The stars of Europe's ascendant chip music movement demonstrate the repurposing of old videogame and home computer hardware like Nintendo's GameBoy and NES, Atari's ST, and Commodore's Amiga and C64 into tools by which they have created a new sound, a modern tempo and an innovative musical style.
'Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet' is a feature length documentary which delves into the movement known as ChipTunes, a vibrant underground scene based around creating new, original music using old video game hardware. Familiar devices such as the Nintendo Game Boy and Nintendo Entertainment System are pushed in new directions with startling results. Using New York as a microcosm for a larger global movement, 'Reformat the Planet' maps out the genesis of the first annual Blip Festival, a four day celebration of over 30 international artists exploring the untapped potential of low-bit video game consoles. With floor-stomping rhythms and fist-waving melodies, trailblazers of the ChipTune idiom descend upon Manhattan to pen a new chapter in the history of electronic music.
Nothing beats the thrill of a live orchestra in an electrifying concert. But sometimes you just can't get there. Well, we've got you covered with 8-Bit Symphony @ Home. The atmosphere of a live concert is unmatched - the anticipation, the murmur of the audience, the shiver down the spine... you should go to the concert if you can. But... sometimes you just can't go. And that's where 8-Bit Symphony @ Home comes in, we're giving you a home experience that feels like a concert. The footage from the big screen on your big screen, and top-quality studio versions of the concert arrangements to blast through your speakers. It's not a livestream of the concert. The essence of the concert is the huge sound from a big orchestra and the hypnotic footage on the big screen. A livestream would rob the experience of all of that, with a rubbish sound and blurry video of a screen. But this way, it's like we brought the concert hall to your house.
Live performance video compilation featuring one track from each of the 32 performers at the first annual Blip Festival, held in New York NY in 2006, and curated and organized by 8bitpeoples and The Tank. Companion to the acclaimed documentary film Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet (which premiered at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival), this compilation offers a front-row cross section of the explosive four-day event that showcased the untapped potential of low-bit home computer and game consoles used as creative audio and video tools.
