The thrill of casino culture is carried by more than just the chance to win big – an assault on the senses, driven by kaleidoscopic colors, lights blinking at speed, and an auditory collision of sounds. In an alternate universe where money loses all value in the pursuit of a sudden fortune, the instant dopamine lift of the casino invites us to disconnect from our realities, and enter a place where anything is possible.

Visualizing the multi-sensory immersion of the casino environment, filmmaker Erren Franklin journeys deep into the heart of Las Vegas at 2am in Hot Slots. Shot on Super 8, the experimental film achieves all its effects in analog, layering filters and in-camera film techniques to recreate the sense of over-stimulation felt among the bright lights. Set to a composition by Nico Georis, constructed from slot machine samples, the original audio track captures the cacophony of piercing electronics and whirling wheels of fortune that soundtracks the casino – and the untouchable optimism that comes with it.

Envisaging the Las Vegas landscape through a nostalgic lens, Hot Slots ventures into a unique space that exists outside of time itself – locked in a permanent state of neon-lit excess, where hours melt away without warning. Taking an audio-visual deep dive into the maze-like web of slot machines and overlapping sounds, Franklin creates a hyper-saturated snapshot of a city impenetrable to the weight of the world, despite the role it plays at the epicenter of capitalism at its darkest.