BEHIND THE SCENES FILMING — THE TAILED CHIMERA — STEPHEN HARRIS
Filming session three of four ✔
Stephen Harris was a brilliantly surreal Chimera! he was completely ridiculous, with puerile humour, and a deadpan delivery of the sarcastic... everything I was going for!!
Before every filming session I have a series of back and forth messages with my collaborators, as well as a Skype or in-person chat with them to ensure that they are aware of all aspects of the project, and have the essential background information about the narrative. However, it is really important that each character is improvised based on the actor’s own personal life, and experiences. There is no script, only a list of questions.
Like all good art, I want my audience to project their own stories, meanings, and attachments on to my work, and I want the same responses from my collaborators. I have worked hard (by practising with my test films) to provide them with just the right amount of information, and prompts to make this film both realistic, and ridiculous at the same time.
Steve was the most chilled out of Chimeras. He just takes the growths in his stride, and tries not to worry. There are a few side effects he’s not so happy about, and his pets are resentful, but on the whole life as a fish isn’t so bad.
An intriguing facet brought up during Steve’s interview was the notion of “coming out” In this context, coming out as a Chimera. His one-line quip about coming out to his family and friends stuck with me, and we ended up having a really interesting conversation about it post-filming. There are lots of instances in our lives where we have to come out to people, and a lot of the time it can be quite a negative experience. Coming out as LGBT immediately springs to mind given the current climate surrounding gay rights, and advocacy for a freedom of sexuality. I’m pansexual. I never really came out to anyone in a meaningful way, I decided it would just happen itself into conversation if it needed to, and that was that. I am lucky to be surrounded by weird, wonderful, and accepting people, so my story is a positive one... but a lot of people are not so lucky. There is fear, sadness, and even danger in coming out to someone. Showcasing vulnerability by sharing information. It is an odd dimension within our culture... and like with environmentalism, a characteristic I would like to explore in a deeper fashion in the future. For now, this Chimeric-coming-out story is a positive one, perhaps in the future I will comment on the more sinister side of how it can feel to reveal guarded information to ill effects.
Stephen Harris - The Tailed Chimera
Stuart Jones - The Filmmaker
Sara Jane Woods & Zak Harris - for letting us take over your house, and cooking us wonderful food!
Stay tuned to see the next Chimeric story...
