Choreography for Copy Machine

[1][2] All of the film's images were created solely by using the unique photographic capabilities of a photocopier to generate sequential pictures of hands, faces, and other body parts.

For the film, Chel White developed a customized set up that could achieve the level of detail he was looking for in the images.

[6] The Washington Post describes the film as a “musical frolic which wittily builds on ghostly, distorted images crossing the plate glass of a copier.”[7] Filmfest DC calls it, "true art in the age of mechanical reproduction; a rhythmic celebration of a photocopier’s cinematic potential."

[8] The Dallas Observer says, "(The film) takes a game we've all played with our hands, faces, and other body parts and raises it to the sublime."

The Austin Chronicle writes, "(The film) pulses with a grinding sort of ghostly sexuality.”[9] Alive TV says, "Your relationship to your copy machine may never be the same.” And Entertainment Weekly says, "Chel White’s (Choreography for Copy Machine) ”Photocopy Cha Cha”, featuring rubbery, photocopied images of faces and assorted other body parts, is a reflection on the way technology alters our perceptions."

Theatrical poster for "Choreography for Copy Machine (Photocopy Cha Cha)". (digital photograph of paper poster.)
The set up Chel White created for his direct photocopy technique. In addition to four side lights (three of which are pictured), there is a top light positioned behind a sheet of frosted glass that allows for the silhouettes of people and objects to be visible.