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The video captures on these pages were taken from the original "raw footage" on VHS tapes. Each image is shown with a caption, and when the image is clicked, a full size version of that image will open in another window. The first images are from 1986, when the VHS camera was first purchased, and subsequent pages will deal with the following years.

Hermosa Beach 1986 : This is one of the first times I aimed the camera on myself. Actually, Scott, my roommate at the time, is holding the camera. I am standing in my bedroom by the door. Hermosa Beach 1986 : There are a lot of images of the Gumby figurines on the first few tapes, since I had quite a collection of Gumbys in those days. Here is a small plastic figurine. The button reads: "Life's a bitch, and then you die." Still a true homily. Hermosa Beach 1986 : Here I am aiming the camera into the bathroom mirror. You can see that the camera itself was fairly large, even without the tape transport mechanism. Hermosa Beach 1986: I shot a lot of "introductions" to videos I never made, and here I am sitting in front of what was then the editing rig for VHS and Beta. I had recently purchased the 25" Fisher "monitor". Videotapes can be seen in the bookcase. I am wearing my signature cap. Hermosa Beach 1986: Another of my "outfits", this one a jeans jacket without sleeves. Behind me can be seen the video editing "rig" and the beginnings of the VHS tape collection. By 1986 I had been "taping" movies and television shows for four years. Hermosa Beach 1986: I rush home from work as a manager at the Gemco retail chain, and immediately place myself in front of the camera, even before taking off my work vest. Hermosa Beach 1986 : This is another "mirror shot" with only a side light on the subject, me, as I make some adjustments to the camera. I began shooting as soon as I unpacked it, and was "experimenting" heavily. Hermosa Beach 1986 : Another shot of me sitting in front of my then "home theater". The television shows an image of me sitting in front of the television from the camera. Hermosa Beach 1986 : Aiming the camera into the mirror is the way I got this self portrait. What I really want to do is direct. Hermosa Beach 1986 : This is my roommate Scott, who lived in the second bedroom to our two bedroom apartment in Hermosa Beach, California. After he moved away, my friend Jim Zabel moved in with me. Hermosa Beach 1986 : This is the living room upstairs in the Hermosa Beach apartment. Jim Zabel's guitar is leaning against the bookcase. This is after Scott moved out and Jim moved back in with me. He lived here with Cecil, who was my roommate before Scott. Hermosa Beach 1986 : Jim Zabel is playing the midi keyboard in this video shot one Sunday afternoon in Hermosa. Some afternoons I would just turn the camera on and see what developed.   Page 2 .All material both written and photographic is © 1986-2004 MikeVideo, AllThingsMike and Michael F. Nyiri

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