User:Ruben/RWRM/5 - A Text

Please note: this is a first draft of an interactive video project. As with most of my first drafts, it will probably relate to the final work as Elephant (van Sant, 2004) to Charlie Chaplin: there must've been inspiration going on, but it's kind of watered down. Anyway.....

This text is a description of how the interactive video should work. This means that you really is you. The girl is in a video though. And in a script, sending you e-mails and who knows what else.

This concept has been around in my head for a while, but as I wrote this down in one evening its nothing more than an indication (I'm even still in doubt wether I want to change the girl to be smart, geeky programmer girl)

Story

Picture yourself a girl. Let's say, 17 years old, brown hair, and she has painted a lock of her half-long hair pink. She wears glasses; thin, nerdy ones. On her back she wears a backpack - she probably thinks it's a trendy one, but in reality it is a one in a million.

It is this girl that stands in front of you, only three steps down on the busy escalator down from the platform. While she's looking around, your eyes meet. For a moment her eyes catch you. Not because of their colours - nobody remembers the colours of eyes - but because of the genuine interest they seem to radiate. When she reaches the end of the escalator, the moment is over as quick as it came.

You loose her out of sight, but as you finally get of the escalator, you see her a bit ahead. You can't help but follow her, trough the crowded station hall. When you are both on the escalator to another platform, with an even bigger distance between you, your eyes meet again. She smiles while she grabs her phone from her pocket. She reaches the platform when the train comes rolling in. You loose her out of sight in the orderly crowd of commuters - who all seem to perform their morning ritual. When you reach the top of the escalator you see get a glimpse of her again. You manoeuvre yourself so you can see her better, but dare not to get closer: you're not sure why you are following her. The girl is still focused on her phone, typing something. The train doors open. For a moment she looks back up at you. She smiles and holds her phone up. She disappears into the train. The doors close. The only people left on the platform are queuing at the escalator down to the hall, as the train starts to move.

You phone buzzes in your pocket. Only once, so you know: it's a text message. You reach in you pocket and read:

Hi, Lisa here. I noticed you at the station.

Want to talk? Mail me at lisa@email.com x L

When you get home, you will sit down and wonder: why not just mail her and see what happens? So you write this young girl a polite mail. Trying to explain why you where staring at her at the station - which is hard as you have no clue either, except for you maybe being somewhat voyeuristic. Besides maybe asking some stale questions, you leave it at that.

A couple of hours later you get a reply.

Wow, I didn't really expect you to reply. Nice.

I'm not really into mailing people like this, and

I didn't want to bother you, but for some reason,

it only seemed appropriate at the station.

I hope you didn't miss your train because of me? ;)

So then, who are you? (or how do these things work?)

What work do you do? What music do you like?

x Lisa

Five minutes later you receive another...

Wow, I reread my last mail and I'm afraid I seem like

this girl :P

http://www.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/1yfu2a/epic_response_by_ceo_of_jpmorgan/

That's definitely not what I meant!

x Lisa

Only 3 minutes later...

Sorry for me being stupid. I had a tough time

last year, and guess I became bad at e-mailing.

x Lisa.

A few hours later (or seconds, depending on your habits), a bit startled you write a short response, including a YouTube link of your favourite music and you. Only a few minutes later you get a reply:

Tanks for your message again! I understand you can't

be mailing me whole day.

I work at Douglas, the perfume store.

Thanks for the vid by the way, I might learn to

like that :P

I'm not sure you want to be bothered with it. But

a good friend of mine went missing last year. I'm

still don't know what has happened... It was even

in the news for a while. There's this video

http://yt.com/some_non-clear-security-camera

Looks like the guy is clearly pulling her away, but

I don't know who he is :(

Ah well, but I can be happy :) Why don't we chat?

We can do that here: (Link to a (fake) video-chat

page online)

Hope to see you there!

xx Lisa

Now the plot seems to enrol, you are curious enough to enter into a chat with Lisa. At a suitable time, you click the link.

A webpage pops up. Mimicking the interface of a chat program (like Skype). It shows it's connecting to your contact 'Lisa'. After a short while the screen changes and the image of Lisa appears.

Just as you saw her in the station, but without her jacket. The video is quite 'blocky' due to the video compression and the seemingly bad internet connection. Lisa sits in a room by herself. The room seems spatial, and decorated as any other girl's room. A big closet in front of a dark purple painted wall. The rest of the room is white. In the corner there's a mirror, in front of which lies a pile of clothes.

Lisa waves enthusiastic at the webcam.

Hi there! Sorry, my video seems to be a bit choppy.

Ah well. Luckily I can see you clearly!

Sorry again about the stupid mails, I feel sooo ashamed.

Haha. So I'm happy you're calling back!

So what do we talk about now? Would you like this?

Teasingly Lisa pulls her shirt a bit down near her breasts.

Haha, sorry.. that was a joke. But, seriously, even if

you want that, I'm not *that* stupid. I know everybody

might be looking with you trough my webcam.

She keeps continuing her monologue,

There was this girl in my class, she was blackmailed by

a guy from my school. He hacked her computer and

recorded her while she undressed for another guy in my

school. So *stupid* of her.

She rolls her eyes.

Then we hear steps on the stairs outside of the room

Shit my dad is comming!

Se closes the lid of her laptop with a slap and the 'connection' broken.

Five minutes later you receive a new text message.

Hi, sorry had to go. It was fun. I'll text you when I

can chat again!

A day later you receive a new text message from Lisa.

Shall we chat? xx

When you revisit the page there follows another webcam session in which she talks about friends, and how they always rival to be most attractive. She tells that her 'friend' once took a guy from her. Meanwhile she is in front of the mirror, fixing her make-up. Slowly, the webcam seems to be moving and turning towards the mirror...

unfortunately due to time, I haven't 'finished' my first draft.

It will tell the story on Lisa's search for her individual place in the society of control ("It's up to them to discover what they're being made to serve, just as their elders discovered, not without difficulty, the telos of the disciplines.") Eventually it gets more 'abstract' as the computer networks in the society of control also require abstraction.

When she starts looking for her friend she gets trapped in a mist and wonders

The inside of a cloud is just a fog.

A grey haze which conceals one from his own eyes.

But who says I'm not part of the fog?

Is it not me who makes this fog unique?