Dark Matter
The first film that comes to mind when talking about dark matter is The Blair Witch Project. The witch is never actually shown. As a device, dark matter, in stories create a lot of suspense. It works especially well in the horror/thriller genre. And you can see that it works. Think about any really good scary movie. They almost always wait before revealing the monster/killer. They may show killings, but the face is always hidden to build anticipation and suspense. Subsequently, the reveal should be scarier. Though the flip side may be true as well. The anticipation may build to the point that the reveal is quite lackluster. I know for me, when I'd see a scary movie as a kid, I stopped being afraid after I saw the killer/monster. But the parts leading up to it were scarier.
I think that plays can use dark matter to just generate more interest and excitement. There is a lot you can do on film that you can't recreate on stage. So, using dark matter as a device seems appropriate. To harp on Emily's example of Byron, we keep wondering about him. Who is he? When will he arrive? It's not even necessary that we see him, but the mere mention of him can create an image that the audience can have for themselves.
I think it's similar to cliffhanger/ambiguous endings. Think back to the movie, Inception, We never find out if Leo is still dreaming or living in the "real" world. You can see the top falter a bit, but the condition was that it doesn't stop if you're dreaming. It never says anything about teetering slightly. The ending makes the audience question and contemplate and extrapolate whatever scenario that suits them. It might be aggravating but the dark matter here (not knowing what "really" happened) builds a whole other set of circumstances that are specific only to the individual watcher. I, personally, find it annoying because I like concrete answers instead of ambiguity, but such is life.
Another movie that comes to mind is Old Boy and all of it's remakes/adaptations. This film and dark matter in general kind of speaks to our inherent desire to "know." We don't really know why the main character is imprisoned and neither does he and all we want is to figure out why. Knowing "why" is such a powerful enough reason that it can drive an entire movie. Especially in Old Boy where there is a second why - "why let him out after 15 years?" I think human beings aren't comfortable with the idea of "not knowing" and that's what makes dark matter so fascinating. Though, who wouldn't lose their minds if they were captured/imprisoned for 15 years and then let out like it never happened without a reason. The torture stops being imprisonment, but rather the question: why? Even if the answer had nothing to do with the person who was imprisoned, any answer would be better than no answer.
I think it's similar to cliffhanger/ambiguous endings. Think back to the movie, Inception, We never find out if Leo is still dreaming or living in the "real" world. You can see the top falter a bit, but the condition was that it doesn't stop if you're dreaming. It never says anything about teetering slightly. The ending makes the audience question and contemplate and extrapolate whatever scenario that suits them. It might be aggravating but the dark matter here (not knowing what "really" happened) builds a whole other set of circumstances that are specific only to the individual watcher. I, personally, find it annoying because I like concrete answers instead of ambiguity, but such is life.
Another movie that comes to mind is Old Boy and all of it's remakes/adaptations. This film and dark matter in general kind of speaks to our inherent desire to "know." We don't really know why the main character is imprisoned and neither does he and all we want is to figure out why. Knowing "why" is such a powerful enough reason that it can drive an entire movie. Especially in Old Boy where there is a second why - "why let him out after 15 years?" I think human beings aren't comfortable with the idea of "not knowing" and that's what makes dark matter so fascinating. Though, who wouldn't lose their minds if they were captured/imprisoned for 15 years and then let out like it never happened without a reason. The torture stops being imprisonment, but rather the question: why? Even if the answer had nothing to do with the person who was imprisoned, any answer would be better than no answer.
BLAIR WITCH is a great example of dark matter that I hadn't thought about. But I remember being terrified watching that movie, feeling almost seasick from the bumpiness of the handheld camera shots. Yet, stronger than my desire to get out of the theatre was the desire to see the "witch"- to know what the terrified people in the forest were seeing that was driving them out of their minds with fear. The movie had moments of campiness for sure, but ultimately, the movie wouldn't have been nearly as scary if we'd seen some person in a witch costume/makeup or worse, a CGI'd witch creature. So, it's a weird paradox. While I would have hated to see a goofy version of a witch and the movie would have dissolved into silliness if I had, my desire to see what the people on the screen were seeing was palpable.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that our "inherent desire to know" is often part of what makes us human. We don't like secrets. In mysteries or thrillers, we are always trying to figure out whodunit before it's revealed to us. We are fascinated by the “why.” Yet, admittedly, if I figure something out or if a plot point is obvious in a movie, play, or TV show, I’m quick to knock the writers. I tend to laud the play/screen writers who keep me guessing-even though I’m always frustrated that I can’t “crack the code” right away. And if there is something in a horror movie where the film shows a cheesy witch/killer/creature, I will be one of the people booing in the theatre. I think that if dark matter is revealed in creature-form in a film, the filmmakers had better be darn inventive in their creation. For example, in the newest version of IT, Pennywise’s teeth are a work of art. The production team spent endless hours trying to create the perfect scary clown. Because they knew that we already know what a clown looks like, and that we know that Pennywise is evil. But when we see his innocent-looking buck teeth suddenly transform into raptor-like fangs, the audience screams. Even though we know what’s probably coming, we didn’t know how precisely it would be shown to us. And the first time Pennywise’s ivories were revealed, it was scary enough for me to turn away and hide my face. Just the idea of the teeth scared me enough that I looked away, creating my own kind of dark matter for the movie. So I guess that’s something else to ponder- the idea that when dark matter is revealed, it can be so scary that we don’t let ourselves see it. Thus, the dark matter in our mind might be scarier than what the film wanted us to see.