In classical Hollywood narrative cinema a protagonist and antagonist through a series of interactions drive a plot forward. This action is carried out through verbal and physical interactions in a cause and effect relationship between different characters. I propose a silent narrative where characters not only do not speak but also do not even physically interact.
This experimental narrative would involve a narration that reflects one’s inner thoughts and would represent the reaction to these non interactions. It would display how in one’s daily life there are any number of non characters that play a role in silently effecting our actions both current and future. For example, a peak at another’s shirt could entice us to buy a similar shirt. This is a rather trivial example but I believe it could be expanded into more substantial relationships.
I am continually driven to investigate interactions of people in transit or their pit stops between their consciously designated point A and point B. I am interested in looking at quick glances or chance ephemeral encounters; the moments that seemingly vanish before they begin with people that are never introduced and likely never will be. What is the result of these relationships? Will they unknowingly or knowingly be met again?
How often do these brief glances or encounters linger in one’s mind, do they develop into something more-if not in reality-in one’s imagination? What is the difference between an event that disappears like a fleeting dream and one that stays? These events that begin small can grow into fantasies or if not that simple assumptions about the nature of the event or person. Feelings and ideas can hatch based on these personal fictions, forming an entirely new result or effect from the initial cause.
For example, If a person mistakenly brushes against someone and gets their attention for a brief moment a glance can be shared. A glance with no implications perhaps on either end. However, this simple catalyst is enough to insight a change in behavior. Perhaps the male party becomes interested in the person he would have otherwise not noticed and begins changing his pattern to run into the female. Maybe he even puts in extra effort to be noticed. He could shave and dress a little nicer the next day. He may even become more alert and attempt to recreate the initial scenario.
What develops is an unprovoked sense of optimism, hope and yearning for the other party to fill the role he desperately desires. Unlike in a classical narrative, this other character holds no obligations in reality and is most likely unaware of the plot developing around them. This is where the narration would develop. The stream of consciousness would read, “does she notice my shirt, I hope she notices my shirt. I wore it for her. I want her to notice my shirt. I could stand over here. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
This type of non interaction could be brought into a large scale of interweaving non interactions that would somehow tie together a series of unintentionally interrelated events. What comes to mind initially, beside the possibilities that exist for this in the real world, are the quasi interactions inherent with social networking sites. People put their lives on display and create a series of tableaus that passersby are effected by, forming opinions and assumptions about the individual and possibly instigating action. Further, communication between two parties can be peered into and though the one looking in is not part of the interaction, their thoughts and actions are augmented because of it. When someone posts an ambiguous or possibly cloaked message to all, who is it directed at? Who thinks it is directed at them?
Considering street photography and mixing fictional characters and set up situations with real people in a real environment, does it matter which is which? Everyone is an actor on some level and interactions can be predictable. I am drawn to generic characters that one encounters reflecting characters of the screen. Bus boy #2 or Girl in red. These characters though generic are highly specific. How often do these people blur together and every girl in red becomes the “Girl in red”, this character can be monumentalized. Somewhere the idea of the person transcends who they actually are. They become something more than human because one doesn’t know them, something beautiful.
The voyeuristic nature or obsession in this act of looking brings me back to the screen. The act of capturing these instances to be displayed reflects the initial acts captured. As these people look at each other and fail to interact, they reflect the act of the viewer. With any film, one watches a series of events unfold from the outside. Often, these images inspire the person to think about or feel something they otherwise might not have. Art has the power to inspire and precipitate emotions from thin air. What this work would become is an investigation into the power and extent people have to inspire one another.
I am specifically interested in the fantastic stranger. There are certain people that one encounters in their daily life that interest them. They begin to watch these people for whatever reason, possibly even talk about them to others. This person can become a celebrity among people who have never met them. By reading their face and observing their actions from afar, one might draw a narrative for this person. They could create an elaborate system of assumptions that manifests a fantastic life and backdrop for this stranger to exist in. This fictional life and story could be what inspires the person.
The creation of an observed character makes me think about what people choose to show and not show in the process of grooming their public image. Getting to know someone involves revealing certain things that are otherwise not shown. This process reminds me of the fabula and suzchet. As one progresses more of the other is revealed. The mechanism of viewing is again tied to human interaction.
Like found footage, I’d like to explore found people. I’d like to tie the interactions of people to the interactions of the audience and the screen. I want to understand what is possible and impossible between groups of people that are known and unknown. I am more curious about people that are unknown. What do people choose to show and hide, what do others choose to see. I believe looking at people in transit or as people mix in the mundane everyday environment can be revealing. There are certain stages where characters interact dramas unfold. I’m not interested in obvious interactions or dramas between known bodies. I’m interested in the aggregate crowds of the line, elevator or bus stop. People enter a space and may not talk to each other, but they are aware of the other presence. They glance at one another and hold themselves appropriately, they have a certain air about them. The action or reason for them being there is accomplished, still no physical or verbal interaction. Then the bodies depart with lingering impressions of the event and the participants. I want to show people on the screen, the drama they take part in everyday with these intimate strangers, while they are concentrated on their conscious dramas of people they know and are focused on.
