This project is a collected archive through the form of an experimental film. The film looks at the experience of a stone, from its perspective, as it is excavated from below the ground, moved to the surface and later to an institution where it is displayed behind glass vitrines. The film aims to help to underground the violence of archaeology and the political struggle in the context of Sebastia. Stones symbolize the Palestinians; some are oppressed, some are imprisoned, and some are driven out of their villages. The visuals and sonic elements in the film reflect and borrow from nature, history and politics of Sebastia. The four sections use different filming and editing techniques to bring the audience's feelings into the different times and events.
Mingwei Sun
Through The Eyes of Stones
Experimental film ARCHIVE
The Sebastia Roman Theatre suffered severe damage. The theatre’s steps and seats suffered the most damage when soldiers dug up them in search of artefacts in the voids below the surface of the seats. The ancient site is located within Area C, under total Israeli security and civilian control.
The four stories are Existence, Fragmentation, Transportation, and Imprison. The development of the story is narrated according to the positional movement of the stones. The original location is in the Roman theater. Then there was the theft of the night, the stones were dug out of the ground and destroyed. The stones were later transported in crates and sent to museum showcases.
The first part is existence. The part of the film is about the significance of the stone’s meaning in the land. This part uses narrative montage to bring the audiences into the story. The development of the story first explained that the site where took place was Sebastia Roman theatre. Stones were used as weapons against Israeli soldiers, which is a special presence in this land. Told the story of the stone as a weapon by depicting the trajectory of the stone, through rotation and stop-motion animation editing techniques. After the stones are as people, it clashes with Israeli soldiers who let it go home. Through sound production, repeat before Israeli soldiers: I belong to this land. This is my home. The stones belong to the land of Palestine, and so do the people.
The second part tells the story of oppression. The story of the theft of the stone from the Roman theatre. The soldiers dug a hole at night and stole some artefacts and stones. The film is edited in such a way that the shots are cut quickly, leaving a lot of blank space, allowing the audience to imagine the events in their minds through sound. At the same time, used the hammer to cause damage to the stone. The sound effects of the sound are used to enhance the viewer’s experience, and the stone is broken under the weight. Palestinian are crushed by Israeli soldiers, and stones are compared to Palestinians, and the stones are also crushed.
The third part tells of stones being transported in a crate. The crate is a heterotopian world for the stone, so I photographed them from multiple angles to document this moving of transport. The cross-mixing of close and distant shots brings the audience into the heterotopian world of this space of the crate. First, the process of stones were packed into crates and transported to the car. Mixed different tool sounds, and the sound of the shocking of stones. In this part, the stone is keeping moving, whether it is video or sound. During the editing process, the same videos are arranged in multiple cameras, arranged in time order of same difference, and the dislocation of light and shadow is used to shape the sense of movement of the video.
The fourth part is about the stone locked in the museum, imprisoned in showcases. At the beginning, the view of the camera is the first perspective of the stone, and the lens blur is used to express the nervous and fear of the stone after arriving in an unfamiliar environment. The wire reflected on the glass showcases the wire that restricts the lives of Palestinians. Using squares to imply that the square glass showcase is like a stone prison, imprisoned without privacy. At the same time, it reflects people being held back by the wire. The imprisoned stone is out of tune with the surrounding environment and has lost its homeland and freedom. In the second half, all the voices disappear, and what is seen is Stone’s idea in the heart. The quiet environment allows the audience to walk into the heart of the stone faster and feel the story of Palestine.
During the production of the film, a variety of sound effects were used. In the first part, the background music is the sonic-transformed sound of underground archeology, mixed with experimental electronic music of Palestinian musicians. The second part is specially treated with actual recordings, also mixed with electronic music of Palestinian musicians. Use special action sound effects such as knocking and heavy blows to enhance the audience’s sense of experience. The background sound of the third part is composed of the actual recording and the transportation sound of the car. After digitizing the shaking sound of the stone itself, it looks like the rock is moving with the car. The sound of the fourth part is the sound of the interior of the museum with post - processing and silence. Because I hope that through silence, the audience can get closer to feel the psychological changes in the stone story, so as to understand the story of Palestine.
