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spacer  Three Stories

workshop

 

  week 6
    The three main themes that emerged during the previous weeks were worked on during this week. Participants split up into three small groups and discussed was to develop the themes further. The results of the discussion are listed below, again in no particular order.
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Conflict Resolution Falsity Protest
Room full of people fighting, fade to black, same room but with less people - as film proceeds there are less and less in the room - two are eventually left and the can’t remember what they are fighting over - last shot is of an empty room. Situations where people misrepresent themselves or abuse their positions of power - sexual harassment in an office by executive and his secretary, making her do things she doesn’t want to keep her job.
Silent protest - not speaking or refusing to engage in a dialogue can be the strongest form of protest, whether dealing with an interrogator or even a teacher.
Four young people are fighting, as the scene progresses they become the older - switching the younger participants of the group for the older ones. Priest and woman where the woman uses it to her advantage, the power relationship of the affair is reversed her as the man is in the vulnerable position. Protest over a protest - domestic setting where the children replace the parents in an argument, serving them meals etc., if extended out into other aspects of life, school becomes an OAP day centre with dependency roles switched.

Various scenes of people cleaning themselves and their homes - the fight is against dirt not between individuals - neurotic cleaners or neat freaks - eventually you return to the dirt or dust from which you came - dirt never killed anyone.

Brother versus sister where one gets the other to give over concert tickets because the other skipped school. Silent protest - in a crowd of people the most silent person can be the loudest in terms of protest, especially in a domestics scene with a few people, with one family member ignoring the fight.
Neighbours fighting over their hedges, a typical suburban scene with neighbours arguing over each others small gardens, one grows a tall hedge, the other a fence, the fight continues as one issue is resolved they find another thing to fight over - eventually they move into adjoining apartments in an effort to resolve the tension, but they just find something else to fight over. Work situation, where power produces conflict, the boss versus the employee, one manoeuvring, manipulating over the weaker worker. Protesters sometimes seem to just love the whole performance of protesting - love shouting, making noise, placards, almost rent-a-protester - when the issues fall away or are forgotten.
Arguments tend to use similar language - various settings show a group of four people arguing, although the people and locations change the words or sentences are the same - all repeating the same script.

A room with a group of people - they are all interacting silently and passing between them things that represent various kinds of corruption or blackmail, bags of coins, plastic baggies with powder, briefcase of cash, sod of earth - highlighting the exchange of commodities.

Protesting for the sake of it - protest scene of placards, posters and leaflets - instead all are blank, this set of protesters are replaced by a group with a diagonal line through their signage and then this group replaced by another with an opposite diagonal, forming an "X".

Two people facing the camera not each other, having an argument and talking simultaneously - the cacophony continues with the two not making eye contact.

A person has a piece of paper stuck on their back with words like cheater, liar, unfaithful, thief - to get the sign removed they have to pay the injured party. Silent protest - two people refusing to talk so send written notes to each other, their personal protests escalate with tape dividing the house apart, running down the centre of rooms, eventually leading to separate rooms being installed for the pair.

Difference between the way people look and act around each other can cause conflict - people of different heights, getting to close, invading personal space all result in intimidation.

Shadow of a person - the evil side of an individual, every time someone tries to do something their shadow undoes the work.  
An argument is reversed - starting with shaking hands and progressing backward where an argument gains momentum although the words seem not to provoke or incite, the anger or intensity reversed as effect before cause.    


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