It’s difficult to decipher exactly what Entangled Media is. An example we discussed is in Ingold’s journal “Rethinking the animate, reanimating thought” (2007): He refers to this concept of a “meshwork” rather than a network, because networks are more coherent and traceable. A distinctive part of meshwork is the way that parts of it work with and support each other, while being interconnected with other significant and insignificant features. This gives meaning to the insignificant features, an example of this in film could be the quiet sound of coffee spilt after being placed down during an argument. Despite it being in the background, and just a small sound effect inserted into the film, it contributes to a meshwork of different modalities that contribute to the overall immersion and narrative of the film.
I’m not 100% sure that this concept of entangled media is correct, but that’s what I’m thinking so far.
After watching “Dead stuff: The secret ingredient in our food chain by John C. Moore” I wrote that I felt Entanglement was “the interwoven layers of a video.”
My idea:
I want my piece to be about social meshwork: the way that people communicate how they’re feeling through small idiosyncrasies and sounds. People would be mimicking each other, it would start off with a stutter, an “uh…” or an awkward laugh. I want to create this uncomfortable sound scape, of people making nervous noises and hesitant contributions, until a powerful voice comes in to change the dynamic, the soundscape would then be filled up with loud noises and powerful discussion. I want to convey a range of emotions without coherent words, but instead noises like grunts and laughter and sighs. If I pull it off, I think it would have the potential to be really cool.
Though this idea works well for sound, for film I’m considering making it about the facial movements you make when you’re thinking, or upset, or uncomfortable: the slight move of mouth when you’re nervous, or the twitch in your eye when you’re upset. I think it would be a large uncomfortable but cool experience. The sound to go with the visual piece could be anxiety inducing noises, sounds like alarms and sirens. I would like to do close ups of facial expressions, only show one part of the face at a time, a nose scrunch or an eyebrow raised or a mouth smiling or frowning. But only that. I don’t want the whole screen to ever be consumed unless for a short-term dramatic effect. I think this visual piece could make people think about the way they interpret expressions of emotions. What if we’re misinterpreting the emotion that people are intending to give off? Ingold says, “…it encourages us to focus, in the first place, not on elements but on the connections between them, and thereby to adopt what is often called a relational perspective”. Ingolds theory overlaps when discussing social meshwork, we’ve adopted the connections between a raise of an eyebrow to convey a particular feeling or emotion. I hope my film will convey a different feeling for every viewer.
UPDATE: To record the footage, I’m going to write something uncomfortable to read and have people read it off of something similar to a teleprompter. The writing will be difficult to read, and it will force them to stutter, and probably laugh awkwardly. If I can capture this with a camera and microphone, I think it would only take a single take for me to get all the media I need.
