Irma's Proposal Draft

a small piece that addresses your proposal: http://irma-paperwork.com/docu_mm.html

What do you want to make?

I want to make a short film, let's say 20 minutes, with interlocking storylines and multiple characters. A good example in this genre of storytelling would be the Film Magnolia. The film would use multiple visual languages but start as a documentary and then slowly turns into a fiction film.

The movie could start with the youtbube channel (something like this ) of a young female documentary maker character one , about 30 years old, she tells her online followers about this man she is researching character two who lives his life as a sovereign citizen and sees himself as The Tachyon Energy Facilitator.

 Sovereign citizen: I'm still researching but at this moment I understand that a self-described sovereign citizens take the
position that they are answerable only to their particular interpretation of the common law and are not subject to any government 
statutes or proceedings.

 The Tachyon Energy: alternative healthcare where there is a belief that all matter is made of energy and is part of an Energetic
 Continuum, a term used to describe the flow of energies as they move down from the source. This stepping down process creates the
 third-dimensional world in which we live. A Facilitator would help you restore these energies.

This man is a real person, I know him, and a want to start to make a non-fictional documentary about his political and spiritual points of view. I think it could be interesting to play with the realistic approach of a documentary. I'm fascinated with his lifestyle, political view. I wonder if he is successful as a Facilitator of energy, does this also come with a philosophy on life. (I didn't ask him to participate in my film because I'm still researching if it would be interesting enough to focus on for my graduation project.)

So... The documentary maker get in contact with this character and wants to follow and interview him for her documentary. The film switches back and forward from her youtube channel -where she talks directly to her followers- to the classic documentary that the girl is making. At some point I want the documentary to slowly switch from a documentary to a fictional film. Slowly the colors and movements would change in a more unrealistic film language, I imagine multiple camera angles instead of the journalistic shots of the girl. Now the filmmaker is becoming a character in the movie. I'm developing the script and don't where this would lead me, but I can imagine there should/could be a conflict between the two characters, a suspense.

The third character is not yet directly connected to the first two. I imagine a female perfectionist living in a "perfect" terraced house which is far too big for herself. She is nesting but doesn't have anyone to share her nest with. She is a neurotic perfectionist, wants to live an interesting life, wants to travel and share her life experiences with people, although she is too afraid to do so. She hires a photographer to take pictures of herself in a greenscreen studio. In her save apartment she edit's her holiday pictures to post online and pretend her life.

The fourth Character The "stalker" is the neighbor of the perfectionist, he is a family man, his name is Ed. He works at a commercial production company where they developed and analyze trends. I want to base his character on the theory of Edward Bernays. He is very famous within the world of marketing because he is one of the developers of this (fictional) social media app, this is sold to Google in an early stage. People around him whisper Wow, wasn't selling it so early the biggest mistake of his life? He hardly got money for it! What has he done since then? Will he ever create something new? Ed tries to play cool but feels the pressure inside, was he just a one-day-fly? Is this what he came here on earth for? Doesn't god/the universe has bigger plans for him? Ed is fascinated by his neighbor, the girl who seems to have an interesting life, based on her social media pages, is always inside, always on the computer, always alone in her clean house. His fascination turns into an obsession, he wants to see her, meet her, why is this beautiful woman always focused on her social media, with the application he developed? Maybe he should feel proud, but he feels sad for her. After a few scenes, the Ed slowly discovers how the woman is manipulation the world while she is sitting save from her home. Earning money pretending to be someone she is not. Her situation inspires Ed to develop a new application, an app that does social media for you, knows what newspapers you read, knows how you would respond, shares and photoshop the best moments of your day' An App that helps you shine! This new idea will be a great career move for Ed, finally, he feels appreciated by his you millennial colleagues. I can imagine him having multiple roles, trying to get in contact with her, being for example also the photographer and maybe a mechanic that comes around the house. I want to maybe create an uncanny agreement between the two, an unspoken roleplay of a stalker and the victim who likes the attention.

The script is developing while I'm researching theories of plot writing techniques, analyzing films, books, and artists such as Omar Fast.

Interesting examples of Mocumentaries :

How do you plan to make it?

I want to develop the scripts and characters more, organize and research my characters. The man who is a sovereign citizen is this in real life, I know him, but have to ask if he would be interested to work with me. If so, I would try to meet/interview him.

The most practical storyline, the perfectionist woman, I would like to develope and start filming soon.

What is your timetable?

Before Dec 2017

develop the script
Organise first location and actress
Start filming the scenes of the woman
research the real-life character, sovereign citizen, have a pre-interview.

Before March 2018

Film all footage

Before April 2018

First draft Film

May 2018

experiment in editing the story for a 4 screen installation
experiment in editing the story for a linear movie

Why do you want to make it?

I want to use the language of film to express my personal point of view on the world. I want to use characters to represent theories I've been reading. The visual film language is very approachable for a big audience. The stories can be read in different layers, which makes it a rich medium to express multiple senses.

Who can help you and how?

My first focus points would help with, locations, actors and developing my script.

Next to peers, tutors I'm also trying to get some knowledge on creative writing during an extra course at crea/Uva

First one to ask is my friend, I've used her before as an actress and want to ask her for the role of the third character. (meeting her next week)
The home for this character is based on my other friend's house, hopefully, this could be arranged at a short-term.

Get in contact and research the man who is a lives his life as a sovereign citizen. He has a lot of things online but at some point, I would be good to interview him about his political and spiritual point of view.

At some point, I need to find the girl who plays the documentary maker, the "real" documentary part I would film myself, but the turning point of the movie, where the filmmaker becomes a fictional character that needs to be played by an actress.

Relation to previous practice

I'm trying to stay in my previous themes of interest. Wich I consider is manipulation of truth, the longing for advice from a bigger individual or spirit and creating a language that is suitable for the target audience.

I see a lot of overlap in my previous research in specifically the second character, whois the sovereign citizen. In the theories of Ideology, the big other, trepanation (making a hole in the skull of a living person to create a higher consciousness) which seems in the line of the Tachyon Energy Theory, longing for a bigger power. This is also a theme within the projects of last year called Fortunewood. Hereby a company has the role of the bigger other and offers advice to individuals. I can also imagine there is a connection with the philosophy of Noam Chomsky and a person choosing to be a sovereign citizen. Both theories lean against conspiracy theories, I find it fascinating where a story crosses the line of conspiracy.

Relation to a larger context

In combination with my thesis, I would like to research the cause and effect of storytelling, the rhetoric's behind the manipulation of believability of the truth.

I'm researching different storytellers, the ones I see as role models are:

Charlie Kaufman
Patricia Highsmith
George Orwell