It’s about the snow

It did start with the snow, kind of. Eyal commissioned us to register a moment, object or action that triggered, in our minds, a connection to our research. Currently, my research is around screenwriting in my own (practical) terms.

This moment

It was snowing, which amused me. I was also content to see Paz, my girlfriend, enjoying an old friend and her friend’s guitar. I grabbed the camera. Paz was feeling conscious about her guitar skills and did not want me to shoot video, so I moved behind her to stay out of her visual range. For a few minutes I looked for situations outside.

The video

I still was interested in how these two old friends in my living room were barely interacting. One on her cellphone and the other one on the guitar. I was also drawn to these two kids and their potential actions, if they were able to catch some snow. My attention was split between the boys and the young women next to me, whose sound emissions the camera had been recording. My attempt was to jump back and forth from the two pairs, looking for possible connections; an attempt to build a narration from zooming in and out and panning.

The outcome

By reviewing the material and reflecting about it on the basis of my research and methods, I made the following observations:

• The importance of actually starting. Finding and reviewing references is quite useful, but the hands-on approach is an essential part of my thinking process; of course I can think, but I can thoroughly think through making, testing, prototyping. Beyond that, a creation needs traction to keep itself moving forward. In this case, the initial traction or starting point was the snow, and from there I let myself move the camera towards my concerns, ending up with this piece that I would not care to call a proper work, but a train of thought from which I can draw annotations.
• Unreliability as a resource to build and sustain the narration. Information that betrays the first impression it might have generated in the audience. For instance, a tiny one: the video starts with two boys framed by a mellow and sloppy (mood setting) non-diegetic tune, that not only ends up being diegetic, but the action that gives birth to it (Paz rehearsing) ends up having narrative weight as well. Active elements whose relevance and purpose fluctuate.
• Dramaturgy is one of my elemental concerns. The exploitation of the resources in order to build-up or decrease emotions, to release information. The snow basically setting-up the sequence, triggering actions in the characters and sensations in the audience, affecting the pacing within the frame, what it provokes when it stops falling (closing a short chapter, conditioning different actions). It’s a matter of identifying the right resources and tuning their parameters as wisely and consciously as possible.
• The core is ‘human behavior’. One kid deciding to mess up with the other. Paz’s friend hooked-up to her cellphone until she realizes that the camera is pointing towards her. The filmmaker wildly amused by the snow and these other creatures. The big picture, being the relation between the two storylines portrayed. The small details as well. Those are the ones I am wanting to scrutiny, not morally but pseudo-scientifically.