FRIDA SWITCHES ON THE LIGHT
(from Switching booklet, Oncotype 2003)
Frida and Simon lives together, but something has changed. They can't really communicate any more. One night, Frida turns on the light in their bedroom to try and understand what is wrong.
The opening scene of the film is based on a personal, modern interpretation of the Cupid and Psyche myth, or specifically the point when Psyche has just lit a candle to see who her lover really is. Cupid had warned Psyche that their love could only continue if she never saw who he is. Despite this warning, she lights the candle and in that moment, loses him.
Psyche's lighting of the candle to see her lover eloquently depicts the turning point that occurs in any love affair when light is literally shed on the relationship and one's self - when the affection for one's lover is put to the test in relation to one's own growth development. This is the situation ensnaring Frida and Simon. A night scene when Frida turns on the light and a morning scene as Simon enters with a cup of coffee. 24 hours of their life. The take turns trying to break out of the vicious circle in which they're trapped, but without getting anywhere.
Narrative labyrinth
We are born into the stories that others make about us and we make up stories about ourselves and others. The stories hold onto us, and we break out of old stories by making new ones.
Our comprehension of the world is defined by stories.
Frida starts the difficult process of creating a new story around herself and Simon. A process in which we often feel that ourselves and others are adversaries. As a user of the film, you are drawn into this game. The process - the creation of a story - is therefore an important part of the experience.
The interactive form is used to create a fragmented narrative structure that resembles the chaotic narrative form our dreams.
The user of this film enters a narrative labyrinth simultaneously unfolding and disrupting the story. It is more a state of mind - a symbol of consciousness as a multidimensional, never-ending thought process.
The open form
The interactive moment brings about a receptive storytelling atmosphere and by so doing engenders openness between storyteller and onlooker. This challenges the classic narrative pattern with its beginning, middle and end, because the interactive medium is not restrained by a linear timeframe.
There are three elements that explain why Switching departs from the linear
form. The first is that the film can be changed at any time. Consequently, the
user can jump back and forth in time and location. The second is the fact that
interface and content are not divided; in other words, the screen has no
buttons to click. The film itself is the clickable object. Accordingly, linear
control and logic disappear. The third element is the fact that the narrative
structure is structured around a circular system in which everything repeats
itself. So it has no ending either. The film continues for ever in its circular
universe.
