RPD67

text by Tesse on 08/11 about Eye project

I have to write a voice over but I am not sure what perspective I should write this from. Do I educate the viewer? Do I tell them about her and who she is and what her influence is, why she is important to remember. Or do I just talk about her being forgotten? Do I talk to the audience or to her? Do I talk to me? Or at least from my position. As a young filmmaker that wants to find answers in her work, her archive. Do I try to find our similarities or point out our differences? Can I leave it abstract, minimal, vague, ambiguous in a way that doesn’t alienate the audience? Do I use my own voice or someone else’s? What language do I do it in? Surely it will be English, but then also Dutch is my native language, French is hers, how do I incorporate those to be more personal? How do I do all of this in 3,5 minutes but also in a way that could potentially be something bigger or could serve other purposes? And do I really need the voiceover first or can I start with the images. I feel I need the text to give structure, but perhaps the writing of the text would be easier when I already have a visual frame to attach it to. And how do I do these images in a way that feel true to my fragmented way of working but that also form a whole. Why do I want to add my own images to her, wouldn’t hers be enough? Wouldn’t that give her more agency? Or would that just leave her in the past? And what do I do with the sound apart from the voiceover, do I use sound that works with the images or something completely else, like sounds of decay, of burning, of ripping paper - what does forgetting sound like?? What do I want to achieve with this film I suppose is the biggest question. I do feel like I am trying to find a connection to her, to find a way to feel the significance, but so far I don’t think I really feel it. I don’t feel we are so connected or that I find something really significant in her. Perhaps there is not that much of my soul in this project, and more of my mind. I am definitely fascinated by her and her position in film history, but at the same time her actual work and personality don’t mean that much to me. I think the way in which I relate most to her is this fear of fleetingness. Not so much in that I am afraid I will be forgotten like her - as I don’t think there is enough worth to remember (yet). But rather in how I see and experience other things, whether I give them enough weight and gravitas. Whether I can acknowledge their place and significance in the present as well as outside of that. I think this is why my intuition says to focus on her being forgotten and her trying to stop it, rather than actually remembering her or educating the audience. Because there is this sensitivity in there that I can relate to more than her works or her self. Although of course, I don’t necessarily need to be able to relate to her. I can see how her work is a product of an age more than a century ago, and how I would do that differently. Maybe I should show how I would do that differently. Maybe I should compare techniques, interests. Maybe I should investigate what her feminism looks like and how it was a start maybe, but nowhere near an ending. Should I talk about her narrow mindedness in between her progressive views? About her racist stereotyping that is still present even though she chose an all black cast when that meant no white actors wanted to participate. Do I need to idolise her when she was far from perfect? How do I avoid idolising her when I am so actively revisiting her and pointing out importance by reopening the topic? Can we ever relate to the archive in a way that doesn’t pick sides completely between putting someone on a pedestal or tearing that structure down. Should I include all these doubts or keep it simple, seeing as most people won’t know who or what I am talking about and all these questions are maybe already one step too far. Can it just be a fun little video? Can the voice over just be a spoken word-like rhythm under images that are the starts of ideas but never solidify them. How do I make decisions when there are still these doubts? How do I usually make decisions? I think I need more input and inspiration. I will try to find it with her, or otherwise elsewhere.