Circadian Cinema: A Working Model
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| Jessa LaForce as Outis Salon as the stranger on the highway in SmackDabMedia's "Zero" |
In the Circadian Cinema Model, Continuity and Script supervision is eliminated in favor of a Narrative Advisor. The duties include those that are familiar to the previous positions in that there is a process of recording "occurrences" such as gesture, placement or positioning. In filmic narratives, however, the technology forces a labour intensive day that requires someone to record the actions because often there are hours or days in-between shots and setups. The speed and simplicity of image capture with digital technologies makes these positions obsolete. The other difference between that of Continuity and Supervisor with that of Narrative Advisor is that the former is always working "from" something such as a script. Since Circadian Cinema occurs without scripts on set, the Narrative Advisor maintains a record of those actions organic to the camera reality. The promotion of that which is accidental differs from the improvised in that the improvised often leads to the accidental and rarely the reverse.
The Natural
Music and sound in all their forms are inherent in an oral or electronic culture and medium. Therefore all music and sound must come from the diegesis of the image. Where film sound relied almost exclusively on sound from reality proper and reality as defined by the narrative (diegesis), video finds itself in a unique historical position. Perhaps because of television, a spectator tends to define the sound associated with a video image as being more based in "reality proper" than the narrative or filmic construct. So when video is used in a traditionally narrative arena there are different possibilities, expectations, and ramifications for a filmmaker to exploit.
Sound permits us to absorb the visuals in ways that would not be possible were it not for the sound, but can also affect what is necessary visually. Although seemingly inconsistent or artificial, music in film also assumes that the picture aspires to a naturalness in which the image and sound share equal billing. However, it is more likely that music helps maintain emphasis on the image, especially when, for psychological reasons, vision becomes the dominant sense used to create the emotion within. We seem most immersed when the music and image throw into relief the other, and at this moment we may appreciate either for their powers alone.
The narrative or dramatic arena is traditionally built on the model of the theatrical or literary work; that is the minds of those accustomed to verbal expression. Sound and our ability to hear is one of the senses utilized. The camera and our eyes scan the image with anticipation and with the hope of fulfilling our desires. Disregarding that the relation of the music to the image may imply priority, the important thing is that this inseperable relationship enliven the visuals to the point of evoking a more material representation of camera reality.
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| Jesse Weinstein as Frank Sivart in SmackDabMedia's award-winning "Beat the Blue" |
Sources of inspiration for Circadian Cinema should be original and not filmic or literary. They may come from art, or philosophy, or poetry, or a postmodern mix. They may document or experiment in the tradition of the avant-garde artists who broke away from the commercialized cinema, not only because of what they perceived was the inferior quality of the adaptations, but more out of the conviction that the story as the main element is alien to the medium. In fact, a story is often seen as the only industry insisted prerequisite of appreciable box-office returns. The technology of video has given us the ability to tell a story about many - to many, but the language particular to video will emerge out of the personal telling of stories. Techniques and devices will arise and without the distracting elements of artifice. Paul Ryan, an early video pioneer writes:
Whatever the electronic camera takes in passes through your eye to the brain. The term scanning is much more appropriate for video camera work than the term shooting, borrowed from the world of film. That implies selecting a target and pulling the trigger. Scanning implies searching for events in the alpha state.
He goes on to explain one of the fundamental differences in recording between video and film:
Video perception is the absence of parallax. Normally with two eyes open we take advantage of parallax to gauge how far away from something we are: that is distance. Looking through a video camera with one eye, and closing the other, leaves you without the advantage of parallax. The triangulation of an object in space contributes to our normal tendency to identify and name objects and then jump to another object to name and classify. This process of naming, classifying, jumping, and judging is part of our common everyday awareness. A video camera enables one to push the envelope of perception into a way of seeing that is free of triangulation, naming and classifying. This is different in film technology where you are taught to measure exact distance prior to a shot for lens, f-top and lighting concerns. Without the redundancy of two eyes providing triangular positioning in space, the one-eyed video mind seeks redundancy over time. Returning to the same patterns in different ways, at different times, creates redundancy over time.
The filmmaker must stick to appearances to render intelligible incidentally, in an inevitably schematic manner the interior, personal world.
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