image copyright Aaron Diaz
The project moves ahead, and it seems I’ve a few questions that need answerin’…
Apologies for the lack of updates to the project over the last week. I was hoping to provide updates and to answer any queries daily but that hasn’t really been possible, so instead there’s quite a back log of issues to address and clarify.
First, and this is really a small housekeeping reminder really, as each of the 42 vignettes are being gradually taken up by participants in the project, please make sure you get in quick and nominate which one you’d like to complete. I’ve had quite a lot of ‘maybes’ and half-decisions come my way, but I really need you to confirm your nominations with me either via email (dermotmcguire@gmail.com) or twitter so you can secure the vignette you want. I’d hate for someone to miss out on participating in the project because they didn’t get the vignette they were after. Moreover, confirming which one you’re going to complete also helps me keep track of how the project is evolving and what genres or dramatic devices are proving popular and which aren’t.
Second, and this is a big one, I’ve had a lot of questions regarding how I wanted the vignettes to look, or how I wanted them scripted, or what relationship did I want the filmed vignettes to have with the original Diaz images. The short answer to all these is whatever you like; I am in no way putting stipulations or conditions on the sort of films that you produce, nor on the way that you choose to interpret the initial Diaz image.
image copyright Aaron Diaz
Which is to say, do what you feel like, just so long as it’s identifiable as the hypothetical scenario that you’ve picked.
Say you’ve picked “Amnesiac Villain Kidnaps Self“. Obviously, something about the scenario has appealed to you, and you’ve probably got an idea in mind already of what your film will be and how you want it to look, and because you’re terribly clever and you recognise the filmic and theatrical tropes that Diaz is playing with here (both in the “thriller” format, and in the dramatic use of peripeteia), you not only get the original joke, but you can flesh out in your mind’s eye the rest of the storyline to that scenario leading to that specific still image.
So, because you’ll have that all in your mind already, I’m not going to impose any restrictions on the way you choose to make that hypothetical scene a reality. Go for it. Do it however you feel like. Have fun with it. Play around with form and method; make a stop motion film, make a claymation, make it with a crew and a HD camera, make it with your mobile phone, whatever.
I’m not the creator here; you are. I am, at best, a custodian or a steward for your efforts, a participant playing a slightly different role to the rest of you, putting all your pieces together in order to assemble the whole. Which is a rather long way of saying: do what you want, just make it recognisable as that specific scenario.
image copyright Aaron Diaz
If I watch your film and think “yep, that’s totally a sci-fi reverse MacGuffin about an ancient alien pyramid scheme” then you’ve succeeded.
The rest is entirely up to you.
Something else I’d like to cover here briefly are some of the technical aspects of the project. I’ve said before that I want the project to be as accessible to non-specialists or artists as possible, so I’m keeping technical requirements to a bare minimum. For example: you’ve just completed your 1-2 minute film about unintentional incest. What then? Well, you’re going to have to get your film to me, and deliver it in a way that I can work with. The technical specifications for the export that I’d like to see are:
Compression: H.264
Dimensions: PAL 720×576 4:3Deinterlaced Source VideoSound at 44.100 kHz, 16-Bit Stereo
If the above mean nothing to you, send me an email or DM on twitter and I’ll be more than happy to walk you through the export process. For those of you who might have a little more experience, you might be wondering why I’ve asked for those specifications, specifically the H.264 compression and not, say, ProRes 422 or Motion Jpeg. This is largely because the finished films will have to be delivered to me via an FTP service. I won’t be able to receive DVDs in the mail, and I certainly won’t be able to receive your films in person, so the best way to get your film to me will be using a service like YouSendIt or Drop Box (there are plenty of other services out there, but those are two that I use regularly) where you’ll be able to upload your film to their servers and I’ll be able to download a copy of it at my end.
image copyright Aaron Diaz
Hence the need for your film to be exported with the H.264 compression; it will keep the file size down significantly and will save you a lot of time and ISP charges when you upload it.
Sorry for the very long update, hopefully though that’s cleared up a few queries you might’ve had. Again, feel free to send an email to dermotmcguire@gmail.com or DM me on twitter if you’ve any questions or suggestions. Good luck with getting your films finished guys, and please, keep spreading the word to any and all who might be interested in taking part in the project.
To update the list from my last post, the scenes that have been nominated (which is to say taken but not yet completed) are:
“Unreliable Narrator““Unreliable Reader““God Did it““Vampires Repel Daylight““It was a Dream““It wasn’t a Dream““Toy Actually Magic Wand““Wand Actually Handgun““Conspiracy Actually Kinda Boring”“Stolen Identity Not Worth It”“Autistic Boy Grants Wishes” (thank you Clare!)“Government is in on it”“Government is Actually Autistic Boy”“Dark Lord Reasonable”
If you’ve nominated a scenario to me and it’s not on this list, please let me know right away as I must’ve forgot…
[...] think the best way to send me your finished films (like I discussed in the last post) would [...]