Much like the record shop, independent movie house, college radio station, and DIY venue, the video store has long been threatened by extinction. The age of streaming has brought down the colossus of the Blockbuster movie rental giant and now only independent video shops are left to fend for themselves. Accessibility may have advanced our culture, but nothing will replicate the real experience of home video. For sake of preservation and patronage, I’d like to name-drop my local video stores Vidéothèque and Cinefile. I’m sure one comes to mind for you as well, unless you’re really young. So what did you miss?
The 90s video store doesn’t need much of a description. Faded cult film posters on the walls, ragged carpeting, piles of VHS tapes everywhere. Lots of cheap, [ress wood shelving. You know, where Randal works in Clerks. FX designer Andrew Glazebook hoped to replicate that warm feeling of nostalgia, a task that must’ve required hours of immensely-patient concentration and a revisitation to the darkest corners of film history.
Working on 1/25th scale, Glazebook’s miniature video store will remind you of the days before you could get a movie from a machine outside 7-Eleven. There are over 200+ unique titles available to “rent” and the movie poster homages to The Evil Dead and Killer Klowns from Outer Space indicate good bad taste. There’s even a handwritten “Be Kind Rewind” sign, an old cash register, and a know-it-all video clerk (sold separately). Now, all we need is an old gumball machine full of stale gum and dead insects.
Take a look at some photos of Andrew’s miniature creation below.
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