"...whacked! LOVE the sounds..." - Giuseppe Andrews, actor/directorADAM COOLEY (DIRECTOR)
"...whacked! LOVE the sounds..." - Giuseppe Andrews, actor/director"Graveyard of the manyard mangrave, I want to smoke orange juice at the pants rave. I like to show [Adam Cooley's] stuff to people to freak them out." - Aaron Funk/Venetian Snares, musician
"Sexy. I love it. I love to support the original." - Sasha Grey, adult entertainer
Hello. This is the page for me, the "underground" "no-budget" "director" Adam Cooley. I make concoctions that introduce the concept of formless paradigm shifts while dabbling largely in phallocentrism and represesed dogmatic schemata. My films are largely made with no script, with literally $0, and have been screened at a few film festivals, to overwhelmingly positive reviews. I work largely by myself (with a few occasional and frequent collaborators), with extremely primitive means. On this page you will find downloads and information for my films!
Feel free to copy my stuff and distribute in any way you see fit; put on your site, put on torrents, burn for friends, have screenings for, etc. I would gladly accept donations and will point you in the direction of obtaining "actual" copies of my films for a small fee if you will just email me.
Add me on vimeo, add me on youtube, add me on myspace, download my stuff on archive.org, talk about me on the IMDB!
One episode is a bonafide internet hit, but only because it has a cat playing keyboard. That episode in particular was a joke, called filler, that was about HOW the episode was going to be popular because there was a cat playing keyboard. And, sure enough, it was. The lesson to be learned is that you can easily be popular as long as you are obvious and safe. Which is sorta an obvious and safe point to make.
This was officially released on DVD in 2009 by Strange Vistas, in a limited-run release that will be worth shitloads of money one day. There exists a "Graveyard Man" Dancing Kitties video that is only available on the DVD, that features the entire cast with their faces ripped off and put on synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing. Synthy kitties dancing.
This is a fun animated series, completely different than the last few things I've done, and it shouldn't be taken too seriously. Usual doses of absurdity, surrealism, and more. You know the deal. The show is primarily about a pot-smoking superhero deer but it's not a pro-drug show (or an anti-drug show, for that matter), the show is about existentialism, politics, surfing, and being ridiculous. This is the most fun I've ever had working on a project, and it breaks the 4th wall every few seconds.
A bit more fun than the stuff I usually do, but with a quiet and subtle darkness underneath as usual. I think the main idea behind this project was to create something completely different than what I would usually make -- and, perhaps, to test the audience, in a way. What exactly, or why exactly, does an audience want in a show about a pot smoking deer?
This thing has really divided up my fanbase, some thinking it's brilliant, some thinking it's pointless. I won't deny that some people will probably only like this little series and probably hate the rest of my stuff, but there is definitely a link between this and all my creations. It's not wildly different -- though it is a bit less experimental, it's just as wacked however. Still, I am a person who likes Mean Girls and Dog Star Man as much as each other. I think a lot of experimental directors can learn from mainstream films, and vice-versa. So, yeah... Will probably continue this in the future. Will be playing at the 8th Annual Noise! Festival in Canada, with all episodes connected.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:
I write, direct, produce, animate, edit, shoot, score, light, and act in all my work so far, with a few occasional collaborators (mainly UUUUUU and SeaMonster3D). I started making films in May of 2009. I work extremely quickly and don't stop to really edit myself. I am completely self-taught, and use primitive means to achieve my goals, with films usually being edited with MSPaint, and with Windows Movie Maker to put it all together. I also mostly edit sounds in Sound Recorder. The digital camera I'm using to film with is a $24 Jazz DV151, a primitive kid's camera. Most sound is recorded with the camera mic; overdubs are done with a 10-year-old computer mic. Final editing is done in VirtualDub, a 1mb freeware program not usually used for film editing. So far, I have not spent a single dollar on making anything I have made, unless you count the electricity I'm using to edit this stuff on a computer. Almost everything that would require money has been borrowed. If I can't borrow it, I just don't use it. Also, there are mistakes galore (sounds not syncing up correctly, scenes cutting off at the wrong time and then starting later), but I usually don't stop to fix them or think about them really. The films are rough, honest portraits of my reality. I often use reverse and sped-up footage, usually don't show anything more than is necessary to get information across, and everything is jumpy and skippy, since frames are constantly being removed. The films are usually short but packed with lots of stuff to take in, perfect for repeat viewings. I am constantly trying new things; I realize that not all experiments will be "successful" but there's no such thing as a failed experiment if we learn something from the experiment. By viewing my films, you will see someone who is constantly trying new things in an age where everything has been done. That's important, I guess. Oh, I am constantly sampling videos and music as well; I have use thousands and thousands of little microsamples. I am making films to explore new sides of myself, and art. My influences are Takeshi Kitano, Giuseppe Andrews, Damon Packard, Shuji Terayama, Shozin Fukui, Sogo Ishii, Shinya Tsukamoto, Jon Jost, Jean-Luc Godard, James Fotopolous, and Toshio Matsumoto. I also make music fulltime with my bands Scissor Shock and Robe.. If you'd like a CD of that stuff, email me. Finally, here is an interview with me about my films.
