Alex Rutterford, 33, directed Autechre’s Gantz Graf. He works in West Hampstead, London
How did the idea for Gantz Graf come about?
I’d been chatting to Shaun and Rob [from Autechre] for years about this idea of interacting sound with some kind of abstract shape. Without sounding like a druggy, they were the images I saw in my head while I was on acid a long time ago.
It’s incredibly detailed – how long did it take?
It took me about a month to work out a technique just to animate one little thing in particular. Months and months. I used the LightWave program, a 3D animation application. An architectural student in Italy is writing a thesis on it. He wanted to know the most detailed aspects of it – it’s a bit mad really.
Why has Warp been so successful with its videos?
They have an aura and a mystique and a bit of an attitude which is quite rare these days. You just see more and more videos that are commonplace and banal. I cannot stand the pop trash fodder, it’s so formulaic. You have to work five times as hard to get something special. Some people expect a video that looks like bloody George Lucas has directed it.
How obsessive are you?
I’m a lunatic. One of the things I’m working on at the moment – it’s very sculptural – is going to take about a year to do.
Interesting. Last time I read something about this amazing video, it was that Rutterford hand crafted and keyframed most of the video to go exactly with the music. Quite a feat I’d say. I still love this video.
Alex Rutterford, 33, directed Autechre’s Gantz Graf. He works in West Hampstead, London
How did the idea for Gantz Graf come about?
I’d been chatting to Shaun and Rob [from Autechre] for years about this idea of interacting sound with some kind of abstract shape. Without sounding like a druggy, they were the images I saw in my head while I was on acid a long time ago.
It’s incredibly detailed – how long did it take?
It took me about a month to work out a technique just to animate one little thing in particular. Months and months. I used the LightWave program, a 3D animation application. An architectural student in Italy is writing a thesis on it. He wanted to know the most detailed aspects of it – it’s a bit mad really.
Why has Warp been so successful with its videos?
They have an aura and a mystique and a bit of an attitude which is quite rare these days. You just see more and more videos that are commonplace and banal. I cannot stand the pop trash fodder, it’s so formulaic. You have to work five times as hard to get something special. Some people expect a video that looks like bloody George Lucas has directed it.
How obsessive are you?
I’m a lunatic. One of the things I’m working on at the moment – it’s very sculptural – is going to take about a year to do.
Interesting. Last time I read something about this amazing video, it was that Rutterford hand crafted and keyframed most of the video to go exactly with the music. Quite a feat I’d say. I still love this video.