Exploring the boundry between the truth and a lie:
Everytime i ask for directions, there is a moment where a thought of
skeptisism crosses my mind. So i decided that i would cure my distrust
of the strangers i ask for directions by proving to myself that nobody
is lying to me. So i decided to hit the streets asking for directions
to a place that i would know how to get to. I brought a friend and a
camera, but we ended up getting lost. So before we even started the
project, we asked a guy for directions... and he lied. Sure, maybe it
wasn't intentional. But it threw me off. So then i started exploring
the boundry between the truth and a lie. So we went to the bars
and just started asking people about lies, and how they can tell when
someone is lying. what we ended up getting were people lying to us
about lying.
This project was filmed in San Antonio, Texas and features the music of
Mates of State.
Accounts Recievable:
“Suppose everyone has a box, with something in it: we call it a
“beetle”. No one can look into anyone else’s box, and everyone says he
knows what a beetle is only by looking at his beetle.- Here it would be
quite possible for everyone to have something different in his box. One
might even imagine such a thing as constantly changing…”
Ludwig Wittgenstein in Philosophical Investigations
Biff is an average guy, with a home, and a job, and probably some
friends. It would be safe to say that he probably stays safe, tucked
away under the radar, where no one would notice him, and he just blends
into the background of his occupation. But in his place of work, as he
sits in front of a computer typing randomly, and occasionally moving
the mouse, where he looks more average than ever, it is not what it
seems. As we enter his “box” and Biff dives into a pool, he escapes his
present job, and changes his world of reality into playing chess,
riding a bike, making a salad, playing the guitar, painting, and
enjoying moments that he creates.
This film starts with a long scene of Biff sitting at his desk. This
scene is long, and should leave the viewer feeling bored, and a little
uncomfortable, as if they shouldn’t be staring at someone for such a
long time. But as the typing fades and the camera moves toward Biff’s
box, the audience suddenly sees him standing on a diving board. Then he
jumps into the water and a series of exciting images come and go.
Constantly changing. Until his salad of thoughts is complete, and he
resumes back to his job.
My friend Shuan Bruce and I filmed this short project around Austin and
edited it with Final Cut Pro.
It featured the local Austin band The Octopus Project.