoding the filmmaker’s intentions. Monarda instills a feeling of both apprehension and wonder in the viewer. It’s a disquieting film, but one whose subtle craft and atmosphere becomes more impressive over multiple viewings.

Meditations on human destruction composed at land's end.

One of a collection of experimental shorts shot on VHS, miniDV or created in the computer, where the results were edited and manipulated by filmmaker Walter Ungerer with various computer software programs.

Someone attempts to find Oobieland. The realm of artificial sound encountered in the first film (INTRODUCTION TO OOBIELAND) is left behind; there is a terrible silence. The television studio of the second film (UBI EST TERRAM OOBIAE?) is also left behind; big trees and snow populate the visible world in SOLSTICE. Somewhere a boundary is crossed; the viewer is caught up in a cycle of meetings with strange inhabitants of that short space of time we call winter solstice.

The film explores the different shapes and colors of clouds. It probes the space clouds occupy. Through the use of haunting ethereal sounds and ghostlike imagery, the experience of seeing the heavens is interpreted.

The film parallels the short treatise The Awakening of Faith by Asvaghosha which provides a comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahayana Buddhism. That treatise discusses the question of how man can transcend his finite state and participate in the life of the infinite while still remaining in the midst of the phenomenal order.

Walter Ungerer's A Warm Day Comes After A Cold Winter is among a series of experimental films the filmmaker created in the 90s that utilize computer animation and assorted "lo-fi" video artifacts.

The film is an observation of activities in Maine. One Town, Portland is celebrating "First Friday Art Walk" where people go to the museum and art galleries. The second town, Belfast is celebrating the boat launching of three rebuilt sailboats. By using a small digital camera, people are canidly recorded talking and eating at a restaurant, viewing artwork, and just walking about town.

Arthur, a 21 year old American male has been drafted into the army. It is the time of the Viet Nam War. Slowly we are introduced to three sets of characters whose decisions ultimately determine the course of Arthur's resolution to his dilemma, and thus his life. First comes a group of non-Americans. Then a second group consisting of actual friends, family and acquaintances of Arthur the actor. Finally, the third group, a cross-section of Americans: teenie boppers, suburbanites, Green Berets, an artist and a Spanish American War vet. The final solution is brought about by bringing the non-Americans together in an auditorium, showing them all the previously shot footage and asking them to vote on what they think Arthur should do.

Part five, EPILOGUE TO OOBIELAND is a 40 second animation punctuating the entire series much like a period ends a sentence. All together the five parts exhibit an array of techniques in animation, live action theatrical presentation and sound.

In the kitchen of a Vermont farmhouse, four people come to sit around a table. The silence of solstice holds them together. Before a ritualized meal they each tell a story. Their stories are ominous, yet, as in the first OOBIELAND film (INTRODUCTION TO OOBIELAND), they are incomplete. Earlier, the titular mother has passed on her powers to a young woman. At the close of the film, this young woman enters the farmhouse and, with final simplicity, restores the old order.

A daily record of one year at Mount Battie, Maine. It is a record of the seasons, the changing light from dawn to evening, sunrise and sunset; the changing weather from bright sun to overcast skies, fog, rain and snow; and the changing visitors that come by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, car, truck and camper to make a pilgrimage to the mountain vista that overlooks a small harbor on the coast of Maine, the North Atlantic coastal islands, and the expansive Atlantic Ocean.

Using hand-painted film, animation and an inventive soundtrack, INTRODUCTION TO OOBIELAND is an exploration of gateways: a repeated series of movements from the familiar and safe to the unknown and dangerous. Cycles are left incomplete. Chases are never consummated; the day ends with no promise of rebirth. In this way the film touches on our oldest instincts, leaving us saddened and scared by the knowledge of a world that will never know freedom through the completion of action; safety through the sanctification of place.