In his introduction Ziauddin Sardar tells the reader that "science fiction explores space," but not the realms of outer space as one might think, instead he has observed that "as a genre the space that science fiction most intimately explores is interior and human; to tell future stories it recycles the structure and tropes of ancient narrative tradition and to devise dramatic tension it deploys issues and angst that are immediately present" (1). In order to fully communicate these future stories "science fiction needs aliens" (5), they are a basic presence integral to the process of examining humanity. - By Ziauddin Sardar and Sean Cubitt (Link 1)
As my idea revolves around presenting a narrative piece involving an invasion of Glasgow from another species, I have been examining methods of representing these 'Aliens/Others'. In this, I want to portray a social commentary focal on issues of race, gender and the general trajectory of current geopolitical relations in our current world. More specifically, I want to allegorically comment on the current international relations by presenting a situation of an invasion which takes place in Glasgow, instigated by others from another planet or dimension who have been invaded for their natural resources by another planet who do not have the same availability to sustain themselves without these resources. In this, I plan for most of these messages to be conveyed through the dialogue between the humans and 'the aliens/others,' as I am currently working within a no-budget sphere, but I also think the way in which I ultimately choose to present these 'aliens/others' could add a lot more impact to this concept and potentially be most effective in its most minimalist form - both comedically and poignantly.
I believe by including this 'non-human' perspective, it will allow me to present commentaries relevant within our own world, but also allow a comedic dissonance and present this perspective allegorically and ambiguously.I have been experimenting with how I wish to represent these 'others' and how much I want to vary their appearance from that of 'humans,' alternatively - I thought I could make a fairly poignant argument by also representing these characters similarly to what we expect of our own human race - creating a stark parallel between knowns and unknowns in society. 'Aliens' or 'Others' in this case, also provide a uniquely universally understood image in our world - yet still retain ambivalence as there is no confirmation of their existence, never mind appearance. In relation to the overarching theme of satire, I feel if I choose to portray these characters in a less stylised, more human way, it may remove some levels of satirical value, and potentially be too close to reality to make an abstract point. For my first experiment, I have edited on shots which feature use of varying depth of focus, which allowed me to distort human figures providing an 'alien' and ambiguous aesthetic. In post editing I have varied the opacity, contrast and mask blurring to see which effect may provide the best result. In the future, I plan to conduct another experiment but in the daylight, to see if these editing techniques will be as useful with another lighting balance, or whether it will render the concept ineffective.
Furthering this, I have considered the idea of constantly changing the appearances of these 'others/aliens' consistently throughout the film, in order to reflect the notion of reducing people to their physical image for whatever purpose, and how our initial perceptions often are not accurate whatsoever. I found the article by Sardar and Sean Cubitt particularly interesting as it focuses on the importance of 'aliens' in examining the human experience, as it allows for an alternative perspective on issues but incorporates a natural distance from the actual subject, as these 'aliens/others' are evidently not of this world, and therefore are not 'directly commenting from experience'. (Link 1) I feel this ambivalence may elude to further thought into how we view people/aliens/those different to us, which is exactly what I wish to investigate and evoke thoughts around in my final project. Ultimately, I want to achieve the best representation possible, both theoretically and aesthetically. I've included a link to my initial experiment of this below (Link 2)
Although the premise of my hypothesized plot trajectory will include an 'invasion,' as aforementioned, my budget is limited at this stage and so I have been looking at more experimental and arguably, abstract ways to portray this dominance. I have taken some time filming lights around my flat as a basis for further experiments in this area, and through editing have managed to warp some fairly standard household fixtures which is highly beneficial in regards to my budget. I have incorporated details within the script which will allow me to evade the visual portrayal of some of these elements, but I am still interested in challenging myself as much as possible throughout this process, and ultimately producing the most successful short film I can. My lights experiment is linked below (Link 3)
Link 1: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/scope/documents/2003/august-2003/book-rev-aug-2003.pdf
Link to video experiment 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz6CTGH4yjQ&feature=youtu.be
Link to video (Lights experiment): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBudUNSpHW8