Bridge scene: analysis

As you may know, the bridge scene is a research scene that takes Ben from the words "ex nihilo" to images of scary devils and such. Here's how my thinking has developed. My first idea was to follow the action. This refers to the original scene where the camera was pushing in on Ben in the library and we'd see flashes of scary images every once in a while. My more recent idea was to think of the scene purely visually. Use projections and other ways to make the scene more visually interesting. Then I went back to the production theory idea we came up with the other week—how does this relate to an understanding of the situation? This scene is about research. What is research?

This scene is based on the idea of "snowballing," a typical research technique. You find one article. Then look up the references. Then read those. Then look up the references. So you're researching a backwards chain. Visually, this would be something like a chain or link of pages spreading outwards or backwards into history. What's important in this scene is the transition. Research is not just about gaining information. It's about having one's understanding change. You think you're solving one problem and then the problem itself transforms into a different problem.

So maybe we start seeing lots of text having to do with "ex nihilo." Then more text. Then we start seeing images of creation: planets and stars and galaxies. Then we see religious images. Then we start to see the scary demonic images. And actually, the demonic images have been flashing by. We just haven't been paying attention to them. So this is research as a plot point. Ben's understanding starts to change. He realizes that he's no longer dealing with a purely scientific phenomenon, but one with a supernatural twist. And as the images get scarier and scarier, we see a medieval image of a hand. And there seems to be some kind of distortion on it. Then we cut to Ben's hand which is by now swollen and bleeding dark blood.

Right now, the best way I can think of to show these research images is to bring back the Memex only this time, it would be land-based, not portable. What I like about the Memex is the feeling of speed and acceleration as a filmstrip of images whizz by. I also like the fact that you're actually riffling by other images to get where you're going. I also like the fact that it's easy to shoot. It's just a couple of shots of Ben watching and reacting and turning a knob. Then, it's create it in post.

Ben says I have a reference scene for every scene in the movie. Here's one for this scene: Halle Berry doing internet research in Catwoman. The scene doesn't seem to do much but the graphics are beautifully done. But I think I'm going to go for something more straightforward and less arty.