Fictional Field Report: Work in Progress (Wordhole)

This entry to the Wordhole Glossary is a piece of fiction written as an exercise in modes of address in the 2023-11-08 Methods class with Lídia. It was first created using this etherpad.

See also: (please add the other modes of address exercise entries here once they're added to the glossary)

Work in Progress

A WIDE SHOT OF A RISING SUN. A CAR DRIVING TOWARDS A LARGE BODY OF WATER. THERE'S A PERSON SITTING ON A BENCH NEXT TO THE WATER. THE CAR STOPS. THREE PEOPLE STEP OUT

ONE HOLDING A DIRECTIONAL MICROPHONE ON A BOOMSTICK

ONE HOLDING A CAMERA

ONE HOLDING A SHEET OF PAPER

A SHOT OF THE REPORTER THROUGH THE CAMERA

REPORTER: WELCOME TO THE MORNING REPORT. I'M STANDING IN ROTTERDAM, AND WITH ME IS ACTRESS CAROL GRAY. CAROL, HOW DO YOU FEEL?

CAROL: IT'S HARD, Y'KNOW... WE, Rogers AND I, WERE JUST WORKING ON THIS PROJE--

REPORTER: SO IS IT TRUE, DID PROLIFIC AUTHOR Seth Bar DIE TONIGHT? WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE DEATH OF THE AUTHOR?

CAROL: I DON'T... YESTERDAY WE WERE JUST FINISHING UP WORKING ON A PROTOCOL FOR ACTING -- WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A PROTOCOL YOU KNOW -- AND HE WAS FATIGUED. HE TOLD ME HE WAS GOING FOR A SWIM.

REPORTER: INTERESTING. AT 4:03am THIS MORNING, WE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING FIELD RECORDING THAT, SUPPOSEDLY, WAS MADE DURING THIS SWIMMING EVENT.

'Hey! where have you been?' said by Carol

'I just went swimming in the archival ocean....' Seth Bar looks extremely exhausting.

C: 'How was it?'

S: 'It was quite nice but there are too many annotations and protocools in the sea.... I barely drown....'

C: 'Ah, I already told you several times that if the weather is too bad, there will be too many archive creatures and sometimes they will bite you!'

S: 'Umm.... I feel like they are just adorable and friendly little monsters....'

C: 'Fine. Don't say that I didn’t tell you!'

'Cut!' said the director. 'Do you not like it, Jimmy?' said the director's assistant. 'I don't mind it' said Jimmy, but his facial expression spoke otherwise. 'Where shall we take it from?' said Vanessa, 'The beginning of this scene?' Vanessa was beginning to give up, she was tired and needed a coffee. The crew had been working on this scene for the best part of two days and it was beginning to become wearisome. They continued to speak about the film in hushed tones. Meanwhile, the actors sat around looking bored. It was hot in the studio, despite the weather, They were thirsty. Andrew needed to get some water. Nobody had eaten breakfast that morning so the atmosphere was unusuallly tense.

'Where are you going Andrew?' asked Jimmy. 'It's a cut right? I'm thirsty, I'm getting some water --- do you want some?' replied Andrew. 'Sure,' said Jimmy, 'Vanessa?' 'Yeah, bring a jug' Vanessa chimed in. On his way to the water fountain, Andrew bumped into Sam, the propmaker. They looked stressed. 'Gee, Andrew, good to see you', said Sam. 'Are you alright, Sam?' 'Not really, I'm drowning here, Luke just quit because Jimmy's an asshole and now I have to make a hundred zines for the Zine Scene by myself. I feel like he's plotting something against me.' 'Yeesh,' said Andrew, who couldn't care less because he had his own issues to worry about. 'I'm going to the water fountain,' he said, 'I'll see you later'. 'See you, say hello to the f i s h in the aquarium on my behalf'. 'Sure!' said Andrew, not quite seeing the point in doing so.

One hundred zines, thought Andrew. This was such a weird film. Jimmy was a weird guy and Vanessa just seemed to agree with him all the time. Jimmy was rarely satisfied with what was recorded. Andrew filled up a jug of ambient water and brought it back to the studio. 'Thanks, Andy' said Vanessa. Andrew sat back down on the set in front of the lights and the camera. 'What's happening with the Zine Scene?' said Andrew. 'Don't worry about the Zine Scene' said Jimmy, we're not due to shoot that until Friday. 'Can we start rolling again soon?' asked the camera operator.

