The brief was thus: "Each participant gives a maximum 5 minute ONE SLIDE presentation about their research aspirations for the coming years". I chose Scene 1. from "Copacetica", a feature-length film that I am writing. A 'mélologue' is a spoken declamation with musical accompaniment or a soundscape, developed by the composer, Berlioz. I liked this idea. I have also been thinking a lot about Michael Haneke's use of lingering shots and stillness past the action or dialogue of a scene, so wanted to play a bit with that here. Rewriting the script directions, etc. for a narration definitely helped in refining the script itself.
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Set in the
1960s, Copacetica's themes include being different, the celebration of being an
outsider, seeing oneself from outside of the “norm”, and the interior conflicts
of “coming out” within a continuum as a (gay) male in a straight world. These
observations are set within the flux and instability of a period of great
social change, but which are often viewed in retrospect as consistent and
definable. Being straight or being gay can also be viewed in a similar way
within the wider culture’s need to set up a sexual binary and force sexual
“choice” decision-making for the benefit of the majority culture. Through the
device of the fleeting moment, the story interrogates the certainties and
uncertainties of the “norms” of modernity.
