Pathways (working title) by Warren Chan
Digital; ~6-9 minutes.
Logline: A sparse experimental documentary that uses Downtown Toronto’s labyrinthine PATH system as a backdrop to explore feelings of alienation in sterile, consumerism-driven liminal spaces.
Synopsis: Since the era of vaporwave, millennial artists and videographers have demonstrated a fascination with dead malls, a symbol of consumer culture accelerated past its breaking point and the isolating claustrophobia of a market-driven world. This can be seen in media ranging from video installation pieces to a deluge of YouTube channels dedicated to exploring these spaces.
Likewise, Pathways (working title) will examine the underground network of malls in Downtown Toronto. Through this, I will explore isolation and alienation in a sterile, market-driven world. The eerily sterile commercial nature of the PATH system may impose a sense of claustrophobia and dread. Yet, it is merely a liminal space that takes you from point A to point B. But is your destination, the above-ground world any different? Pathways will explore the PATH system as a microcosm of the world at large.
Treatment: This film will cut between two scenes: a sparse exploration of the PATH system, and a dream-like visual of the above-ground world.
For the PATH scenes, I will use the uncanny nostalgia of 00s digital cameras to evoke a sense of displacement from space and time. These scenes will be shot at night when there are few people around in order to highlight the feelings of isolation.
The gritty image will be juxtaposed with a constructed landscape that is eerily sparse, foregrounding echoing footsteps and distant Muzak. This will highlight not only the themes of isolation and alienation, but also the heightened artifice of the space.
Intercut with these scenes will be dream-like images of the above-ground world (using techniques I used in my previous film, where I project images through prisms) in order to express the fleeting desire to grasp onto a world that exists outside of the lonely labyrinth of malls. However, as the film progresses, these images become less distorted; as they become less distorted, the content of the images start to focus on billboards, ads, and stores. These scenes will be punctuated by complete silence in order to accentuate its distance.
In addition, I may experiment with additional aural elements, such as narration or disembodied voices.
Need for/importance of/uniqueness of your perspective/connection to your documentary: I intend for this film to work both individually and as a diptych alongside my previous film, I Dream of Vancouver. Both films explore alienation from the space one is in due to these spaces being defined by market forces. The implementation of the filming methods from I Dream of Vancouver in Pathways bridge the two, and together, they form a conversation exploring different facets of the same topic. My process here also forms a dialogue with my process in I Dream of Vancouver: in that film, I made a film about Vancouver from a distance, but with a personal connection to the space, whereas here, I am making a film about Toronto while in the space, but as an outsider to the city.
Participants/Cast/Interviewees: I intend not to include any human participants in my film as I am exploring alienation and isolation. I will aim for empty shooting locations, and if human figures are visible in the distance, they will not be identifiable.
Locations: The PATH system in Downtown Toronto; various Toronto locations
Shooting schedule:
PATH shoot: Thursday, February 27, 6-8pm
Outdoor shoot: Sunday, March 1, 12-4pm
Pickups (if necessary): Wednesday, March 11, 7-8pm
Crew: none
Equipment list: various digital camcorders and camera phones from the 00s
Budget: $0
Elevator pitch:
I am creating an experimental documentary that uses obsolete digital video technologies to capture the liminal space of Toronto’s PATH system. Through this, the video examines alienation and isolation in a world run by consumer culture and how the dream of freedom from this labyrinth is an increasingly fleeting fantasy. This process-driven film will be made on a shoe-string budget without crew or cast.
Film 5050: Warren 