Thesis Interview with John DiMarco


"Inside My Brain"
John DiMarco YouTube channel

What inspired you to make video as opposed to any other media?

When I was younger I constantly watched the movies Ghostbusters and Back to the Future and they inspired me to create my own films. I tried drawing and painting but did not feel the same about either medium, film was what always inspired me the most. Since I was in 8^th grade that’s what I wanted to do.

When you first started making films, what kind of videos did you create?

At first I made action films because of my interest in the films of my childhood, like Ghostbusters and Back to the Future.  I also loved Jackass films, and used a camcorder to make similar videos of my own without any sort of editing equipment. I was initially attracted to Hollywood movies as a, kid that’s what first inspired me to get into film.

You have since moved away from your initial inspiration and have started making more personal work, what made you evolve?

When I was a sophomore in Catholic high school I had to make a narrative film for my religion class. That was my first experience with trying something new. However, I kept working on the Jackass films. When I first came to art school I was not opened to the idea of conceptual videos, but as I learned more about artistic concepts I decided to give it a try and have come to really enjoy it.

Once you started excepting film as an art form, what work did you initially do?

I first made a film based off of Jackson Pollock’s style of painting. I filmed the painting being made layer by layer, then showed it deconstructed at the same time. This shows the way a painting is made, from start to finish and sort of turns the painting inside out.

I noticed that you emphasized painting in another one of your videos. What importance does painting have for you? Are the videos you make more about the painting or the video?

I would say they are about both painting and video. I started getting into painting while taking Visual Thinking and that’s why I decided to include it in my videos. I also enjoy painting very much and feel that it can be expressed in a video form. Filming the construction of the painting brings it to a new level, and makes it more personal to the artist because you can see the steps and decisions I made while creating the painting in addition to the final product. 

What do you feel has more significance, the final painted product or the video of the painting being made?

To me the video is more significant because you do not just see a painting being made, but also the process of it being mechanically shot in a video. The video shows the process of painting, then it also deconstructs the process of painting by taking away the paint.

As your work evolved your videos became more personal. What made you want to do this?

Somehow everyone has the same problems in life, just in a different form. However, people are afraid to admit to that. I like to bring that fact out in my videos so people can realize how we all relate, its like therapy to me.

As your videos get more personal, I noticed they get a lot darker and more mysterious, completely different from what you started out doing. How does an audience react to that?

I find that most people connect with them. In the ‘Inside my Brain’ video I showed how I thought my brain works, the crazy and chaotic side and the side that is disconnected and doesn’t belong. I think that makes strong work because it put my own feelings out there, which seemed to relate to the feelings of the people in my class.

That does make sense, however your videos are very cryptic. Do many people not understand them?

Some people get creeped out. One time I sent my video to some people I didn’t know in a AIM chat room and one person responded that he was very offended, that the video was horrible and disturbing. Then I asked him why he felt disturbed when I brought up a personal issue. Maybe some people are offended by this because they don’t like to face their problems, but bringing those problems up is what my videos are all about. Sometimes people need to be offended before they can understand the artwork.

Your videos do bring up obvious personal issues, but at the same time they are very separate from reality. What makes you want to include this kind of element in your work?

I just wanted to show the inner workings of the brain, or rather how I feel my brain works. When I tell people that they understand it, but at the same time they are mystified by what is going on in the video.

Do you ever see yourself going back to doing action style films? Would you rather continue pursuing the personal and the abstract?

I would like to stay with the personal videos. I am actually very interested in working on music videos one day. I have an internship with Atlantic records so I’ve gotten to see that side of the film industry and it really intrigues me. The directors of the music videos there would often be very unprofessional in their video treatments and I thought that was a major problem with the industry and effected how the videos would eventually turn out. I have plans to ask a few bands I know if I can make a video for them. I think adding a personal aspect to the song using video rather would enhance it. Nowadays music videos are mainly flashy and don’t owe much to the music or the personality of the band, they are for media purposes. They lack creativity.

It looks like you already have some good ideas, were you thinking about making music videos for your thesis?

Yes but I have some other ideas as well. I wanted to do a sequel to the ‘Inside My Brain’ video by making a video or an instillation of ‘Inside My Heart.’ I was also thinking about making a film noir video but instead of making it a crime drama I would make it a personal piece. I like to play with light, and the light in a film noir is a good and evil, which I feel can really connect with a personal style.