Friday, January 16, 2015

Tummy Worms


A short film about symmetry in space and time, and the meaning of a stomach

The purpose of this film was to destroy the idea that a stomach is the only organ for digesting.  The footage is arranged to be symmetrical, so that the scenes of outdoors form the outer layer, the scenes involving the chair form the second layer, and the scenes of the gummy worms form the core, with a specific progression (in, and then out again).

Marshall McLuhan's quote "We look at the present through a rear-view mirror" was the initial spark of inspiration for this film,  The reversed footage, featuring awkward backwards walking and bodily functions moving in the wrong direction, is meant to communicate the way the concept of time as defined by conventional ideology can be played with in unsettling ways with a tool like digital recording.  "'Time' has ceased, 'space' has vanished.  We now live in ... a simultaneous happening"

The stomach contents going in and out is meant to poke fun at the idea of creation and consumption, more specifically the creation and consumption of art (like this film).

(Disclaimer:  Because of the title, most of the recommended videos from youtube following this video are about intestinal parasites)

4 comments:

  1. Well, this is pretty gross, but in a good way? I think you definitely achieved the unsettling effect you were looking for. I like the opening backwards puke shot the most; there's something so strange about the way you walk towards the camera (or away from it, reversed, I guess) that makes you seem almost possessed. The chair shots were nicely framed as well. Great job!

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  2. This is insane. Agreed with Amanda, I think my favorite part is when you're walking "towards" the camera but it looks really weird because you're actually walking backwards... Some interesting things are being brought up in this video but I can't quite put my finger on what they are...

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  3. Noah, I found your film to be unique and unconventional in the way you sequenced it and reversed several of your clips, especially the one scene where you puke your guts out. I wasn't exactly sure what it all meant in the end, but then again it's an experimental film and I thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless. I agree with Amanda that your chair scenes were well-framed, and I also think they offered a nice change in tone. I hope you continue coming up with even stranger ideas as we dig deeper into this course.

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  4. I think we had sort of similar ideas with the forward and backward motion- I really like how you used it here to disorient the viewer's perception of what was happening, and your use of gross squishy sounds. Nice one!

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