Month: March 2017

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4D Installation Proposal: Possession Obsession

Table of Content

  1. Title + Concept

    (Story + Intention/Motive)

  2. Artist References:

    1. Tracey Emin & Museum of Broken Relationship
    2. Film Aesthetics

  3. Execution

    1. Location/Space
    2. Lighting
    3. Props
    4. Footage
    5. Sound
    6. Smell

 

Title: Possession Obsession

Concept:

It is a narrative based idea on:

Everything is a passing moment, what can we do to preserve those memories? Why do people obsess over the physical things that link them to a memory, in hopes to possess it?

Preservation of memories, memories of someone you hold dear, hold true to the heart.

 

Motive of this installation:

To allow people to delve further into the obsessive nature of someone who cannot let go of the past and struggles to hold onto memories that are fleeting.

 

Memories are fleeting moments, hence we understand the meaning of collecting objects so we can preserve and remember them.

 

Storyline:

It is a significant development from Naomi and Kai’s assignment 2 where the male lead, Pierre Tan, left her.

Lead actress wants to tell –

  1. The story of how it happened through the objects she obsessively collected from her ex during the relationship and what these objects mean to her.
  2. To tell the story of their 1 month relationship through these objects. The short time frame is used to highlight her obsessive behaviour.

 

A collection of 30 items as mementos to represent each day of the month

 

Photographs of him sleeping Fingerprints Retainers
Sound Recordings Used Scotch Tape Used Underwear
Used toothpaste Toothbrush Dental Floss
Old clothes Shades Dried Contact Lens
Used condom Towel Nails
Protagonist’s diary Wax Comb
A lock of hair Water Bottles Belts
Blanket Shoes Socks
Shaver Post-it notes with msg Ugly portrait of him
Deodorant Forks and Spoon Cup (In the film already)

 

  1. Artist Reference for Concept:

Tracy Emmy, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With (1963-1995)

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en-GB&v=15jVnBlt6e0&gl=SG

 

Emin creates an intimate space through the use of a tent and narrates her personal story through the visuals displayed. Photos, names and letters of the people she had slept with are stuck up on the interior of the tent.

 

INSPIRATION: We’re using the idea of a limited space to reflect the protagonist’s intimate thoughts and experience. Visuals do not stand alone but coexist with the footage, space and sound to depict the theme of our work, which in this case, the protagonist’s obsession of her ex-lover.

Image Credit: https://chelseapalmer1212720.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/emin-tent.jpg?w=240

 

Museum of Broken Relationships, Copenhagen, Denmark

Using objects that the audience can touch and feel and experience for themselves (e.g. reading a diary), it will be able to give clues and insights on the characteristics on the protagonist as well as the person she is obsessed about.

The amount of items as well as the nature of the items could also further accentuate the obsessive behaviour and mindset of the girl.

 

Artist Reference for Film Aesthetics:

Movie: See You Tomorrow (2016)

There was a scene in the movie where the main character reveals the collection of items he has collected and saved in the boot of his car that were from his relationship with his passed on ex-lover. He was unwilling to let go of the memories tied to this person despite it being many years since his lover passed on.

Amélie (2002)

1:57:20 Towards the end of the movie, we the scene of Amelie and Nino riding on a bike captured in a sepia tone colour. The footage is also fast forward to create a sense of fleeting moment. Short snippets of Amelie’s solo shot are cleverly interweaved as if to remind audience the story is about the Amélie.

 

  1. Execution

  1. Location

Dark room (2D Room): To give an unsettling feel

  1. Lighting
    Red tint: To show desire
    Projection of Footage: Footage will contain glitches to create sudden brightness in the environment. Also, the film that would be played to reveal the meaning of the 30 objects in the course of the relationship. This is used as a visual accompaniment to the installation.

  1. Footage: BLURRY & DREAM-LIKE STATE

To depict fleeting memories of their one-month relationship. It will be fast forward to create the sense of fleeting moment where details cannot be examined.

  1. Props

30 objects to narrate the story of their one-month relationship. We will also experiment with mirrors with lipstick messages written all-over it and images of Pierre to depict what lead actress wanted to see everyday

  1. Sound:
    Replaying of sounds, music, recordings.
    Eg. lullabies of the male lead singing for the girl
  2. Smell:
    Musky smell with a tint of cologne: To reinforce her obsessive behaviour of wanting to preserve his smell.
    Diffuser labelled ‘his smell.’

 

Shrine stored in a storage unit in the basement

IDEAS FOR ROOM EXECUTION:

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“To Us”

 

Story

Girl is constantly replaying the memories of her past failed relationship in her head as she struggles to cope with her depression.

Sound

The background music is very simple; to evoke the idea of sadness, reminisce, and pain. It is constant throughout the film to set the overall mood. Then, using the idea of a repetitive sound, which was the “ear ringing” sound, I created the idea of increasing hungover-ness. It got worse at the end of the film because the girl’s heartache gets more painful as she is reminded of perhaps why he left (the fight scene).

In the scene of where she is seen tossing and turning as well, I repeated the audio of the previous fight scene to suggest the idea of the scene (which was right before the bed tossing scene) that’s stuck in her head and that is why she can’t fall asleep. It is a strong memory because it is the significant scene right before he left her, which could suggest to the audience the possible reason of why he chose to leave.

And instead of replaying the entire scene while she tossed and turned, the use of the fight’s conversation symbolises it playing over and over her head. Especially the words “What’s wrong with you?”, which was his last words in the fight scene. I repeated it thrice to make it seem to ring in her head before she gets out of bed.

Personal Reflection

Overall, this project was difficult as I was faced with the challenge of thinking mostly about sound. I really struggled as I do not have a good grip with sounds influencing film. So I started to think about the mood of the story. As this story was quite relatable, I started to think about how I felt during my own personal experiences. So that was the trigger for me.

The use of the “ear ringing” sound came to me quite quickly because that’s how I literally felt and heard during my personal experiences. After I got that down, all the other sounds pretty much fell into place. Overall, it was a really fun thought-provoking assignment that I definitely enjoyed.