Multiple Choices

Abstract

In life there is no reset button, second chance or multiple lives like a video game. We live our lives according to the decisions we make every day. Some seek the comfort in daily routines and patterns, while others seek the fulfillment in the unexplored or new and exciting, constantly chasing new experiences. Either one of these types of individuals can feel the complete satisfaction of life while they live their ways and make their distinct choices. Only he who decides can fully understand his choice. Through a series of creative endeavors my goal is to create a film with a central theme of ”change”. More specifically, how an individual goes from point A to point B making a series of decisions that leaves him/her different by the end. What was learned? What was experienced? Did it hold any meaning? These potential changes would be separated into four categories such as Physical, Emotional, Rational, and Irrational. My project involves seeing how different choices and paths lead to drastic endings that can involve some sort of transformation in those categories above. The purpose of this video is to show that whether or not one makes good or bad decisions, one may not go backward to redo what has been done. In real life we live with and accept the consequences of our decisions. This piece will be an interactive film in which viewers pick different decisions and by the end will have to make sense of what they just went through. Similar to a “choose your own adventure” story except, the main difference being that in my video, you can’t go back to replay. This decision is important because it connects the idea of irreversible real life consequences to a branching video with multiple paths/endings. There is an attempt to be intentionally ambiguous about where the plot goes and what it means to be living through it. If a viewer were to finish the video without taking away an experience other than it being a slice of life, then that’s fine. But, if the viewer takes away some significance from the experience, then it is a success. This paper will help show the different inspirations and processes that took place in order to achieve the final product of my work. This project was shot in the first person using a strap and a 4K GoPro. The decision to make the film first person was an easy one to make because it increases immersion. Perhaps this tactic is more prevalent in video games; inviting the player to become the character they are controlling. Often in games, the character being controlled is rarely named and his/her character traits are never explicitly explained. The actions taken by the character through the player determine who the character is and who they become.