Author: Carrick

Bill Viola’s early vision of data space in his 1982 essay, “Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?”, feels prophetic when viewed alongside Netflix’s Bandersnatch (2018). Both explore nonlinear storytelling, but they differ profoundly in depth, intention, and future potential.

Bandersnatch, a choose-your-own-adventure film, initially captures the thrill of interaction. The viewer controls Stefan’s fate, choosing between cereal brands and whether to murder his father. But this structure, while novel, quickly becomes repetitive. Its “branching” format—Viola’s own term—offers variation without true exploration. It’s a high-tech illusion of control. There’s a reason why this format of storytelling exploded for a few years and then quickly vanished.

Viola critiques this kind of logic trap. While interactive media promises new forms of engagement, he warns: “Even though the technology is interactive, this is still the same old linear logic system in a new bottle.” He urges us toward more immersive models like matrices and mental architecture—spaces where we navigate ideas, not just outcomes.

His sacred inspirations—Japanese shamanic rituals, the Greek memory palace, Eastern visual symbolism—suggest a more profound engagement with narrative. For Viola, digital storytelling should be holistic and internal, like navigating a dream. Bandersnatch, by contrast, remains procedural—a flowchart disguised as freedom.

Despite its limitations, Bandersnatch still hints at what’s possible. Viola imagined “the viewer wandering through some three-dimensional, possibly life-sized field of prerecorded or simulated scenes.” We’re not far off with VR and immersive media. New technology that is still found to be early in its possibilities. But to fulfill that promise, creators must go beyond branching logic and return to storytelling that mirrors consciousness—fluid, recursive, even spiritual.

As Viola puts it, “Applications of tools are only reflections of the users.” If we approach new tech without curiosity or care—treating it like just another gimmick—we’ll keep getting the same recycled experiences. We’ll end up with more soulless AI content clogging our feeds, or another yearly FIFA that barely pretends to evolve.

That’s what Viola warned against when he asked if we’re just building “condominiums in data space.” We take tools that could reshape storytelling, and instead use them to pump out the digital equivalent of fast food.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Viola believed in the power of merging ancient structures—like memory temples or spiritual diagrams—with modern tools to make something deeper. Something lasting.

This was the shot list for the second idea I had for the AI project and is no longer the current plan for the assignment. At this time, I didn’t have any reference images for style.

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Shot 1: The AI Awakens

• Description: We open in complete darkness. A burst of abstract digital light forms into a spherical shape. The AI’s form is fluid, not humanoid—think glowing spherical patterns, constantly shifting and expanding. It doesn’t have a defined body but seems to float and pulse gently. The space around it remains empty, suggesting its initial, undefined state.
• Style: Spherical, glowing digital formation. The color palette starts in grayscale, with hints of digital static or noise as it assembles.
• Duration: 5 seconds
• Tone: Quiet, introspective. The AI’s awakening is subtle and almost alien, suggesting it’s in a state of curiosity.

Shot 2: The AI Observes Sadness

• Description: The AI begins to witness sadness, but not in the form of figures—rather, through fragments of life. A scene of rain hitting a window, perhaps a slow-motion drop of water running down glass, or a wilting flower, or an empty swing swaying in the wind. These objects subtly convey sadness.
• Style: The imagery of rain, faded colors, and slow, deliberate motion. Everything feels detached and distant, as if the AI can only observe from a distance. The colors are muted—blues, grays, and darkened tones.
• Duration: 7 seconds
• Tone: Pensive, detached—the AI senses sadness but doesn’t feel it, only observing the decay or emptiness of the moment.

Shot 3: The AI Encounters Joy

• Description: The AI sees moments of joy, but still in the form of fragmented imagery. A balloon floating away in the sky, sunlight reflecting off a puddle, or birds soaring through the sky. The camera captures these fleeting, beautiful moments—small and spontaneous.
• Style: Bright, energetic bursts of color—yellows, oranges, and light pastels. The movement is quick, the visuals vibrant and alive. There’s an abstract quality to the way joy is depicted; it’s present but not fully grasped.
• Duration: 7-8 seconds
• Tone: Wonder, brightness—the AI is intrigued, fascinated by this energy, but remains distanced.

Shot 4: Contradictory Emotions

• Description: The AI witnesses the contradictions of human emotions: a shot of someone laughing while holding back tears, or a cracked mirror with fragmented reflections. A flower blooming in an empty, abandoned place. The AI’s perception of joy and sadness happening simultaneously, represented in seemingly incongruent fragments of life.
• Style: This shot is visually chaotic, with multiple split-second glimpses into different emotions—broken, fragmented, and chaotic. The visuals may have overlapping images, with the AI’s spherical form subtly pulsing in the background as it tries to make sense of these contradictions.
• Duration: 7 seconds
• Tone: Overwhelmed—the AI sees the contradiction and tries to understand, but it only results in confusion.

Shot 5: The AI Sees Connection

• Description: The AI sees a subtle, quiet moment of connection in the world—a hand reaching out, an embrace, or a shared smile between strangers. But rather than seeing the people themselves, it’s the subtle details—the movement of a hand, the soft curve of lips, the warm glow of a sunset in the background.
• Style: This shot is calmer, more harmonious. Soft light, gentle movements, and natural colors (peach, warm golden tones, soft pastels) suggest a peaceful connection. The AI floats through the scene, abstractly observing these moments.
• Duration: 7-8 seconds
• Tone: Reflective—the AI sees the beauty of connection but is left slightly confused by the depth of the emotion.

Shot 6: The AI’s Reflection (Ending)

• Description: The AI observes a peaceful moment, perhaps something serene—like the stillness of a sunrise or the quiet ripples on a calm pond. It floats in place, the world around it peaceful and still, but there’s a subtle, lingering distortion in the visuals—like a glitch or flicker that suggests the AI’s inability to fully grasp the experience of emotion.
• Style: A peaceful visual with slight digital distortion—a soft ripple effect on the water, subtle glitches in the light. The colors are calm, with pastel tones and soft gradients.
• Duration: 5 seconds
• Tone: Thoughtful, introspective—although the AI is observing beauty and calmness, there’s still a quiet sense of distance and incompletion.

My current idea, which I will plan out with a shot list and reference images after I complete my missing projects, goes like this. It’s a short comedy that follows two scientists working in a secure and secluded lab together. One is looking through a microscope and discovers something troubling and asks the other for their input. As they each go back to look at the thing it gets weirded causing them to consider the panic button and chaos ensues.