It’s been about 5 months since I’ve made a film since Steps. That’s a long time for me. I probably would have waited till 2018 to make a new work, because shiny, clean new year, and all that (and what a NON shiny clean year has this been, on a multitude of levels). Nevertheless, while I had something brewing this time, experimenting with little shorts and looks for a while instead of “the BIG Movie,” I pushed myself to get something coherent out at request for inclusion in an upcoming show. So in keeping with my recent interest in horror, Alternate Ending was born this week.
The way I put together this film was for me, chaotic. I started with many different clips. I played with them. Then I recorded a known song a cappella and distorted it in a very electronic way.
For me the most interesting part of editing is what you slice off to get to the core. Particularly when you are having a hard time articulating something. All the “NON shiny clean year” of 2017 was shrouding my head in thick, dark clouds. Experiences related to the #MeToo movement made everything go into hyperspace anguish speed. Mostly, I’ve spent my artistic year of 2017 feeling really angry, frightened, disgusted, and ultimately, exhausted. Could I get anything of value made with my favorite medium out there one more time? And if so, would it be any good?
As my editing of Alternative Ending continued, the name of the work changed many times. Along with clips thrown away (and yes that song I recorded ended up being a hated item I was relieved to get rid of too), the name of my work changed over and over and over. The only thing I knew was that in line with my previous films, the perspective was going to be distinctly female, and this time even more violent.
I returned to using dance in this film, as I did with Steps, but this time I gravitated to a single female dancer (in the case of the Korean dancer, it is a man playing the part of a sorceress). Luckily, I found a female Japanese dancer with a sword. But no seen opponent. In fact, while there is a couple in this film who are shown twice, there is no definite answer to who the females in this film enchant, fight to kill, or fight to escape.
Which portrays perfectly the kind of horrific chaos this year has embodied for me.
Odilonvert 