Self – understanding the otherness
How does the mentally ill person feel? How does he or she see the world? Or does the distinction between healthy and mentally ill people not exist at all? For the creators of the project, their interest in creating photographic and cinematic images has for years gone hand in hand with an attempt to understand and be open to the world of mental issues.
“Self”, by design, is intended to be a powerful and memorable immersive experience for the viewer. From the experience, comes an understanding of otherness. Understanding, in turn, creates tolerance. The visual and aural stimuli of this project are merely a pathway, a tool to generate emotions in the viewer that are similar to the state of those affected by mental illness. The creators want to evoke a state of contemplation, melancholy and compassion in the viewer. “Self” deals with an extremely sensitive subject, which is why it has been created from the beginning with the participation of people who deal with mental health on a daily basis.
The story concept of ‘Self’ is based on a mosaic structure. The stories presented are memories from different stages of the healing process of former patients, and their real silhouettes are set in a minimalist 3D environment. The flashbacks materialise in the form of voice-over commentaries, and the use of ambisonic sound exposes the properties of the category that is cinematic VR.
Patryk Jordanowicz – cinematographer, director. Studied Film Studies at the Jagiellonian University and Film and Television Picture Production and Photography at WRiTV UŚ. Cinematographer of many documentaries and feature films, he has worked hundreds of hours on TV series, commercials, music videos. In 2016, together with director Jacek Naglowski, he shot one of Europe’s first 3D VR music videos in live action / CG technique for the band Loa Frida. In the following years, he was the cinematographer of acclaimed VR experiences, these include the music documentary Smolik/ Kev Fox on the road, directed by Paweł Orwat, and the VR adaptation of the theatre play Biesy, directed by Natalia Korczakowska and VR adaptation by Jacek Nagłowski. In 2019, as part of the College Cinema Biennial as co-director and cinematographer, he produced the VR experience “Whispers” with Jacek Nagłowski, which premiered at the Venice Biennale and won the Special Award at the Cinergia festival for the best Polish VR in the documentary category. “Whispers” also received the Organisers’ Special Award at the Lublin Film Festival and the Open Frame Award at the goEast Film Festival 2020.
Tadeusz Chudy – cameraman, photographer. Studied philosophy and film theory at the Jagiellonian University and film and television image production and photography at the Radio and Television Faculty of the University of Silesia.
