Crit Presentation of 4/12/2012

In my project, i'm trying to recreate the Zone from A. Tarkovsky's movie "Stalker".

The question i'd like to answer is - what makes a place a place, instead of just a space?

By changing our point of view, we look at things differently, and of course each person has his own opinion, based on his beliefs.

So what is Zone? I'm creating its story. I can say, Zone is an object which exists only when it has occupants - the Travellers.

They are everywhere, but we usually dont pay attention to them. Small everyday things.

According to original Zone, we humans are an alien existence; and i'm trying to capture the true occupiers of that space.

My research is mainly based on the movie "Stalker" and the book "Roadside Picnic".

Also due to the nature of Zone, i'm looking at the world's anomalies, such as Bermuda Triangle.

The main theory, which i can relate my project to, is the theory by Sartre, existentialism.

Firstly i took a lot of experimental footage, trying to capture the motion/movement through the space and how we see it through the camera's frame.

Some of those experiments were successful, some not. But i went with ideas to the very end, and now i can see where they work or not.

The theory of Sartre says, that as long as we define ourselves, we exist.

But may i ask, if there's no observer, then how do we know of other's existence?

In some interviews, Tarkovsky said that the purpose of art is to give out the form of impression, some sort of catharsis, to challenge ourselves. Not to show the rain, but to make us feel being rained upon.

My Zone can be anywhere. It's us who set its boundaries. I'm creating it in such a way, that it can exist only within the camera. I show the area, captured between the 3 points, and then i bring attention to what's happening there, or i make you believe that it is something significant.

Due to the fact that the Zone is only in the camera, i need to settle with the specific route of how the movement is going on. This will be explored through devices in next term.

I'm basing the motion on the route they take in the movie and in the book. Simply keeping to the geometry of it.

The funny thing is, we are not given the parameters of the Zone. Nor the time or the distance they are traveling. It is irrelevant to the artists. Instead they focus on the mystery of Zone and the feelings of travellers.

As i mentioned before, i will be creating the film with the help of devices. The idea was given to me by the short films of Tony Hill, such as Story of Wheel and Holding the Viewer.

Also, i hope to further develop my planning of space. I will create detailed map models of the Zone and clearly indicate where is my trajectory through that space, and how the camera will be moving there,