Exploring Alternatives –
In my Film Production blog, I talked about how unhappy I was with my first film. Things haven’t got any easier. I still feel very poorly, but the perfectionist in me is not prepared to let this go. I absolutely ‘hate’ the first version of my film now! Unfortunately, I just seem to have such a severe creative block at the moment. One of the greatest challenges I faced was trying to come up with yet another script! At one point I thought ‘oh stuff it’ I’ll just stick with what I’ve done. However I just couldn’t do that. I went to bed feeling pretty ill and pretty down.
They say that sometimes when you are facing a problem, your brain will help you to work things out while you are asleep. Last week in my state of feeling so down ‘my brain, my subconscious the universe, god’ or call it what you like came to the rescue overnight while asleep!
This morning I remembered something that I’d long been aware of yet forgotten. This was the old concept of ‘The Eighth Day’. In some theological interpretations, the “Eighth Day” symbolises the day of resurrection or the eternal Sabbath, representing a new beginning or a time beyond the constraints of earthly existence. This concept is derived from the Jewish tradition, where the seventh day (Sabbath) is followed by an eighth day, signifying a transition to a new creation or a time outside of ordinary time. Indeed, the ‘Eighth Day’ often symbolises renewal and the fulfilment of promises, commonly preceded by destruction. It has also been used in various contexts throughout history, sometimes representing a concept beyond the conventional cycle of time, or as a metaphor for a new beginning or transformation. It has been used to describe eternity even the mystical and apocalyptic.
Therefore, I felt the concept of an ‘Eighth Day’ would tie in very nicely with my research into AI art and humanoid robots. The questions for me were, as humans do we resolve to be destroyed by AI? Or, do we enter our ‘Eighth Day’, choosing to evolve positively with it. Will our ‘Eighth Day’ be mystical or apocalyptic? I could feel a new deeper and more interesting narrative for my film beginning to develop.
Many writers and artists over the years have popularised the term ‘Eighth Day’ and these include:
Thornton Wilder – “The Eighth Day” (Novel)
An American author, Wilder’s novel, published in 1967, explores the lives of two families in the early 20th century. It delves into themes of faith, destiny, and the search for meaning.
Octavio Paz – “The Eighth Day” (Poem)
Renowned Mexican poet Octavio Paz explores existential themes, though his poem titled “The Eighth Day” Paz’s work often reflects deep philosophical inquiries.
Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt – “The Eighth Day” (Play)
This play by the French-Belgian author explores themes of existence and spirituality, reflecting Schmitt’s interest in metaphysical questions.
Hazel O’Connor – “Eighth Day” (Song)
This song by British singer-songwriter Hazel O’Connor is from her 1980 album “Breaking Glass.” It reflects on themes of creation, technology, and the future of humanity.
Perhaps the whole biblical concept of an ‘Eighth Day’ has actually been subconsciously and secretly influencing me all this time, but I didn’t consciously realise it? What this memory did however, was show me how the old biblical concept of an ‘Eighth Day’ could be an apt approach as a new and improved narrative for my video.
Taking Inspiration from the Biblical Term Eighth Day
My mobile is all about addressing the balance of power (hence a mobile) between the hidden humanity behind the algorithms and the rise of technology – ‘Unity in Bits’ vs Unity in Bits and Bytes’. Therefore, I wondered if I could take some inspiration from the ‘Eighth Day’ in the context of an unknown new beginning or a march towards an alternative existence. An evolution perhaps? I felt that an ‘Eighth Day’ style narrative was a perfect fit in terms of what I was trying to achieve.
Sadly, I’m no poet, so I needed a little help from my electronic ‘friend’. I embarked on a joint human and ChatGPT (evolving with it) venture. This was to construct a poetic form of words that would express our gradual descent into a very dark place. ChatGPT became my personal thesaurus, bouncing words backwards and forwards. I would type in the sentiment and it would use its extensive vocabulary to help me find appropriate rhyming words. It was a long process but easier than if I was manually searching an online dictionary.
At the same time I decided to juxtapose some brighter and lighter imagery to deliberately add a sense of ambiguity. After all we don’t really know if we are entering the mystical or the apocalyptic when it comes to AI. Therefore, in the end, it’s up to the viewer to decide.
Below is a complete reworking of my video. Some clips are still missing but as I’ve got a tutorial coming up, I thought it was probably better to show something even if it is still at a conceptual stage.
The Balance of Power (Concept II Unfinished)
Even if I’ve achieved nothing else with the reworking of my film, I have gained a lot of knowledge about sound and it’s importance. I am so much happier with the quality of sound on this video. There are some clips missing but I am waiting for my printed book to arrive so that I can film this. I think it is also important that I add some kind of text to explain how my work in the first half of the video was an attempt to resolve the question of AI art (I was using it in a 2d manner). The second half shows how I move from digital to a mix of physical, digital and AI. Part one of the video is resolving and part 2 is evolving. If there is no explanation of this, I feel the viewer could be left wondering why they are seeing what they are seeing. There’s still a lot of work to do!
I think the duvet trick mentioned in my Film Production blog, worked ‘like a charm’. I hope you agree that the sound quality is much improved? I also spent hours choosing the background music – I want the music to be sad yet at the same time hopeful. For the purposes of comparison the first version of the film can be found here. I’m just sooooo tired now.