DIRECTED BY ADAM COOLEY:animated>>>>>>>>>>>
- MAN OF THE GRAVEYARD MAN (2009, 10 episodes, 36:13)
This was my "animated" series about a guy who was a former folk singer who retreated to the graveyard in his mind. Most of the animation is just still drawings of me or people I know, and there's a few live-action (done with a webcam) segments as well. Very off-the-cuff stuff, very weird, with no thought put into it, but I tried not to make anything about it cliché. That was the big thing... throw out anything that was too obvious. I mean, it's easy to throw random weirdness at the screen, you know? But it's difficult to make any of it make "sense". I guess I wanted this to make sense. Does it? I dunno. I did the entire series in 3 weeks, usually spending about an hour or two per episode.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10
- BLAZE THE POT SMOKING DEER [SERIES 1] (2009, 21:55)
This series was made with my friend Sea Monster, who supplied most of the art and some of the story ideas. He said that if you want to contact him, for original art, he will charge a very REASONABLE price, contact him here. Samples of his shit are here. We set up a youtube account for it here and a myspace account here.
Episode 0
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Download:
127mb Avi
video>>>>>>>>>>>
THE NO TRILOGY:
The No Trilogy is a series of films I did in the Summer of 2009 to the Fall of 2009. They are intensely personal films and are meant to be viewed one after the other, if possible. They deal with disconnection, disintegration, disorder -- in that order. Here is a trailer for the entire trilogy. This was released on DVD by Placenta Records in December of 2009.
I've been told that this is one psychotic work. I do know that I've personally watched it myself a few times and I still see things I don't remember filming. This film is very rough around the edges, as I had no idea what I was doing, of course. Never read a manual. It was just a learning experience, but I think it was important, even in its roughness, to release this film, as is, to show the art of learning. It has an energy to it that is unexplainable and very appealing or annoying, depending on how you look at it. A very lonely quality is present in this film, probably because I was housewatching by myself and working on this film just to pass the time. I was alone for over a week straight, just working on this movie. Probably should be in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the cheapest film to ever screen at film festivals (including Tromadance Indiana 2009 -- where it was voted as one of the top 3 films of the festival -- and at the Westside Welding and Machine in Vancouver, WA and will be screening in some other places soon, supposedly). Features a Charlie Chaplin cameo.
- NO TRILOGY PART 1: CAN'T OR WON'T NOT (2009, 42:03)
This film was filmed in 7 days. Sickeningly vibrant and oversaturated colors. Had no idea how to make a film, just knew I had to make one. Good thing for everyone -- hah -- that I ended up enjoying the art of filmmaking, and decided to continue! Since I had no clear idea how to do anything, or what to do, I simply took some pictures the first two days of "shooting" that I found interesting, and incorporated some people I work with in videos from the 2-minute-video capturing part of a crappy borrowed camera. I then made a "story" around the pictures I took and videos I shot, and I spent the next 5 days doing some stop-motion, drawing things, and shooting stuff with a webcam, and each day represents a 'part' in the film.
- NO TRILOGY PART 2: NOTHING IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN NOTHING (2009, 48:46)
The day of finishing Can't or Won't Not, my girlfriend of 7 years told me she was moving away. She had cheated on me, which came as a huge shock, and completely out of nowhere. To cope with the sudden end of a long-term relationship, I went to work on my next film. I shot some scenes with her; the bulk of the film is a large bunch of shorts I made which weren't really connected, except I worked on them all from the time knowing she was going to be leaving to the day she actually left, over the course of 2 months. The idea is that there might not be continuity between the shorts, but there is quite a lot of the same themes and ideas explored in all of them. I started the film the day she told me she was going to leave and did everything in it until the day she left, when I called the film "finished". It's rough, but it was important to release it as is, because it is an interesting collage/scrapbook/essay of a disintegrating relationship. This has been submitted to Tromadance. Features Michael Jackson and Alfred Hitchcock cameos.
