Tree TV: Episode 1

Earlier this year, I followed a friend’s recommendation and watched some episodes of Adult Swim’s series Joe Pera Talks with You. For those who aren’t familiar with Joe Pera, the show’s premise is simple: he plays a middle school choir teacher in the Upper Midwest and we follow him as he goes about his daily activities, often wandering off into thoughtful digressions in his idiosyncratic subdued voice about the small pleasures in life that give it meaning. Things like listening to a thunderstorm, picking a Christmas tree, taking a scenic drive, or feeding a horse an apple. As a counterpoint to the rest of Adult Swim’s typical programming, it’s thoughtful, earnest, heartfelt, and tranquil. In the RUclips comments sections of his videos, normally hives of scum and villainy on your average video, here are filled with gratitude and wonder. “This is the vocal equivalent of being gently kissed on the forehead,” says M.B. “The Human Experience is so vast. Thank you for this video,” from 1995yuda.
In the middle of one of these episodes (“Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera”), he jokes that he would like to create his own TV channel that features nothing but footage of trees. The tagline? No People, Just Trees. “I can’t be the only one who’d prefer to watch Old Tjikko, a 9000-year old spruce, after reading the news,” he says. He then goes on to wax poetic about Elizabeth Hurley in Austin Powers over drone footage of rolling forests before cheerfully digressing to a new topic. It is by all accounts a throwaway joke, but true to the kind-hearted post-ironic nature of the show, Adult Swim created a five-hour RUclips version of TreeTV and brought it to life (full disclosure: the video is the same 30 minute sequence looped, but this hardly diminishes its effect).
I watched it for the first time in September and felt an immediate deep affinity for the concept. It combines three of my favorite things: the beauty of nature, ambient music, and a plainspoken earnestness. Something about taking this tossed-off joke from a web series and following it to its end point with a 5-hour silent nature documentary demonstrates to me a love for its audience that feels very rare these days. I felt so inspired that I thought I’d take my own crack at it.
Over the last two months, when I’ve had free time and the weather has been kind, I’ve taken my camera and tripod into the woods with me. I already regularly seek out nature whenever I can (even moreso during this awful year) so I had already been doing accidental location scouting. The clips you see here were shot at the Middlesex Fells, deCordova Sculpture Park, and Moose Hill Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary, all in Massachusetts where I currently live. I greatly enjoyed filming and editing this and would love to continue to produce it on a seasonal basis (Episode 2 would be winter, 3 would be spring, etc.). My time in nature, alone or with loved ones, is incredibly important to my mental health and I’m sure that’s obvious to anyone who knows me. After a walk in the woods, I feel centered, calm, comfortable in my own skin. Anxious thought spirals melt away and the mind is able to flow freely. My whole self feels cleansed. I sincerely hope that, in some small way, I’m able to share that feeling with you all as you watch this, even if you just have time to watch a few minutes. I encourage you to slow down, take a deep breath, stop scrolling, and relax with me as we look at some trees. See you soon xx
Music
Colleen - "Geometria del Universo"
Nathan Salsburg - "Impossible Air"
Aphex Twin - "#20 / Lichen"
Haruomi Hosono - "Muji Original BGM" (Edit)
P.S. I highly recommend watching this full screen on a computer or projector if you have access to one. It’s my first personal project that I’ve shot in 4K! Thank you @joepera and @adultswim for what you have created, please hire me so I can do this full time.
OG TreeTV: • TreeTV | adult swim
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