36
In my opinion, this second episode, “Symmetry”, is less abstract than the first one, “Orientation”, and the editing rhythm is more dynamic, the voice interacts more with the main character and the effects are improved. Until which point do you want to arrive? Which are your references?
This is a very difficult question to answer, mostly because most of the time we work with what we have. For Symmetry, it was the original idea of setting up symmetric units of meaning, or symmetric signs, characters, plot points… almost like constructing the plot around a pivot. That felt like a very original way to approach our subject matter, for example the Lacan references regarding the infant “imago” state, while at the same time setting up a world where “native” characters can get entangled with others that they created in another level of story. Therefore, the perceived level of abstraction can differ, depending on the idea that we are trying to support. I don’t think we intentionally try to move towards this direction. In fact, the way Symmetry ends, it opens up its world significantly: “With maturation, comes the art of shaping: the populations, the rules, the structure, the symmetry”. So there are so many ways that the heroine can move forward: will it be more exploration, with just the domain rules changing? Or will she conjure up something more introspective and psychological?
Regarding the rest of your question, the answer is similar: for example, I’d love to have a sequence, near the end of the series, that would be inspired by Nolan’s Inception, but we know that that’s never going to happen. We do, however, make it a point to always take a few risks and attempt something that we are not sure how to pull off before we do it, and that is a way to push ourselves forward. In the end, I believe that the content itself, when distilled in the form of a screenplay, will point to the necessary directions, the obvious or less so, references, and whether parts of it will move towards action, character-driven plot, voice-over with experimental photography, with more or less dancing, and so on.
At the moment Imago is a platform for us, and we’re happy to be on it without trying to steer too much!