First production done

This is a music video made for the David Lynch genero.tv by me and Mike Daye.
http://genero.tv/watch-video/15810/#

Elysium Avenue

Elysium Avenue is the 10 minute film I'm writing, producing, directing and editing for my final practical project at university. The idea came about this summer and has somehow developed into a 2nd draft of the script. The last months have been very hectic; writing, casting, location scouting, logistics etc.

At the moment I'm working to get a audition space in London in January sorted before going back to Norway for Christmas.

Here's the pitch from the green light session in November:

There is no such thing as utopia.

VAUGHN is a hansom man in his late twenties – early thirties living in the prestigious suburban street Elysium Avenue in the nation state Regi-Corp, a private company with complete monopoly of consumer and health/education services. And they are very strict, demanding that its citizens follow the ten commandments of Regi-Corp:

1. What is best for Regi-Corp is best for you

2. You shall not put yourself above others

3. You will have no screens in your home

4. Self expression is social disruption

5. You will not leave your home between 22:30 and 06:30

6. You will only interact physically if a pink ticket is provided

7. Human error is the only error

8. Unity is stronger than individuality

9. Regi-Corp's ideals are the only ideals

10. The traditional way of life is the only way of life

Those who fail to honour these commandments will be penalized.

Vaughn works for the department of education, behavioural and condition development. He is part of a number of scientists testing new methods of conditioning new citizens to follow the rules on a subconscious as well as conscious level, allowing peace and order to be maintained.

The film will take place in the events of a young woman, JOAN, moving to Vaughn’s street, he is the elected Community Officer and thus responsible for the neighbourhood to follow the ten commandments. Joan is a painter, making very expressional works, she moved from the Zone after being awarded money after a horrible accident leaving her with a scarred face.

Vaughn is introduced to Joan through his neighbour, mentor and boss RONALD and his wife NANCY. They invite Vaughn and Joan over for tea, seeing as they are both single, they could make a good couple. But Joan finds it very hard to deal with Ronald and Nancy, not only do they enjoy what she considers worthless artwork but Nancy has the nerve to suggest plastic surgery to cover her scars. Vaughn offers to take her home, he comforts her as she vents. He asks if she would accept his pink ticket, she does and invite him. She start to kiss him, he kisses her back, eyes open he notices one of her paintings, being against the strict regulations of Regi-Corp. He holds her tightly and starts eating away her scarred lips, bleeding she runs into the living room where he brutally murders her, injects himself with a calming sedative and goes home only to stair into thin air. 

Here's the backstory for the world it is set in:

The idea of a Utopia has become reality. There are no longer countries, states, national boarders; the world is united. Everyone is equal, gender, race, and class. When the market grew and ultimately formed what is called the NEW WORLD, there was no longer any First, Secondary or Third World. The New World consists of the ZONE and areas owned by corporations, known as the COLONIES. This led to the ethnic fusion; ethnical minorities became equal to the majority and over time skin pigmentation differences vanished. This is not to say that there were no e.g. White or Black pigmented citizens, but that these traits are rare. The human race was once again the human race.

This process of Mass Market Globalization, food, electronics, media entertainment etc., gave rise to a vast number of fundamentalist oppositions, i.e. racial, religious, gender, and class extremists.  The free market of the free world saw this not as a threat, but as a business opportunity; what if we could offer these groups their ideal world. This led to the idea of the ultimate product, the possibility to live in a virtual world you consider being the ideal. This virtual is not in the sense of a videogame; it is the sense that it is a fantasy, your fantasy. This product is the realization of your fantasy, your utopia. It is also the most expensive and sought after product on the market; you as a consumer, can live in a world with others who all agree on what the world should be like.

It saw the rise of a number of corporate colonies, completely separated from what became known as the zone. The problem of these colonies was not that they did not offer what was advertised, they did. It was simply a matter of logistic inconsideration. As the Zone had spread across the world, allowing ethic fusion, the idea of these fundamentalist ideologies became a problem to realize. Let’s take for example the attempt to create an ultimate product that offered the neo-nazi Third Reich. Being very strict with their belief in the white, blonde and blue-eyed Übermensch, it became hard to sustain these features. Every child that developed dark hair or brown eyes was to be terminated. And with this being a niche product, not very lucrative to the citizens of the Zone, the influx of new citizens was minimal. Over time this colony became inbred, the growing majority of babies born had physical deformations. In the end this colony was unable to sustain itself and was shut down.

This made other colonial companies aware of the flaws of the ultimate product and so began the golden age of genetics. Each company knew that they had to find an effective way of keeping the population stable that did not result the colony becoming inbred. However, the first challenged they faced was to repopulate. Internal population growth occurs naturally, but in order to keep this population genetically diverse external immigration growth is required. Each company must find suitable consumers and get them to move to the colony. Once they accept, the company faces the possibilities of this consumer being oppositional to the utopia offered, posing a threat to the harmony of the colony. And so they must undergo training and testing in order to be fully assimilated before moving into the colony. Complications with this system led to the discovery of methods of restricting internal growth as well as keeping a steady influx of external growth in terms of genetic diversity.

