Kalkin Revelation

From Live Cinema Research

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Revelation is the first installment of the story of Kalkin. It shows the slow awakening of the artificial life, and its childish, undeveloped tries to get into contact with Ping - one of the main characters. Kalkin uses Ping's artificial eyes as a way to see, and therefore has a close connection to her already. She is not aware of the presence.

Contents

Act 0 - Title and Establishing Scene

We are opening the movie with a flight from way above into the divided city of Berlin (in a map/3D style) in the year 2028. One half is very green while the other is white and only has sparse green spots here and there. All the surrounding land is absolutely green with white spots resembling corporate greenhouses here and there (that are huge). We then see the "white" side - its huge clean structures blink up and the text "Bayeonia" comes into view. Scenes of futuristic surveillence cameras/robots, Clean white glassy architecture and people in corporate dress working like robots show up (maybe intercut with robots). We cut back to the top view of the city this time the "east" side blinks.

Visions of the divided city in an artistic poster performance style showing various aspects of the Bayeonia (survellience and robot like workers etc.) and a little bit of B. and a map of the city and the wall.

Act 1 - Protagonist Introduction

Ping's point of view

Zooming out of poster performance and showing Ping being distracted by a beautiful butterfly. She watches it for a couple of seconds and then we see her incorporating it into the poster piece.

Az's point of view

Training in one area - jumping over a railing, stretching, different vaults. Working hard, very focussed.

Ping is walking through the city and the camera pans down a sidestreet where Az is training, doing one particularl jump or running on the same patch, preparing for the race. He maybe stops and eats something, then he walks to the start line to register, probably showing his name on the register. There are three other runners. Then the Pakrour race starts a little bit of rivalry between the competitors (a little push shove fight breaks out between two of them - one tries to trip another).

Everyone splits off in sdifferent directions camera runs with Az. There are shots of him jumping over railings and walls. Then he goes to the door below Ping. Runs into the door three times. Noticing Ping laughing, he pauses, giving her a furious look. Checks his tracker and takes a new route. A shot of the tracker changing route.

He runs really fast, pushing himself really hard. (Super composition overlay.)

Shortly comes to the finish line where there are a few people cheering him on. Finishing only 2nd he gets a certificate. Other runners are celebrating. He goes off somewhere by the water and makes a fire and cooks some food that he has taken out of his rcksack. Sits down by the fire looking wistful and deflated. Then he goes in the direction of home, walking past the loop Ping made of him running into the door, he types the signature (Ping) into the tracker. The tracker blinks up with Ping's location. he furiously rips chip off wall. He looks pissed off, and sets off at a run. Finds her house. He knocks on the door.

  • Ping's story*

Big Fish's point of view

Doing some nano-bot tests on a disembodied blind eye, connected to a screen. He drops some liquid onto the eye and, part digitally and part biologically, the eye changes slightly and a picture of the professor forms on the screen. However, after a few seconds the picture starts breaking up, and the eye starts deteriorating, maybe turning black - the experiment was not quite a success.

Maybe there is a screen in the background showing the Game of Life with very complex patterns.

Gives Ping a baby plant. Is working in his lab, perhaps curing an animal of its blind eye, or just curing a person with a shot of nanobots going into eye drops solution then close up of eye drops going into eye. He has a tray of instruments and shelves of organs and pulls out a jar of eyeballs. Takes nano drugs to work through the night. Drinks tea. Goes to an online comms device. Talks to online associates. Checks e-mail - full of 'help me's (shows the professors social status and shaman-doctor type. (Network error or similar message on screen as well, perhaps)

He has an eyeball on some apparatus that is connected to a monitor. Drops nano bot liquid onto the eye. The eye shows an image of his face that is half technical. After, the eye ball disintergrates or turns black. He is momentarily perplexed/perturbed then goes to tend plants or seeds. Then Ping comes in, saying Hi, walks to the greenhouse. Big Fish follows. Ping eats something in the greenhouse, then shows the loop of Az running into the door. They laugh. Ping says goodbye and goes home. he assembles nano bots through a electron microscope which form dancing patterns, uses magnetic collecting pen. goes back to analysing the dead eye. he then settles down for the evening with a bottle of red wine and possibly a kitsch old film or old book 'self forming life'. Glass of wine, falls asleep, like old people do. Words and letters on page start playing Game of Life.

Has a dream about artificial life - Game of Life, with a face forming. Book - Christopher G Langton "Computation at the Edge of Chaos"


Act 2

Ping's point of view

Packs up her stuff. Walks through the city, perhaps meeting someone on the way. Makes a minor installation on the way with just the butterfly (not important) and then finds a good spot to put her final piece up. When watching the installed piece there is a brief moment where the signal cuts into a stream of binary numbers - 'LIFE' in binary code.

Then she rewinds to check if it was a mistake she made. But there is nothing but the original piece of visual showing. She has done her job for the day and rolls an old-school spliff and climbs a building to chill over the city (to watch the sunset perhaps?) after wandering around a bit.

Az's point of view

Preparing for race, signing in at start line. Maybe puts a small bag in a locker.

Big Fish's point of view

Checks e-mails - many pleas for help and questions about nano-technology and other high-tech systems. Perhaps some error messages on the screen to show problems with the network?

Prepares some small plants for Ping's arrival.


Act 3

Ping's point of view

From the viewpoint of the roof top she sees Az and other runners running past in the distance. Then focuses on Az running in the street below and slamming into a door (slapsticky). After a few attempts to run through the door he sees her laughing on the roof briefly. Feeling caught redhanded - even though she is innocent of manipulating the door - she grabs her stuff (perhaps dropping something to give him a lead).

