'Mouse' - An ITLADIAN short film

[justintagg]

Hello all.

I am a filmmaker and writer and have been a keen follower of this forum and of Anthony's work since the very first book and have had my own very powerful experiences of The Daemon.

I am, I must say, keen to avoid assuming I have experienced something out of the ordinary or trying to find evidence to support it, just because I want it to be true. I am, however, absolutely convinced that there are things beyond our current thinking that we have missed and that many of Anthony's theories shine a great light on the gaping holes in the current models. The things that stay in my mind and the things which I have definitely experienced are too powerful to ignore. This thought has been with me for a long time and I have, personally, always seen story as my way of exploring ideas and territory too speculative to attack directly. I am, I suppose, a storyteller.

I am working on an ITLADIAN short film right now, a science fiction film called 'Mouse' and I mean science fiction in the best way, a BIG idea which helps magnify and challenge our understanding of human nature and, in turn, our perception of reality.

As a fiction film it is an indirect and seductive question, rather than a direct challenge to current thinking.

It touches on THE DAEMON (The Dark Passenger), ETERNAL LOOPS (Groundhog Day) and challenges the basic idea that we as a carbon based physical body are all unique and therefore, special.

Anyway. To a practical matter before I delve further into the idea.

I have spent a lot of time desperately WANTING to make great work and finding myself too busy, too tired after work etc. I started an MA to make a day a week that I could write work and whilst I have written lots of new ideas, making them happen is still difficult. Especially in the current financial climate (particularly for the Arts). I found myself waiting for life to happen or give me a break. Then, of course, I realised I need to take action myself to make it happen. I have a tenacious vision for this film. It deserves to get made. (particularly in light of ITLAD and the way the paradigm is shifting) So, I decided that if the budget was the biggest obstacle to making this happen I should take matters it into my own hands.

I am crowdfunding for this film. Crowdfunding is about getting little bits of investment from lots of people in return for incentives. The people who tend to get involved are those which are excited by the idea. It is relevant to them. Crowdfunding means you can find your audience in advance of shooting. It means more interesting things can get made. So far we have raised 14% of our small £3,000 budget in just over a week (this includes the Christmas lull). It is simply about finding the audience and the interested parties and saying, look, this should be made, this needs to be out in the world and I need your help.

Back to the story.

Mouse is a short scifi film about a man trapped in a giant human experiment where he is only one of a thousand clones of himself.

The principle/background to the story (this is revealed, powerfully, but visually, in the final few moments of the short film) is that there is a place set up, in the future, where there are a thousand identical buildings each with a thousand identical rooms and in each room is a clone of one man.

Each day the clones are woken in the same way, in the same state and one variable is changed in order to test how predictable we are.

As a narrative it challenges the idea that we are so unique. Imagine if you were confronted with another you, one that looked the same, had the same habits etc. Would you still feel so unique? Is our uniqueness based in a place outside of the physical? Are most of the behaviours we see as 'ours' learnt, patterned behaviours based on a lot of things around us? If that is true, why do we cling to them so much...

The story is a mystery, following what happens when one man wakes up, his discovery of the other clones, his realisation that his actions are not unique and his attempt at escape. It will keep people on the edge of their seats as an excellent piece of filmmaking (we want to break into Cannes) whilst also having, at it's heart, really innovative and challenging ideas.

So every day they live the same day, again and again. They are woken in an identical manner and cannot remember anything about the previous run-through. But, just before they wake (and as we are in the opening credits) there is always this one lone voice in their minds, which says ‘Don’t wake up’. This is the Daemon screaming to get through before they are plunged back in their LOOP again and again.

One of my main fascinations with ITLAD is the idea that one thing which keeps us so blind is how solid our belief in our own uniqueness becomes.

I have this analogy which is based around the way a computer game world is set up. What if we lived in that world and one day became self aware. We may want to know where we came from, what we are made of. We would hunt for a long time for the answers and eventually find that we could break ourselves down into very small pieces. We would, mistakenly, assume that because we can see them and we can understand them these pieces must be the one key to knowing where we came from and what is real. However, by doing this we will successfully find the pixel... but not the screen.

Mouse is about ITLAD. A man, trapped within his own body. A daemon trying to get through. A looped universe which he relives time and time again. And the idea that the body, we value as being so unique, is not unique at all. When faced with a thousand versions of yourself all doing the same thing, perhaps we would no longer see ourselves as being so unique and we may question our decisions and look at life in a new way.

Anyway, to cut this a little short now I need the help of those of you who are intrigued by the film, by those of you who can see the benefit of putting ITLAD ideas into story form and, I suppose those of you who, like me, truly value good science fiction (for it's role in shining a light on our own reality more clearly).

1: read the pitch, watch the haunting teaser video (which includes the 'Don't wake up' motif and if you want to help this film get made support us at http://www.sponsume.com/project/mouse

2: share the link on your social networks, crowdfunding is not just about the money but the supporters you pick up on the way! In the past week, alongside money we have raised we have also had contact from people offering to work on this for free, offering thousands of pounds of visual effects support because they believe in the work.

90% of crowdfunding projects that make it to 30% will get full funded. We have made it to 14% already... But I believe in this film and know I have to keep working all the hours to get it made.

In exchange for funding (because this is how crowdfunding works) we are offering things from download links of the finished film, DVD's right up to associate and executive producer credits. (It would be amazing to have some ITLADIAN associate producers, it's just such a strong message)

Finally, from a personal perspective. I want you guys involved and as funders because to me, this is an ITLADIAN film. This can be the first new short film made with direct support from this forum. This is an exciting collaboration opportunity. And it will be an outstanding film.

Nobody likes asking for money. I just keep reminding myself that to make something happen you have to take action. I believe in this work and the opportunity for more ITLAD stories in the future too.

Thanks for reading. Please take a look at the pitch page here http://www.sponsume.com/project/mouse our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/mouseshortfilm and the teaser video http://vimeo.com/33657734

Wouldn't it be wonderful if together we were to get this ITLAD short film made? I'm excited just thinking about it. It could be another way of getting ITLAD ideas out there, screenings and then Q+A sessions around ITLAD reaching new audiences.

I want ITLADIANS involved.

Thanks so much for reading,

Justin

[Martin Higgins]

I've just read Justin's screenplay for this and think it's excellent. Definitely ITLADian. It would make a fantastic short. It has a Gnostic flavour, incorporating a kind of 'black iron prison', coupled with humans caught in eternally recurring patterns. Would love to see it made (the film not the prison). Good luck!