The Penultimate Truth
A film adaptation imagined for Phillip K. Dick's dystopian and science fiction masterpiece, "The Penultimate Truth." This project takes the form of a captivating title sequence, focusing on central themes of deception and manipulation. Through clever juxtaposition of war, mass media, and power, these motifs are woven into ordinary landscapes, offering a critique on the fundamental aspects of human behavior, while questioning the delicate balance between what is truth and what is a lie.

Category

Broadcast

Credits

Design | Zohar Pomerantz, Yotam Rapaport

Date

2021

Overview

The narrative of the novel unfolds against the backdrop of World War III, an enduring conflict that's persisted for the long span of 15 years. Millions of people have been forced to seek refuge underground, while authoritative individuals remained fighting above ground.

Yet, the surface world presents an entirely different reality. There, an illusion of ongoing war is deceitfully portrayed to all the innocent people below; a facade allowing these elite group of individuals to continue upholding their extravagant lives.

TV Screen
Documents
Written Speeches
Explosives/ Weapons
Military maps
Time travel
Jeweler's eye glass
Clock
VillasPlane (flapper")
Robots ("leadies")
Office
Gray Sunlight & Fog
"Eye Spy"Earth & Mars
Machines
Artificial organ
Time
Power
History
Politics
Morals
Similacrum
Light vs. Dark
Truth vs. Lie
Real vs. Fake
"Necessity"
Radioactivity
Technology
War
Innocence
Manipulation
"Hot with radioactivity and dirty with germs. Great combination, he thought." (pg. 9)

"...the OUT door of one room was only the IN door of the next." (pg. 40)

"...the theft of an entire planet from its rightful owners..." (pg. 58)

"...that life on Earth, or in your instance, beneath Earth, is a transition. An episode between a life that came before and an eternal, other-kind-of-life to follow." (pg. 70)

"They've made the world into a great park..." (pg. 120)

"Time... It's as if a force that grips us all in a one-way path of power, a total power on its part, none on ours... (pg. 172)

"...immense factory of the counterfeit..." (pg. 160)

"...the trumpet shall sound and–not the dead–but the deceived shall be raised." (pg. 231)

Visual Motifs

1) Petri dish - zooming in on abstract shapes that morph into images, objects and textures

2) Magic - demonstrate through illusions how the ultimate lie can be constructed

3) Web of lies - lies are "strung together" as strings and threads, and only when the web is cut or dismantled the truth is revealed

4) Check the 'fine print' - a magnifying glass reveals what wasn't noticeable, revealing documents, photos, texts, etc.

From Innocence to Awareness

In line with our concept, we consistently worked to enhance and expand our collection of footage, seeking more precise visuals. One video particularly resonated with us because it captured the unwavering gaze of two children's eyes, innocently tracking the camera's movement. This imagery stood out because it perfectly embodied the visual representation we were aiming for – a portrayal of innocence and the lack of control.

The Core of the Story

In an era where misinformation is so common and surprisingly holds widespread sway, we recognized that media acts as an accurate and current symbol of influence. We likened media to a 'funnel,' through which lies are spread, portraying the media as the presenter of authority and control.

Childhood serves as a depiction of vulnerability, where young individuals are subject to the adults who dictate their actions. By comparing of imagery of childhood and warfare, we were able to vividly illustrate an ongoing power dynamic that exists between those who wield control and those who are subject to it.

Workflow & Techniques

We used collage techniques to combine different ideas and create visuals that look like they naturally belonged together. Even though we were both working remotely, we found that a great way to work on the footage design was by making "sequence puzzles" on shared Miro Boards. This helped us see how different scenes could fit together, how they moved, and how they all could come together into a coherent storyline.

Personal Notes

Working during a pandemic was challenging to say the least, but dealing with a nationwide lockdown made things that much more complicated. Since we weren't living in the same city at that time, we heavily relied on Zoom sessions for our communication and our work process, which surprisingly turned out to be a very successful approach (on-point with the common phrase, "turning lemons into lemonade").

This was a huge learning opportunity for us as emerging designers and it helped develop our individual work methods and improved our overall design skills. But most importantly, it taught us a great deal about working together as a team – this experience will definitely set the standard for our future projects!

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