Az - pissed off - takes a different route.

Ping runs off laughing ('oh it was funny'), running down the stairs into an alleyway and turning around to check that he is not following her. Then she goes to Big Fish's greenhouse and tends his plants. Eats something picked from the plants - tomato. She shows the professor the loop of Azrael running into the door - they both laugh. She makes a new loop of it and on the way home sprays it onto several walls (at least three). Caption next to the loop "Wonders of modern technology" or similar.

She goes into her apartment. Changes the walls (screens) to a relaxed midnight ocean setting and goes to sleep.

Az's point of view

Big Fish's point of view


Act 4

Ping and Az

She gets woken up by a knock on the door and kind of sleepwalks over to the door, opens it. Az pushes in - they have a fight. Somehow her eyes get covered (by t-shirt being pulled) and she freaks out and pulls out a small spray can and sprays it into his face. He immediately falls asleep.

Black out

He wakes up and she is looking at him, maybe having just fed him some sort of cure.

They sit down and converse. Converstation sequence with scripted words on the wall out mouth etc pp.

  • Az: "I lost because of you!"
  • Ping: "Why me?"
  • Az: "You were fucking around with those doors!"

Az gives Ping the chip he pulled from her installation and gives it to Ping. She plugs it into her wall and it shows Az running into the door.

  • Az: "Who if not you?"

The moment she shrugs somethings happens - A binary code rifts through the loop - "IT WAS ME!!!!" (un-readable)

They both look really puzzled.

She has a brainwave and looks through her recording database and finds the place where she recorded the installation from the beginning of the film (butterfly loop) with the code appearing shortly.

Ping pulls out her floating nano-screen and puts in the binary code that is then translated into ASCII characters that spell out "LIFE" and "IT WAS ME!!!!". They look puzzled.

Az proposes to see Big Fish to find out who is sending the messages.

  • Ping: "Big Fish? You know him?"

Az nods.

looking puzzled again.

  • Ping : "OK, good idea!"

nodding, they leave.

Big Fish's point of view

Sits down with a big old book about artificial life, and a glass of wine or similar. Slowly falls asleep, reading. Dream sequence with the characters on the page turning into the dots in the Game of Life, then creating some sort of face.


Act 5

Ping, Az and Big Fish

They arrive at Big Fish Laboratory. He looks shocked and surprised to see them together and asks them in. Ping shows him the loops she recorded with the binary code in them. She gives him the chips. They wait for Big Fish to check on the chips. The power cuts out. Big Fish turns on some strange-looking floating nano-lights. Big Fish fiddles with something. The power comes back on. Chips are fried because of the power cut. They look disappointed. Then they decide to go to the sliding door to check it. Whilst they are walking, the street lights flicker around them and signs are changing behind their backs and other electrical abnormalities (which they don't notice). They get to the door and place sensor by it - which strangely opens and closes on its own. Big Fish picks up a signal and with the data collected reassures them and returns to the lab to research it, and contact his hacker friend. Ping and Azrael go off and have a conversation in some shady underground bar. On the way, two or three street sign change to a "Hello! I am here!". One of the two trips over a Kalkin installation but still isn´t recognizing it as such. They go through the city and go to the park and then a hello appears in her eyes.

Other option for an ending.

They all go back to the lab and they call a hacker who says he does not know anything and that he would call them back. Big Fish analyzing the signal they picked up sees the connection extend everywhere on the vast network.

When he comes back to tell them there is no


Az's view- (When Professor's checking the data from the door and speak to the hacker.) They walk to a shady bar. Az and Ping have an unusual drink. Strange coloured cocktails. Register their 'bought' drinks into a computer and leave. Saying goodbye, Az walks to the container ship that he has for a home. A revelation happens on the way.

Big Fish's point of view

The professor nods in amazement. He takes the chips from Ping and inspects them closely.


Ending

All go to the bar, Big Fish analyses signal. show the network, calls the hacker guy on webcam. Shows the Hackers shaking his head. The Professor continues analysing the vast network. (shows connection - this is a normal signal, and this is what happens ehre). Whenhe calls the hacker shows Big Fish what a normal signal would look like if it was from the most sophisticated hacker coming from four different links. Also show the ignal from Kalkin somehow resembles brain-wave type activity - a pulsating network. Big Fish shrugs thinking - he can't work it out.

Ping - goes back to the park and has a cigarette. Looking at the stars, Kalkin transforms them into a butterfly she saw the previous day. She rubs eyes, looks again and it is gone. She rewinds and it is there in recording.

Az - could notice a sign??? he could go past a loop of himself running into a loop of himself and the door. There are some people standing around, laughing at it. One starts having a go at Az, Az looks upset, tear rolls down cheek. Kalkin changes the loop in some way. he walks past the butterfly loop and words come up "System overload", "network down" or similar message - tracker out of order.

Ping's point of view

She goes to some open space and relaxes, looking at the stars. Maybe she smokes again. As she watches, some of the stars start turning into the butterfly from earlier. She enjoys it a while (thinking it's maybe a hallucination) but then rewinds her recorder to see it again and the butterflies are still there - she really did see them.

Az's point of view

He is returning home and looks at his tracker but it shows an error message "NETWORK BUSY" or similar.

Big Fish's point of view

The hacker shows him a normal connection to control the door (a single link), and then a hacker's connection to control the door (four or five links), but Big Fish's data shows links from every possible direction, pulsing and moving like a computerised brain-scan.

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