I was thinking about the storytelling process and the roll of the editor in a traditional linear single channel film or video. The editing leads the viewer through the story. The editor decides what the viewer will see. Consider a scene in which two characters are having a conversation: We could see person A, person B, or both in the same frame. The editor can emphasize elements of the conversation by focussing on one person or the other. Do we focus on the person who is speaking? Do we focus on the reactions of the person who is listening? When do we show the reaction? When do we show the speaker? When do we show both characters in the same frame? It depends on what the editor chooses to emphasize. A particular reaction to the speaker's words? A close up? Or a wide shot in which the viewer can see both?
I was thinking about the possibility of handing the editing roll to the viewer, involving the viewer in the experience in a more immersive way....
What if the viewers (audience) were in the middle, deciding for themselves who to watch? How would I give the editing process over to the viewers, allowing a participatory roll in the video experience, rather than a passive roll?....
A dual channel video production... Two screens, on opposite walls, the viewers (audience) in the middle....
On each screen, the characters would have their conversation, uncut, displayed simultaneously. The viewers, positioned in between the two screens would then decide who they should look at. In this case, the viewer 'becomes' the 'editor'.
I would place the screens on opposite walls, with the audience in between. Sitting in between the two screens, the viewer would only be able to see one character at a time, but would have an active choice as to which character to look at.
In this way, the audience becomes part of the editing process. Each viewer would have to decide for themselves when to 'cut' (by turning to look at the opposite wall).
Sunday, October 25, 2009
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