Storyboards: "What Remains"

Attached find the storyboards for my digital video / installation -- "What Remains" ...

[Storyboards conceived by Jon Comeau, shot by Ben Baker-Smith, actor Jeff Vaudrin-McLean]

The storyboards themselves apply only to the single-channel digital video -- the installation will be slightly different, as it will incorporate multiple channels.








-jon

Recommendation

Diary of a Country Priest, dir. Robert Bresson, 1950. Bresson begins to experiment with paring down the audiovisual experience in this film. This would become his trademark in later films such as 1959's Pickpocket: attempting to reach a state of transcendental audiovisual purity. He also began to use non-actors in this film: the Country Priest is played by non-actor Claude Laydu, though Laydu would go on to achieve some success in acting and directing later. Laydu plays a priest recently assigned to a country town; the film documents his trials in attempting to reconcile the differences between reality and high, religious morals. Ultimately, this is a film about a single individual - Laydu's character - and his struggle to justify his faith toward God. The film follows Laydu's character, as he observes the townspeople in his journal - the journal entries are given to the audience in voice over. Voice over is also used to narrate what the character is doing at various moments - often the narration itself distracts from the sublime power of Bresson's stark visuals. However, given that this is the story of a man obsessed with reality and attempting to embrace the sublime, the oppressive narration makes sense: he is unable to embrace the Grace of God as it exists around him. We are trapped in that state with him; we realize how similar we are to the Country Priest, a man of God.

Recommendations

Theme Song, dir. Vito Acconci, 1973. Vito uses a video camera in CU on his face, his body in the middle and background. He undulates to seduce the viewer - using pop songs as advertisement for his sexuality. Interesting: video as masturbation ... Acconci acknowledges the viewers nonexistence to him: "I can feel your body right next to me ... I know I'm only kidding myself ... you're not here."

Check Acconci out on UBU.

***

Death Day Suit: with self-inflicted damage, dir. Jubal Brown, 2002. In DV, Brown showcases the injuries he has inflicted on himself over the past 10+ years, chronicling the possibility of suicide and/or death at any moment. Absolute nihilism, pure schizophrenic ecstasy [what would Baudrillard say?]. Brown counts his scars, relaying tedious information to us, yet the scars are not showcased in a manner apparent to the viewer - for instance, chronologically. Time has no meaning, and, simultaneously, time means everything: all this pain will end.

Bare Bones

I realize that, when I meditate, there is only me: as if I were in a room surrounded on all sides by mirrors and all I could see was myself. It is at times freeing, at times frightening - always sobering. It makes me think of the past - of things and people gone, what I haven't done. And I think of the present and realize that the past is a mere illusion, predicated on the absolution of memory. In Sans Soleil, Marker's woman says - and I paraphrase - "Memory is the silver lining to the clouds of forgetfulness," which is why the past is romanticized, never allowed to disintegrate. But it seems a disreality - we can never prove it.

I return - in my meditation - and think of the present: of where I am, what this is. What is this? Where is this? And I realize the present is predicated on a history of reality - the past once more. Rules of the present are the mistakes of the past - the painful memories. Thus, what is the present but a reflection of the past? But the past itself is an illusion - thus, what is the present but a reflexive, painful memory of the past - itself a romanticized, unprovable illusion?

All I can see clearly is myself but this - like reality, like the past, like the present - is but a reflection of other reflections. I cannot prove myself - whether I exist or not. Descartes' statement is utter bullshit - perhaps his thoughts are an illusion themselves.

But this notion of "illusions" must also be cast aside, for the very notion of illusion is a ground on which to stand. One could become paranoid, believing that one is surrounded by illusion - evil illusion, even. But, really, this paranoia simply arises from the fear of being fundamentally different. Those who are different are paranoid - paranoia arises from a view of reality that differs from the norm. But really this is just a dumbing down of the fundamental actuality of the human existence: all experience differently (if we claim that "all" exist). Therefore, even illusion must be cast aside.

Nothing is proven in any case. All is groundless.