Day 1
The unnamed protagonist hears the voice at the start of the day, and begins following it’s instructions. This first video establishes the format and patterns that the later video’s will follow, as well planting the seeds for protagonist to later ignore the voice. The protagonist ends the day at the gazebo, with the video ending at the sunset.
Day 2
This video has the protagonist wave to someone at the street, as well as pay special attention to the ISC. This is one of the few videos to involve actors other than myself, with the lack of much communication leading to the more isolating nature of the videos. As established in the last video, the protagonist ends at the sunset, and the screen fades to black.
Day 3
This video features the first big deviation by the protagonist, where instead of following the usual path they break off and run through the ISC. After running through and getting lost, it is only with the help of the voice that they are able to leave and get back on track. The series of videos in ISC fade into one another, lending to the more chaotic nature of this segment. As usual, the video ends at sunset.
Day 4
This video starts like usual, but the protagonist is clearly much less willing to listen as they take the time to stare out the window rather than leave. They also deviate by going to the vending machine instead of class, prompting the voice to question their motives. The protagonist and voice are growing more and more antagonistic towards one another, culminating in the voice not allowing the protagonist to see the sunset and instead forcing them to study.
Day 5
The protagonist leaves the house and is not given any help as they fumble their way silently through a social encounter. They are also commanded to study instead of sit at the gazebo, causing them to sit in the Union until night. As they are walking home, the protagonist suddenly bolts away from the planned path, only to fall to the ground in the middle of a field. This is a major turning point in the story, as the protagonist has all but thrown the voice away in favor of their own free will, though at the cost of losing the voice’s guidance.
Day 6
This video starts with the protagonist waking in the same field they fell in last video, and beginning the slow walk through campus back home. The voice pipes in every now and then to contemplate on the protagonist’s actions, calling into question what they hope to accomplish by disobeying and mourning what could have been if they had listened. This is the longest video of the seven, comprised of a single take with the voice popping in every now and then. The length of the video helps to establish how much more difficult things have become for the protagonist without the voice’s interference. As they arrive home, the voice asks for one more chance, and the protagonist heads inside.
Day 7
This video starts the same as most of the others in the protagonist’s room, and follows a very similar formula than the first. The protagonist does nothing to disobey the narrator, despite them offering them options to try new things. This sequence serves as a juxtaposition to the previous videos, as the protagonist does very little to showcase any freewill. However, this is all the calm before the storm. The voices takes the protagonist to the gazebo as usual. However, the protagonist then decides to leave the camera on the gazebo facing the ceiling, and the voice with it. The voice demands that the protagonist return, and weakly implores that they cannot see the sunset without them before the screen fades to black, and the video series ends.
Follow this hyperlink to read Ryan Silverstein’s project statement.