The people of Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One all seem to hold one thing in common: their performances. Whether they are the actors or not, everyone is performing for the camera even when it’s not on them. The most apparent is when they have their wrap meetings where they discuss what the meaning of the film they are shooting. They tell the viewer that they have restarted the conversation for the purpose of filming it. Here they must recreate the points they made before. In a later wrap meeting, they even make the comment that the director could be standing outside at that moment and could be directing them in their conversation. Are they acting? As an audience we don’t know, but the crew knows if the conversation is a farce or real.
Even the male actor shows how a person is still acting when he thinks he isn’t on camera. While he thinks everyone is reloading their cameras he complains to one of the sound guys about his female co-actor. His emphasis and storytelling show the viewer that he acts for other people even when he believes the camera to be off. His realization that the camera was recording him causes him to laugh embarrassedly and creep away from the crew.
The viewer can only guess as to what is a true conversation or not, but the viewer should note that every person is performing for the camera and for others around them.
2 comments:
I very much subscribe to the belief that we, as a species, are constantly playing the role of 'the self.' The personality of any given individual is the manner through which they display something deeper and much more complex, something that could never be expressed so simply as through a dialogue with another.
The sense of humor or zealous nature of some is most often harbored because the individual is able to understand that that form of communication renders the most positive response from others.
Predominately, we shape the expression of self through the response to and reaction of others.
So...who are we, then?
I'm gonna go ahead and say I didn't see any valuable weight to Symbiopsychotaxiplasm at all. Other than it being documentation of an era, we watched a bunch of people fool around with cameras and try to feed off of one and other while believing that they were legitimately creating somethihng worthwhile. Acting for the camera vs. acting for people. Happens everyday. You guys seem to have sincere things to say about this film, but I just couldn't even take it semi seriously. This was more a rant than a blog, but for some reason that film got to me. Oy.
Post a Comment