SLACKER (the movie) and the NARRATIVE

This was going to be a list of movies that deal with ideas of "narrative" in an unconventional way. you might say they represent analysis through narrative. Through these narrative techniques we are forced to look at things from a new perspective. Additionally, these examples use these narrative techniques that relate (in theory) back to the subject/idea. But this really is a focus on the movie slacker - (the link below does not take you directly to the movie, but you can see it in the menu list.)

Slacker (currently watching): a stream of consciousness type of narrative that questions alternate potential realities. It also deals with ideas of "the outcast" and conspiracy theories. Hierarchy is experimented with here in the fact that there is none. No soundtrack to highlight/background visual information (and by that I'm simply talking about the use of music that provides tensions/context - a auditory version of a perspective drawing (forced viewpoint). Here there is no forced viewpoint no hierarchy - nothing OUT OF SCALE. - remember we are talking about relationships here - and systems of similarity/different, in this case systems of scale.

"we've been on the moon since the 50's...colonizing space...global bankruptcy" these are but a few lines used in one conversation.

My attitude towards this studio is one of "stream of consciousness", but it differs from the movie because it is represented in an non-linear way. (and by non-linear, I simply mean that there is no forced order in which the information is presented. the viewer is forced to be an active participant in the transfer of information.) - actually I think I take that all back - I'm not sure if you would necessarily concider slacker a "linear" narrative would you? It linear in the sense that all movies are linear (an example of non-linear, - who remembers "choose your own adventure". - and on a side note, might you consider the whole "choose your own adventure." a precursor to video games that follow a narrative - say like Grand Theft Auto. I wonder, in fact, if anyone has considered doing a video game series based on the books. - ah strike that (sort of), they have now sort of according to amazon, There is a "choose your own adventure - the abominable snowman" DVD that came out in 2006. As a side note, I'd like to point out that the use of a DVD player as a game platform, is a subversive idea. Its using tools and infrastructures in ways they were not designed to do. You don't play games on DVD players, you watch movies. however, this whole discussion is a bit outdated now anyway, as more and more people use their game consouls to watch movies. - and really this brings up an interesting idea, which I am sure is being discussed as we speak, and that is the general convergence of movie/game. Are we not moving towards "entertainment" based on simulated environments? a "holodeck" if you will. I hold up Nintendo's wii as an example of this trajectory. and I hold this below video as a perfect example of what I am talking about.

Watch Rejected Wii Games and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

but I digress. (in the spirit of stream of consciousness). and back to "SLACKER" I would like to foreground, in terms of heirachy, a particular scene of the film (beginning around minute 21:50) as another example of an interesting narrative technique - in a way similar to the pecha kucha style of narrative. Its also a GREAT FANTASTIC EXAMPLE of the type of NARRATIVES (marrying image and text) that I am trying to get you all to do.

"Huh, that was interesting" says the unidentified woman, and you know what? I concur.

and back to the linearity/non-linearity issue of SLACKER


Once again, my an argument of mine is that there is value in the sketch - skecthing is a way to produce and document ideas quickly. These posts should be thought of as "narrative sketches"

we want to just get the ideas out there, talk about them, and determine what ideas have value and what do not.

And as I watch slacker it totally relates, because its about moments of events that our "out of scale" of our daily lives.