Felix's Machines

Felix's Machines sent little shivers through my body, as though the very piano hammers in the film were plunking out their little tune on my own spine.

I suppose that the only way to categorise this film would be to describe it as a "music video", although there are elements to the documentary about it too; and it is also extremely theatrical.

This film was made by Tom Mansfield when he heard about a machine Felix Thorn had created in his bedroom that produced incredible percussive music. Shot from a huge variety of angles, it shows Felix's machine from every desirable perspective, really exploiting the intricacies of the sounds and mechanisms.

As the music progresses, the camera focuses in on close-up shots of all the different parts of the machine, and it is not until the end that we see Felix's machine as a whole.

I found this film completely mesmerising, and I know that this is not only because of the genius of Felix himself and his machine - the way this film has been made and put together is fantastic in its own right.