Problem
Create, using text and image, a viewing experience that re-tells selected key aspects of the film Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, a film by Errol Morris.
Solution
After watching this film several times, I had two distinct ideas of how to visualize my interpretation.
The first was to objectively analyze the film by visually mapping when audio, video, narration, etc. pertained to a certain character, in the form of an information graphic. With this solution, I wanted the data to speak for itself, and remove all of my subjective interpretation of the film. This solution allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions about the film by seeing how different aspects of the four characters' stories intertwine.
Sketch of a visualization of Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control.
The second idea was based on a radical interpretation I had of the film. Without going in to to much detail, I believe that each of the four characters represent an aspect of God as described in the book of Genesis. This interpretation served more as a basis for an essay on the film, rather than a visual interpretation. One of the ways I considered resolving this interpretation visually was by designing a book about it. I designed the four icons above for the cover of the book.
The four icons I made to represent each of the four characters in the film.
Resolution
Because I was attached to both of these ideas, I decided to combine them. For the medium I chose a website, because of the interactivity a website makes possible. My resolution combines the very subjective biblical interpretation of the film, and the objective visualization of data. I called the website The Gospel of Errol.
The landing page of the website. On the left a preface explains my biblical interpretation of the film.
When you scrol down from the landing page, the beginning of the information graphic is revealed. When the user clicks on one of the four icons, the text on the left changes to an explanation of how that character represents a certain aspect of God, using quotes from the movie itself and the book of genesis.
A video of the website in action, showing all of its interactivity.
