Friday, December 10, 2010

Videoquest

Yesterday I compiled a second anthology of poems, of 48, each of which corresponds to a painting. After a trepidatory start, the poetry phase of the week is ended!

Today it was time for video! Last night I remembered that a video must be amazing and that's all, and also that the inherent benefits of surrealism are that it is amazing and easy to create. Remembering this, I wrote a film script this morning from my unconscious, a series of scenes that flow into the next. This will be the basis of the video I'll make to accompany my music, China Syndrome. It will be my first true artistic film. Here is the script as I wrote it:

Cutting open a tomato, zooming to change the arc into a rainbow. The edge of the rainbow turns into a circular saw blade. The edge of the blade turns into sea waves. A peg doll falls into the sea. She swims underwater and is attacked by peg fish. Her head is cut open like the tomato to reveal a rainbow inside. The rainbow rains money. A man with gold skin showers in the money. He holds up his hand which has a keyhole in the middle. A key is inserted and a door in the hand opens. Flying through the door down a tunnel, the tunnel exits in a forest. Moss grows and moves on the bark of a tree. The bark becomes furrows that stretch into the distance. The furrows become a field with a farmer wiping his brow, he stares at the burning sun. The sun is cut open with a knife like the tomato. There is a rainbow inside but we follow the knife this time. It is held by Zeus, wearing white surgeons gloves. Zeus strokes his beard and pulls a clump off it. He throws it and it becomes clouds on a blue sky. A raining day. A rusting knife in a puddle. A man glances up and sees a rainbow, then walks happily perhaps with a family into the sunset.

There will be no edits or changes at all (apart from spelling corrections!) Near the end of writing I realised that the story represented a quest for a good video, represented by the rainbow. The tomato/peg head/sun was my brain and/or heart. There are many symbols and steps along the way, but writing automatically like this manes that each one is correct, true and fits the story perfectly.

I've spent today assembling and making props (some pictured). Most were quite easy. The tunnel to fly down was at first tricky but I decided to make a cardboard tube and lower the camera down it on a string to simulate flying. The biggest challenge so far has been the sun and giant peg-doll models which need to be sliced open. Rusting a blade in a few hours is not easy either, but I am making progress on that. The hardest parts now are the locations, the furrowed farmer's field will be difficult to locate (but locating the sun in the sky will be nigh on impossible in this dull horrid weather). The forest will be easier. Still, my aim was to make the props today and film it all tomorrow. That will be difficult, especially doing it all alone. I'll try to rope a friend in to help.