Graduation Project Sol

Introduction

For my graduation project I’m working on a collaboration with the EYE and Piet Zwart Institute, called Research Lab. I develop a project for their exhibition, but also what I could expand for my graduation project. I’m going to give films an anthropological voice. They tell about their own individual experiences in their life. Each film tells a short story, about a past moment in their existence, such as; the moment of shooting the film; the moment of developing; the moment in the archive. Each film with a different genre, character, age and voice, to give the illusion and feel of a talking film. These narratives are from a perspective of a film, all together they create a mythology of films. Like what I do with previous projects, I create a historical background for objects or things. This time I’m not only I make the history of film invisible, but also what’s happening now in archives. This is an imaginary research, because almost everything is fiction. I write these narratives of a film perspective, in to the smallest details of them. I start with writing down all the steps that films go through, for example; buy the film roll; placing it in a camera; filming; developing; watching; ect. For each step I create a story (sometimes more than one). Try to explain what they experience when someone puts them in a camera or put them away in an archive for years. The EYE exhibition I use as a test lab, because the questions; How does a film sounds?; How to present these narratives? Are still not answered. I have different ideas for the outcome, but I’m trying to challenge myself to not go for the easy way out. I give film an anthropological voice, an obvious way to pretend them is with sound. Recorded the narratives with different characters and voices, but are there also other solutions.

The Steps in 'films-lives'

Step 1 Shooting

Buy the film, Place the film in the camera, Go to the location, Film, it rolls, Film ends and goes out the camera, Placed in a can,

Step 2 Developing

Load, Expose, Un-load the Camera, Mixing the Chemicals, Light Proof a Room, Open the Film Canister, Take the Film Out of the Canister, Even Off the End of the Film, Load the Reel, Cut Off the Plastic End of the Reel, The Developing Process, Stop Bath, Fixer, One Minute Wash, Hypo, Five Minute Running Water Wash, Drying and Hardening, Cutting and Archiving Your Negatives,

Step 3 Watching

Film gets to a location, Film can gets open, Placed in a projector, Lights goes out, projector goes on, The film plays, Audience response, Film ends, Projector goes off, Film goes back to the can, Back to this location,

Step 4 the Archive

Get to the destination, Placed on a shelve, Maybe for years, Gets on fire, Is displaced, Moved to another location, Observer is going to watch it, The film gets digitalized, Forgotten and dusty, Be thrown away, Gets lost,

The Narratives

Story 1

When I was around ten years old, they took me away. I didn’t know where I was going, but after a short drive we stopped at a big warehouse. They carried me in and I still remember that there was two smiling men holding the door open. They took me into an empty room except for shelves. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening. After a few years, the shelves were full and the two men from the front door took me to a different place. Again, I was in a new, weird space, and didn’t know where. This new place was cold, dark and dry, and sometimes we’d have visitors check up on us. One of those visitors, I think his name was Martin, a friendly young guy that made me laugh and always said that we are important for the future. I never understood way, but it was nice to see someone. January 2016 was a very busy month. People where packing and sorting things. A week later, I woke up in a big truck. I thought immediately ‘not again’. Before I knew it, we were driving. It was a bumpy road, and I leaned against the door of the truck. The two smiling men opened the door, and I fell on the asphalt.

Story 2

The last time that they opened me was almost 2 years ago. It was a strange experience. They didn’t just watch me like they usually do. First, they started touching me and looking at me, and they noticed that I was old, of course. Then they put me in a machine that didn’t fell like a projector, and it wasn’t. I roll down in a chemical bath and roll up again, and again, and again. After a few circles, I noticed something new. I was feeling good, I was feeling fresh, and I was feeling like brand new! This machine was a miracle, I wanted to tell the others about it. But I couldn’t because they were not done yet, and they put me I another machine. Again, they roll me up, my brand new skin, and they start playing me. It didn’t felt like a projector, and nobody was watching me. The speed was different and I never heard this kind of sound. But after a few minutes I got it. They were scanning me, they were making a digital version out of me. A copy. Each frame of me was scanned, and transformed in a digital version. In the beginning, I felt kind of special. I was worth it to copy. But if I think about it now, and if I look back, I’m stuck here forever. I’m back on a shelf again. They have a digital version out of me, and I’m not longer needed.

