Canon- The Story Beyond the Still Project

I've been meaning to blog about this for an age.

One of my early ideas, which i think i did mention at some point, maybe not, is now coming back in relation to where my head is at now. I'll start from the beginning:

I had a dream about a year ago where my father and I were walking through one of the parks in London. We came across an opening where a huge circus tent / marquee was being disassembled. We approached the guys working on the site and asked what we'd missed.


They told us that there was a 1 day event that had taken place yesterday, where a group of artists and members of the public had filmed a scene from a film. They only had the 1 scene to work from and had no idea about the whole plot, or where this scene fitted into it. They had a list of characters, some clothing and props that were associated with those characters, and some materials to construct a Michel Gondry type set.


They had a script and a time duration and they created and shot the scene.


This event was taking place in multiple locations across the country, maybe even internationally. Each location had a different scene. They would then be brought together to form a complete narrative.


This was a well informed workman. Anyway, we'd missed it and on we walked.


On waking I initially just thought, that was odd, but on reflection later that day I realised that it was quite an interesting project idea.

I thought I would save that for my final project and carried on with my life.

A few months later I came across the 'Story Behind the Still' project, organised by Canon and run and presented on Vimeo.com

Here's a link to the site: CLICK



This is a different direction which i had also thought about taking. The first scene is made by canon, uploaded onto vimeo, then the public are challenged to make the next chapter, they are uploaded, a winner is chosen, then the competition starts again asking for responses to chapter 2.

The link is that the last frame is a still and must be the first frame of the next chapter.

The end result is an 8 chapter film, complete in it's own right.

But what you also get are the other entries, possible paths that could have been taken. A labyrinth of options, a web of narrative flow.

Cool huh.

Copy Cats - CBBC

There's a family gameshow on CBBC that uses a number of different methods of creating chains of information.

Rounds include, Drawing, Music and Mime.

5 people stand in individual pods with walls on either side. The first member is given a word or object or song. They then have 10 seconds to convey that information to the 2nd person. The doors then shut and the 2nd has to convey what they have received to the 3rd.

Basically it's Chinese Whispers.

It's interesting and of course entertaining to see how in under a minute the information can be distorted and confused.

So how is this going to work?

This process will take place between my 2 twin towns, Bishops Stortford and Lincoln.

I'm interested in coffee shops, a place to escape and have a break from the daily cycle.

Individuals, sitting alone, drinking and eating, alone. I could bring these people together. Not in the moment, not in reality but in the final edit.

In Stortford I have the tea shop: Delicious
In Lincoln I have the tea shop: The Angel

Cafe culture, the meeting point, social interaction (these are some words)

The Medium

I want to have a conversation with you, just a chat, dialogue back and forth, back and forth.

I then want to have a conversation with you, just a chat, dialogue back and forth, back and forth.

I want to record this both sound and vision.

I then want to remove myself from this conversation, this chat, the dialogue remains

back and forth, back and forth.


The definition of Medium:

an intervening agency, means, or instrument by which something is conveyed or accomplished: Words are a medium of expression.


an intervening substance, as air, through which a force acts or an effect is produced.


one of the means or channels of general communication, information, or entertainment in society, as newspapers, radio, or television.


I will play the medium, the messenger.

I will ask a question, get a response, be asked a question in return.
I will pose that question to someone else, get a response, be asked a question in return.
I will pose that question to someone else, get a response, be asked a question in return.
......................................

A chain of dialogue will form, from which I the medium will be removed.

Conversation will remain. A complete conversation that never took place. Time and distance will blur.

This is the plan.

What Jayum's been thinking