TREATMENT

My film essay is tentatively titled “Pattern” but I really want to think of something more creative, perhaps something to do with pattern itself. I am focusing on specific facets of pattern – routine, rhythm, pattern in the sense of repetition and order, and the disruption of pattern. I will focus on each of the first three as separate pieces, with intertitles announcing their respective explorations. Routine will be explored through images (filming of a repetitive daily schedule) and related sounds (repetitive narrative, “over and over and over”, “again. again. again.”) Rhythm will be explored through images (day-to-day activity of city creating “rhythm of city”, soldiers marching in rhythm) and related sounds (rhythmic music, heartbeat.) Pattern in the sense of repetition and order will be explored through images (textile/printed pattern, observed patterns in nature/architecture/etc, “1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3” image/symbol concept) and related sounds (“1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3” sound concept.) Lastly, I will combine images and themes from the former three sections to introduce the breaking of pattern section. I hope to repeat images at a quickening pace to (hopefully) induce a negative attitude towards them and bring up simultaneous feelings of congestion/complication and monotony/sameness in pattern. Here I will include questions exploring how and why the facets of pattern can become congested and monotonous, the implications of this, and why it may become important to break pattern. I will also hopefully provide sound bites from interviews that give interpretive and subjective responses to these questions. I will end with images and sounds that suggest pattern being broken or disrupted. These images and sounds will relate to sounds and images that were explored in other sections in order to make critical connections (heart beat slowing, dissonant sound, irregular image sequencing, change in schedule, marching out of rhythm.) I may or may not end with additional exploration of what comes of the breaking of pattern through questions/answers or image/sound themes. I would like to leave it somewhat open ended, if this is appropriate. I plan to use as many images and sounds that I film and produce myself as possible. It seems that certain items (marching soldiers, heartbeat, etc) will be easier to access/better in quality if I use found footage and sound bites from YouTube and such, so I will most likely do that. I believe that my essay’s aesthetic will rely more on its editing than its cinematography, therefore I will probably simplify the cinematography and put emphasis on editing.