Video Proposal for a Film to be Titled "Yearbook"

This film takes place in THE FUTURE.

Expose one frame of 16mm color film (with a Super 16mm camera so that the image comprises the soundtrack) each hour for a calendar year using only natural light. One subject corresponds to each month. Each week of the month, record the subject's photo from a single yearbook, followed by the succeeding year's photo the following week, etc., for the duration of that month. For months with 31 days, substitute text from the yearbook for the 31st day.

This provides a record of the shifting patterns of light in a single location––a record of the wavelengths of electromagnetic energy emitted by the sun, passing through outer space and the earth's atmosphere: a vibration of energy roughly eight minutes old when it reflects off the surface of a piece of paper and transfers its energy to silver halide. The impressions it makes on the halide crystals have themselves been filtered by the ink previously impressed on paper at some point years distant. This ink in turn has been impressed at ratios in proportion to and patterned after the reflectance ratios of skin and clothing worn by the subject of the image at points in time some distance previous to the manufacturing date of the yearbook––reflectance ratios which indicate how much artificial light bounced off the subject to be focused through the lens of a camera and impressed on an older collection of silver halide crystals suspended in gelatin probably made from the hooves of cows––cows who some years earlier grazed in a pasture, chewing grass and swatting flies: ruminating.