The most successful example of this process is Regi-Corp. Unlike the majority of other ultimate products on the market, the consumer do not have to pay to live in Regi-Corp, and the consumer is paid to live there:

                        “You do not apply or buy your citizenship, you apply for a job.”

Originally offering a vast number of these colonies, mainly to different white Christian fundamentalist groups, Regi-Corp has grown and become the biggest utopian colony in the world, and it is still growing. As the company owned so many colonies in the early years, it was able to study these colonies, finding the flaws etc, leading to the development of the ultimate product in terms of sustainability. With the basis of the ideology being so dominant in similar groups, Regi-Corp was allowed to fuse different colonies over time, developing a highly sophisticated state apparatus erasing all threats to their hegemony. It has become the ultimate White Patriarchal Capitalist utopia. This is a world where there is only one social class, the middle. There is no cultural elite; there is only totalitarian Mass Culture. There is no free market, everything is produced by Regi-Corp, and it is a monopoly. Do not mistake this for being a communist world, on the contrary, everything is private, everything is a product, but everything comes from the same company. Even art is only valued in the terms of profit. Exchange value is the only value: it is a world deprived of individualism and humanity. The citizens of Regi-Corp have no desires apart from what they are conditioned by Regi-Corp to desire. And their desires are that of commodities, not emotions. The reason why Regi-Corp is so successful is not just because it has managed to develop sustainability, it is because Regi-Corp is growing. Like with most fundamentalist groups, Regi-Corp wants the whole world to live their ideal way of life, and so it does its best in order to become lucrative for the mass living in the Zone. And like every other colony, once you are accepted, you cannot go back to the Zone.

It is Regi-Corp’s advertisement in all media channels that makes it so lucrative to citizens of the zone. As Regi-Corp is by far one of the biggest corporations in the free market and presents fantasy similar to the basis of the NEW WORLD, their industries being top grossing, influential and innovative in the global Mass Market. Studies show that the average citizen in the NEW WORLD spends what is the equivalent of 10 pounds a day on Regi-Corp products. Their marketing of the ultimate product is clever as it offers the past, nostalgia, tradition. The fantasy they are selling is that of a utopian interpretation of post WW2 America’s suburbs, described in advertisement campaigns as:

“The American Dream is no longer a dream…”

Clean, organic, pollution free suburban neighbourhoods. No crime rates. No Class divide. No Ethnical differences. Everyone works for Regi-Corp and have the same working hours. Every citizen is equal in terms of material goods, pay etc. The only demand they have before a consumer should consider handing in an application is that you have to be white or light pigmented. What they don’t tell you anything about is the actual application and acceptance process. This privacy is vital for the functionality of these fantasy colonies, to much public information could cause external opposition, threatening the harmony of these fantasies.

The process is very simple and efficient. It varies from each applicant, as there is a lot of factors to be considered, factors which differs according to age, gender, background, qualifications etc.

·      If the consumer is under the age of 10, it will automatically be accepted but has to undergo a training and education period that can last up to 5 years depending on the consumer’s history.

·      If the consumer is between 10 and 15 it has do simple personality and behavioural tests before being accepted. Upon acceptance training and education can last 10 years.

·      If the consumer is between 15 and 20 it has do undergo tests and preferably have a good educational record. Upon acceptance training may last up to 5 years.

·      If the consumer is over 20, it is very hard to accepted unless they are the best for the job that they have applied for. They also have to undergo a month of testing before being accepted. No training is required simply because it won’t have any effect.

·      It is nearly impossible for consumers above the age of 40 to have their applications accepted. But there have been some cases.

-        NOTE: The tests and training programs are to do with behaviour and moral development. Based on the studies by Pavlov, Kohlberg and Harlow among others, these programs aim to test and shape behavioural patterns and moral understanding based on the commandments and law of Regi-Corp.

Once this process is done and the consumer has successfully met what is expected, they are assigned a house, workplace, car, and a year’s salary. In some cases younger consumers are assigned a family, a female consumer assigned a husband etc. All external growth is carefully controlled and assimilated to the colony, even if it means erasing their past. In some cases the process is not successful and some external consumers inherit traits they used to have from the zone. This is where the beauty of Regi-Corp’s system becomes apparent. As every citizen has undergone a basic training and testing, they all follow the Ten Commandments without question. Some are conditioned, like Pavlov’s dogs, to react and act instinctively if they experience something in conflict with the commandments. And so if a newly accepted citizen moves in a neighbourhood and act in disregard to the commandments, they will be dealt with accordingly. The consequence can be further training, memory erasure and in some cases termination.

The Ten Commandments are all based on the idea of ideological equality. If everyone believes the same thing, there won’t be any opposition. If there is no opposition there won’t be change. If there is no change there won’t be fear. Without fear is perfect happiness.