Story 3

I received an award back in 1967 that was the day that they put me away. I lived in a box for years, which I don’t even know how long. There was no daylight, only black, and it was so small that I could barely fit. Sometimes I feel some wobbling and noticed that I am being moved, but in the end nothing is change. I’m still stuck in a box. It is 2005, and someone opens the box. It was a woman with curly, short hair, lovely smile, and pretty blue eyes. I was overcome with joy. She took me out of the box, then walked me into a little room where she locked the door. I didn’t know where we were and what was going to happen, but I was glad that I was out of that small box. She open me and took me out of the can. Then she puts me in a projector. I hadn’t felt this for such a long time. The lights went off and I was running after almost 40 years. The blue eyed women was watching me and making notes for days, I had never felt this special in my entire life. After some weeks she stops watching me, and came in the room with a big box, bigger than my old one. She placed me in the box again.

Story 4

They called him Emanuel. One day around 1920, he purchased me. He brought me to his home, and it looked like a kind of workspace. There was lots of photography equipment around me. One day, he took me in to a weird black box called Kinamo, and it had just one tiny hole to look out. Through this peephole I saw his workspace, the living room, the garden, his wife and children. I could see pretty much everything everywhere he took me. He walked around with me he laid me down on his desk. Emanuel looked happy. There was a note hanging right next to him saying; Greek – Kine, Latin – Amo, ‘I love movies’.

Story 5

I’m hanging here for one day now, but yesterday was the most traumatic day in my entire life. At first, I was walking around the beach with the sun shining on me, and the next moment it was all black. For days it was all black, till someone opens me, and still it was all black. I couldn’t see where I was, but I felt some hands touching me. Someone striped me off and puts me on some reel. Rolling me down, till I got dizzy. It wasn’t pleasant at all. He cut off the end and took me in to a canister. A few minutes later, they put something in me that looks like water. I felt like I was drowning. They turned me over and over again. I was panicking. It was dark, wet, and I was feeling very weird. Then, it stopped. They took the water-like-liquid out of me, and then again put more liquid in me. The whole process started over now, like it never ended. Not only was I feeling dizzy, but also I felt something happening to me. I was changing. After they did this whole process over, they took me in to a water bath and washed me off. I have to say, that felt quite nice after that roller coaster ride. Finally, they opened the canister and took me out of it, and placed me in closet. I saw light, really bright, and felt a warm breeze.

Story 6

My special day arrived, the premiere of me. I was ready, waiting in the projector to run, I saw the theatre getting packed. All ages were entering the room, and each seat was taken. All that I could think of was; play me, play me, I’m so curious what everyone thinks of me. They closed the doors and it’s got dark. Yes, we are going to start! But we didn’t. First, the stupid commercials. People didn’t come for that, come on! Next time skip that shit. Finally, after almost ten commercials they were done, and I was taking off. I felt like a torpedo running through the theatre. Everyone was looking at me as a celebrity on a red carpet. This was my moment! But then after 10 minutes I already stopped. They stopped the projector and moved me to the side. I was furious. This was my time to shine, what are they doing?! Then they took a larger projector and turned it on. Someone else was playing for my audience! Who is this big guy, stealing my show? I was so ferocious and angry; it got even worse when they put me back in my can. My little can. I was just too little and too short for this big show. At least I was in the program, and got ten minutes of fame.

Optional

Story 7 – A film that’s doesn’t want to be the film that he is, he saw awful things and he record awful things.

Story 8 – An animation film from the 30’s, with drawings of cartoons and background, take each frame individuality, like stop motion.