Stream the film, in 6 parts: pt1
- NO TRILOGY PART 3: NO REASON TO EXIST (2009, 45:45)
This film is about the struggle to love yourself, even after you realize that there's really no reason to exist. The title of the film is a play on words -- it's me saying, "hey! There's no reason for this film to exist, either!" I mean, does the world really need another grainy, black and white, no-budget, experimental film? Maybe not. I gurantee you've never seen anything like this, though. It has been my most well-recieved work. I actually designed my own video game specifically for a 10 second dream sequence in this film. A lot of imagination and creativity was involved in the creation of this film, and it felt like an effortless brain vomit, since I did the entire thing in a breezy, easy 2 weeks time. Most of the film is actually conversations (mostly with myself in a mask), and most of the footage was shot at around 3 AM every night and then edited in the day time. This film was made the day NOTHING... was finished, and I think I made it, again, to cope with my ex leaving me, as lame as it sounds. This film is pretty messed up, as I was messed up while making it. Features a cameo from John Wayne.
Stream the film, in 6 parts:
pt1
pt2
pt3
pt4
pt5
pt6
Download the film:
304mb avi direct link
archive.org page
Stream in 7 parts:
Download: Blurry, pixelated, alien, cluttered, uncultured, blown-out, rough, ugly. After this film, I had decided to adopt a new, more static approach to my films. Accepted to the first annual videoart.net film festival. Stream: Download:
Also, there is a lot more concern with nature and beauty, and the visuals are definitely upgraded quite a bit (still pretty lo-fi, but not drowning in digital muck like the previous films). Making baby steps towards a new direction for my cinematic no-fi art, I guess.
Anyway, this no-budget experimental film is all about no-budget experimental filmmaking. I am creating a film and no one will work with me. So, I create a film anyway. The film eventually turns into an absurd recreation of real-life events, until eventually becoming a straight-up documentary.
Musical numbers, dinosaurs, smashed guitars, time-lapsed footage of wounds healing and snow melting, a long bowling sequence, weird animation, and more. By far the best reviews of my career, with some people labeling me as a genius and a god, and a ton more people saying that it was amongst the best, if not THE BEST, experimental creations ever made.
That still doesn't translate into me being successful, or me making any money, or anything, but that's fine by me. Enjoy!
Stream in 5 parts:
Download: 
- ME, MYSELF, AND MY THIRD EYE (2010, 55:11)
And, suddenly, a change. Extremely desaturated. 4 stories. President's wife artificial insemination sperm contamination, electrical wall socket romance, Statue of Liberty costume searching for kitty, classic rock riff acapella songs in a quest to soil the good name of a rapist father. Mixing animation and live action. Tons of stop motion and split screen. Looks and feels like no other movie before it, and probably no other movie that will come out afterwards. A revelation! A black comedy! It's a riot! It's absurd! It's surreal! I could write about it all day, but who not look up reviews for it instead? It's an award-winning hit! It's impressively no-fi! It is aimless and paper bag cat wanders through a deserted house FOREVER, transcending space and time itself apparently. Aren't you excited?! Boy, I sure know I am! Perhaps it's a tragic character flaw, to be excited by the idea of something. Perhaps I should get more into the actual feeling of a work. The actual character. The actual communication. Our bodies are constantly changing. Every 7 years.
pt1
pt2
pt3
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pt5
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pt7
330mb avi
- MIRRORS FACING MIRRORS (2010, 7:02)
A film entirely in reverse, except for the dialogue, which is spoken forwards, but the last sentence in a paragraph is heard first. A guy who enjoys necrophilia meets a girl who embalms dead bodies. They fall in love. In reverse. And so on. Entirely conceived, filmed, and edited in about 5 hours, and then put out there, returning myself to the more fun and rough earlier films, instead of the more composed stuff I'd been doing. Shot on 3 cameras in one long take, constantly cutting back and forth. Fun stuff.
yeah
44mb avi
- CURRENTLY UNTITLED (2010, 42:14)
To coincide with a year's worth of filmmaking, this film was created both as a summary of the previous year, and as an end of an era, of sorts. There are a few references to films I'd made in the past, but the majority of the film is concerned with telling stories in a new way. Instead of the shakey camera I'd used for previous movies, the camera is mostly just a static observer.
pt1
pt2
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508mb avi
- Other works/collabs
Also, please check out Strange Vistas, who I contribute videos for.
This page will look better, maybe, eventually.
FEEL FREE TO DISTRIBUTE MY WORK IN ANY WAY YOU SEE FIT. YOU CAN PAYPAL ME DONATIONS TO THE SAME ADDRESS AS I GIVE ABOVE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP, WHICH WOULD BE APPRECIATED BUT I HIGHLY DOUBT ANYONE CARES THAT MUCH. THANKS FOR LOOKING AT THIS PAGE, AND THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT.
Random collection of Reviews. This isn't the bottom of the page.