A bell rings, it is the sound of the door being opened

Shopkeeper: Hi

Carol: Hello

Carol: I'm jyst going to have a browse around.

Shopkeeper: Sure

Carol walks around the store, it's a secondhand shop with old materials scattered around.

Shopkeeper: Is there anything particular you're looking for?

Carol: I don't think so. Well, It'll be Christmas soon so I was hoping to find some gifts.

Shopkeeper: You've come to the right place I think. This second hand store has plenty of things which would make great presents. We've got furniture, clothes, music, bric-a-brac-

Carol: Music? That'd be ideal. I have a friend who's really into cassette tapes; do you have any of these?

Shopkeeper: Yes, and we have CD's. They're 3.00 euros each.

Carol: Great! could you show me where they are?

Shopkeeper: Over here

Carol walks over to the music collection with the shopkeeper

Carol: Oh, you have a casette by Seth Bar?

Shopkeeper: Yes, he's quite the author. I went to a talk he gave in the town square several years ago. I heard he is writing about book called 'Recorder Obscura'.

Carol: Yes, I heard about that too.

Carol looks upset, she knows that Seth Bar is dead, but the news has obviously not met the shopkeeper yet.

Shopkeeper: Are you okay?

Carol: Yes, yes, I'd like to buy this tape please.

Shopkeeper: three euros please.

[Carol's flat, she is sitting at a table with a cassette player. Nearby there is some wrapping paper, scissors and sellotape. The last few words of the recording are vaguely audible as the camera approaches the table. It is the Seth Bar interviewing Jo Freeman about her article "The Tyranny of Structurelessness". The tape ends; Carol presses the eject button and places the cassette back into the box. She begins to wrap the box]

Voiceover (it is the voice of Seth Bar): "Dear Carol, When you read this letter that means I'm not in this world anymore, I'm in the other planet and lying on a beautiful archive forest with wine. A little while ago, I was working on a cassette called 'Destroy Protocols'. I decided to distribute it by visiting a selection of secoondhand stores around the town. So it's limited edition.

I hope you enjoy and get some new inspirations as well! "

Jimmy burst into tears. 'What's wrong?', Vanessa asked. 'Wrong? wrong!? Nothing is wrong. Can't you see this is the most beautiful thing ever produced? Never has such true emotion been captured on tape', he went on. Andrew was a bit baffled by Jimmy´s display of emotion, their impression was that Jimmy was the sort of director that made movies on demand, for the money. The movieset had been one ruled by structurelessness so far. Andrew thought that this was just a result of poor administration of the project, but now, it seemed to him that actually, Jimmy might just have been too personally entangled in his own story. Andrew faced Jimmy who still seemed a bit shook from the the scene they just taped, and asked 'Is this story we are making, YOUR story?'. 'In a way...', JImmy replied, 'but it's more than that. I'm trying to tell OUR story. I want all voices to be heard.' Vanessa who had been standing in her own thoughts, partially eavesdropping on jimmy´s and Andrew´s conversation. 'Our story? OUR story? I've been working my ass off for you, and not once have you asked for my input!'. Unexpectedly Jimmy was not irritated with this remark from Vanessa, on the contrary he looked at Vanessa with a welcomming look, and replied 'Maybe I have been too afraid that the story wouldn´t come across as OURS, so I had to take on the role of the caretaker.' Vanessa remained quiet, looking at Jimmy with a conflicted look on her face. Jimmy continued: 'didn't we have a visual map that we worked on together?' Vanessa let this sentence sink in, the visual map; Vanessa saw this as just a stupid team-building excercise, like the ones where you make tower out of marshmellow and uncooked spaghetti. Andrew looked puzzled: 'the visual map? I've only been reading the script from the wiki.' It suddenly dawned on Vanessa... they had been working distributively, while this had been a moment that called for a collaborative effort. She said, in a mellow voice 'I see. Let's not hide behind these tools any longer. Put them aside, and talk human to human.'

Jimmy is like 'ok bro, let's get to work. chop chop.'