‘Noise’ was derived from an original video loop using pixel averages and a Markov chain.
The random artifacts in the original video were removed by image averaging over progressively larger numbers of frames—1, 4, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512. This process produced eight versions of the loop. They range from a version with lots of noise (and some people) to one with almost no noise in which the people have been reduced to a vague mist.
These eight versions are recombined using a process of controlled randomness known as a finite Markov chain. The Markov chain determines which version is playing at any one moment. A Markov chain with the same transition probabilities was also used to produce the soundtrack from original audio recordings.