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Film Independent Wed 9.28.2016

Video: Playing ‘Exquisite Corpse’ with Our Favorite Indie Movies

Practically no one gets through life without being cajoled—at one point or another—into his or her fair share of spurious team-building exercises. Whether in the classroom under the weary auspices of a hungover schoolteacher or the fluorescent glow of an airport Marriott conference center during an annual corporate retreat, very few of us manage to shuck off our mortal coil without engaging in a healthy curriculum of mandatory ropes courses, trust falls, games of “telephone” and—of course—exquisite corpse.

Even if the term “exquisite corpse” isn’t familiar to you, you’re probably still familiar with the basic concept. According to Wikipedia, exquisite corpse “is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled, with each collaborator adding to a composition in sequence, allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.”

RyanVelasquez_midroll
Ryan Velasquez

So basically, you take a piece of paper, write a few sentences of story, then fold the paper down to hide the majority of what you’ve written, passing the paper along to be continued by the next person. The results can be surreal, hilarious and surprisingly revealing. But what happens when you apply the exquisite corpse technique to recounting the plots of our favorite indie movies?

That’s what filmmaker and 2014 Project Involve Fellow Ryan Velasquez decided to figure out, using additional footage from his amazing I am Film Independent promo from earlier this year to create the below bonus video featuring Film Independent Members and Fellows including Lake Bell, Scott Prendergast, Effie Brown, Stephanie Allain and more. Check it out:

So… who’s up for adapting this single, linear narrative into a coherent screenplay? Maybe not, but we’d love to hear from you what your guesses are as to what actual movies our interviewees are talking about. Let us know by leaving your guesses on our Facebook page or on Twitter. Check out more of Ryan’s work here.

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