Cem/eyeproject

My ideation process started with the ‘fake live stream’ which derived from the idea about making a work about the mind of the audience, to create a fake memory that planned to cause an uncanny feeling (I gave up on the idea but maybe I’ll do it next year). After deciding as a group on the subject of nonlinearity, I suggested to use the literary method of ‘the stream of consciousness’ and decided to develop my work on that foundation.

The stream started with a dog smell, continued with the sound of a bell, ended with an afraid kid confronting his dad.

At first I tried to be loyal the initial text that I had, pure, untouched- but eventually I decided to change it to at least give it a certain kind of narrative to ease my brain (as my mind was so used to the linear understanding). I turned it into this story; basically is about a man who represses a childhood memory of him breaking a bell, caused by the guilt he feels to this day.

What we see on the screen is just an instant, the instant in which he tries to remember that very instant he is repressing. When we remember something, our minds does not travel to that moment, we reconstruct the past in the present, based on the last time we reconstructed it, for the sake of remembering. Deriving from this, an instant of remembering can contain information about the instant it was last remembered.

The film starts with an instant of recall, the sound of the bell in the bar that rings whenever a drink is ready associates with the memory of the breaking bell. The image on the screen being the memory that our character is watching; what is seen on the screen is not what took place, it is a fake memory of him getting clawed by the cat.

From there we pass to the other instant, where the cat runs away, the bartender that caused the recall in the previous instant is present (misplaced) and again he is coming to make the protagonist remember.

He rings the bell, forcing a recall, but the man flees from the hall, and he fails to remember. We see that this instant was also another time he had failed to recall, on his way to the very moment.

The images we see on screen are derivatives of a memory, and with each following image we get closer to the instant of failed recollection, which happens in the present. The performance at the end is a representation of that instant and all the video serves that moment. The piece ends with the man walking out of his seat in the cinema, walking down to the screen and facing his suppressed memory, only to run away at the end, rushing out. Refusing to remember.

Afterthought

I am happy with the end result, I got positive feedback from tutors and friends. Only problem was that I was performing and I left the venue for the performance’s sake, and therefore couldn’t see any reactions real time. I got the feedback to stay in front of the screen for a longer time, as some people at the right side of the venue weren’t able to understand what has happened, cause I walked on the left hand side.

I am also thinking of making an alternative edit (I am not so sure about the last minute change I did with the sound, which is pretty good actually but the initial sounds reflected the general feeling of the work better, I guess). Also looking back at the text written in the stream of consciousness, not changing a bit of it and shooting it might result in something completely different, with a faster edit, more non-linear. Could be interesting.

December 5th

current thoughts with the project (05.12)

Prophecy

why in terms of the nonlinearity?

what is a prophecy?

it is a piece of future found in the past.

my idea can change from what someone called "a fake live real" to a work where the audience can relate with the film in terms of the setting (film having the same setting to where it is exhibited) but in terms of the characters and the events happening there can be a disconnection, which can create a feeling of the uncanny.

prophecy:

-i have to get in touch with the eye in order learn if i can shoot at the venue.

IF YES,

can i shoot when there is a screening when the seats are full? (i think this is a definite “no” but still) or with an audience i’ll bring? if still no, at least some actors/actresses? can i use the projection while filming? (do they have a projector with true black projection?) ….more questions to come perhaps….

-i can use some frames of other people’s work if they are okay with it. (it might be like a flash of images, or something shown on the screen)

-it can portray a scene from each movie, in its own way.

-if felix wants it can have a message at some point “the projection is heating up” or sth like that. (but it might be also considered as revealing the illusion beforehand? i think it depends on two factors: the time in between and how quickly you’ll reveal the illusion in your work. your call felix.)

-it can be supported by a live performance.

-can i use a HOLOGRAM PLEASE GOD YES! in terms of the hologram, it reminds me what the PHANTASMAGORIA charlatans were doing back in the days, claiming they are getting in touch with the dead. even the most rational people believed that. today would you be fooled? are we still stupid? lol jk but it can still have an element of surprise and would extend the medium of the work, which could be fun.

-in terms of extending the medium, if it can show true black, maybe the film can and with a person appearing on the stage.

-it can be a prophetic work, in terms knowing and showing what is going to happen. but in which timeline? through the screening only? something more than that?

-> if the answer to my questions above will be a big NEE, i can do something about the theme of prophecy.