Paltering

Paltering: when you use bits of the truth in order to deceive someone.

Television is one of the most pervasive forms of media in the 21st century, with almost every western home having one in their living room, making the narratives and cliches which are displayed on them play a major role in informing society as a whole, despite the fact that a lot of what we see on television relies upon paltering.

My research journey for this film was rooted in our watching habits during lockdown and how dependant we have become on television. This panned out into a research path about on how our brains form assumptions and expectations, branching into experimental film and finding an interest in how a narrative can be imagined through bite-sized pieces of information/stimuli, but not actually exist in reality. To deliver these slices of information, I wanted to simulate the act of channel-flicking.

To visually articulate my research and successfully illustrate the importance of context within modern media, I created three fictional TV programmes which emulated real shows so that the audience could relate to them personal level [the news, a travel show, and a documentary/reality show].
I have used wordplay and strategic editing to deliver two opposing storylines within single scripts – one which the audience sees in the final piece, and the other they see when they watch the programmes in full from scanning their individual QR codes, or visiting the dedicated YouTube Channel.