VHS effect

A wide clean shot of a garden gathering degrades into tape as the camera pushes in. a wide shot of a small back garden gathering in late afternoon, clean and sharp as the camera begins a slow push in, the picture losing resolution as it travels until it is worn videotape by the end: grain over the grass, greens and reds bleeding into each other, highlights blooming around the low sun, a tracking band rolling once up through the frame, the people talking normally throughout

A long corridor where the far end holds true colour and the near end is smeared tape. a wide shot down a long motel corridor at night, the far end holding true colour and sharp detail under its ceiling light, the near end the same corridor as worn videotape with heavy grain and reds smearing sideways off the doors, the degradation increasing steadily toward camera so one frame shows both states, a figure walking from the far end into the smeared foreground, locked camera

Saturated colour smears sideways off the subject as they move. a person in a saturated red jacket walking slowly across a concrete skate park, the red failing to hold its edges and smearing sideways into magenta streaks that trail behind every movement, skin tones going waxy and yellow-green, the whites blooming, the picture soft as worn videotape while the geometry of the ramps stays sharp enough to show how far the colour has slipped, camera panning with them

White dropout streaks and a torn band chew through the upper third. a person leaning over an engine in a garage under a bare bulb, the upper third of the picture breaking up into white dropout streaks and a torn band of noise that chews across it while the lower two thirds stay a soft grainy tape image, the tear drifting downward and passing over the shoulders, colour bleeding where it crosses, then clearing, locked camera

The first second is sharp, then the whole picture degrades into worn videotape. a person turning to face camera in a plain kitchen, the opening second perfectly clean and sharp with true colour, then the whole picture degrades into worn videotape: fine grain crawling over the skin, colours bleeding sideways out of every edge, contrast flattening, and a pale horizontal tracking band rolling slowly up through the frame and warping the outlines as it passes, the shot ending fully tape-like, locked camera

Fast motion breaks into offset horizontal lines while the still background holds. a person sitting on a bus waving a hand quickly in front of them, the moving hand breaking into offset horizontal lines that jitter one row against the next as worn videotape interlacing does, the still seat and window behind staying intact so the difference is obvious, fine tape grain over the whole picture, the hand resolving back to one shape when it stops, locked camera

Fast band movement under flicker breaks into combed lines against a still room. a wide shot of a rehearsal room where a drummer moves fast under flickering practice lights, the quick limbs breaking into offset horizontal lines that step one row against the next as worn videotape interlacing does, the still amplifiers and bare walls staying intact for contrast, a small glowing block of pale digits ticking in the corner, tape grain over everything, locked camera

A vertical line down the middle: clean on the left, heavy tape grain on the right. a person standing still in a laundrette, a hard vertical line down the centre of the frame splitting the same subject in two, the left half clean and sharply resolved with true colour, the right half the same body as worn videotape with crawling grain, softened detail, washed-out contrast and colours smearing to the right, the line holding steady while the person breathes, locked camera

A wide seascape carries flat tape contrast and grain that crawls over the water. a wide shot of an empty beach at dusk with two figures walking the waterline, the whole picture soft worn videotape: contrast flattened so the sky and sea sit close together, grain crawling visibly over the moving water, the orange of the sky blooming and bleeding into the dark band of the sea, a faint pale band rolling up once through the middle of the frame, slow lateral camera drift

A glowing digit block sits in the corner of a handheld tape frame. a handheld shot of a person lying on a bedroom floor in front of an oscillating fan, the picture soft and grainy as worn videotape with warm bloom on the highlights, a small glowing block of pale digits in the bottom right corner counting upward, the digits wobbling with the picture as it breathes, colours slightly bleeding, the hand-held drift keeping it loose