Welcome and welcome back to the Daughter of Godcast, a podcast about the making of the longest little movie ever, Daughter of God. This is Episode 072 Date Dance, the second episode of the second season, Crowd Creation, where each week the internet offers feedback and I listen. I’ve even tweaked the title of the second season from Crowd Completion to Crowd Creation, because of the feedback from last week, episode 071, Wall Street Under Water.

I had planned to have new infrastructure ready for the start of season two – refreshing dog.movie, a presence on at least 5 new social media platforms, all movies from Season One Gentle Release moved to Vimeo… but on the last day of 2017, my dad decided to return to the non-physical, and as my family showed up for the funeral, one by one they we’re taken out by a funky flu, myself included. Episode 071 arrived late, social media deployment was incomplete  and the email list neglected. In spite of these challenges, excellent feedback was had and so without further eloquence, here’s the summary.

In the short shot Wall Street Under Water, gentle waves ripple over a submerged green street sign that reads, Wall Street. The sign is attached to a broken steel post, resting on a bed of red bricks. The question was, what emotions came up while watching?

There was feedback from James at dog.movie and Susan and Allison via Facebook.

James wrote,

Wow! My first thought was, “that looks like Wall St has been over taken by the ocean, totally believable.” It reminds me a little of the book New York 2140. I felt both amused and alarmed when I saw it—kind of like, this is scary stuff. Why aren’t more people concerned about what is happening to our planet? It is amazing how far a little clip can go and what it brings up.

Since “amused and alarmed” was roughly what I was reaching for, James’ feedback was very satisfying. “Scary stuff” was also good. He had a complex emotional experience, which is a confirmation that this shot is well balanced between humor and horror, between subtle and shocking.

From Facebook, Susan commented,

A crumbling facade of “wealth” and “power,” being replaced by a new paradigm.

Now that’s not precisely a description of emotion, but knowing Susan as I do, she’s talking about a good feeling, uplift.

This was new territory. I didn’t expect that Wall Street Under Water might be inspiring.

Allison comment expanded on my surprise!

I immediately felt relief. As in, wouldn’t it be nice if the “Wall Street” concept was gone. It could be a relic under the water, rendering “Wall Street” a myth, the likes of Atlantis. RIP, but forever in our view, so that we can know how much less stressful life is without the “Wall Street” ethos in our society.

For Allison too, the feeling was positive.

The entire shoreline is a jumble of bricks and broken stonework, implying destruction. Not just of buildings tho, but destruction of an oppressive, exploiting force, an abstraction – Wall Street, unbridled American capitalism. So the destruction isn’t mournful or horrifying, but relief bringing, hopeful.

I hadn’t intended that connection.

This is why feedback is so helpful. Confirming a shot works as expected, as in James experience is satisfying. Finding out a shot works in ways I didn’t imagine, as in Susan and Allison’s feedback is mind expanding.

Allison had a dream inspired by Wall Street Under Water that she’s been writing about and expanding on w