Double Conscience (partially lost event-exclusive double-projection film based on Kendrick Lamar album; 2014)

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Dc sleep.jpeg

Screenshot of a young Kendrick Lamar sleeping and Compton Street around 4:19 into the film.

Status: Partially Lost


Both the left and right projections playing together at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles.[1]

In 2014, the Sundance Next Fest in Los Angeles, California premiered the 15-minute double-projection film Double Conscience (also referred to as m.A.A.d),[2] directed by Kahlil Joseph, which depicts both the struggles and joys of street life in Compton, California with Kendrick Lamar's critically acclaimed album, good kid m.A.A.d city, acting as the film's soundtrack. The left projection is currently publicly available online.[3] The right projection, however, has yet to be fully publicly released with only two snippets found on YouTube amounting to just under two minutes of footage.[4]

Plot

Left Screen

The film opens with the sporadic first verse of the hit song "m.A.A.d city" with flashing images of street violence to match the lyrics. The song suddenly cuts off and changes to a scene of two men visiting a coffin. The most noticeable footage is of a young Kendrick Lamar in 1992, recorded off of a home VHS tape. Another VHS tape is shown, this time with Kendrick's father brandishing a shotgun with his friends in a parking lot. Young Kendrick Lamar makes another appearance, this time sleeping in bed with the prayer interlude of "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" playing. The film cuts back to the present day with a man hanging on a post light as if he were Dracula sleeping, with the isolated vocals of the song good kid playing over. A mock shoot-out is shown with a quote from Amiri Baraka. The atmosphere of Compton continues to build as short segments of The Art of Peer Pressure and Poetic Justice play over a group of young men driving a minivan throughout the city. "Backstreet Freestyle" and "Swimming Pools" play over the next portion of the film, featuring crip walking, heavy drinking, and house parties. A shot of a baby sleeping alone during the party serves as an introduction to the sentimental part of the film, with the song "Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" playing as close-up shots of everyday people from Compton appear. Kendrick Lamar's sister is shown as the screen flashes while firing bullet sound effects play over. The chaotic opening song, "m.A.A.d city", briefly interjects with similar depictions of violence and distress to match. "Sing About Me" continues to play with videos of churches, hairdressers, marching bands, and public swimming pools are shown. The closing shot is of a home in Compton, California.

Right Screen

Very little can be inferred from the short clips, screenshots, and pictures taken of the right projection. It can be assumed the left and right screens relate to one another. A review from Eric Ducker of the Verge provides a general synopsis of the film and Kahlil Joseph's career and no specific visual details of the right projection.[5] He does claim that the projections are "either supporting or ricocheting off of each other."

The film noticeably does not use the songs "Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter", "Money Trees", "Real" or "Compton". The film also noticeably has very little speaking and most characters do not speak.

Screenings

An untitled previous version of the film played alongside Kendrick Lamar as he opened for Kanye West on the Yeezus Tour on December 10th, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona.[6] On December 17th, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois, another variation of the film was used as an opener for Kendrick Lamar[7]. Both versions contain footage from both projections and possibly unused footage.

Physical Details

The screens were both 14 feet, angled at 90°, with two benches placed against each screen. The film would also play on a loop to "encourage viewers to come in and out of the viewing space and watch it as many consecutive times as desired"[8]

Screenings

An untitled previous version of the film played alongside Kendrick Lamar as he opened for Kanye West on the Yeezus Tour on December 10th, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona.[9] On December 17th, 2013, in Chicago, Illinois, another variation of the film was used as an opener for Kendrick Lamar.[10] Both versions contains footage from both projections and possibly unused footage.

The premiere of the film was held in Downtown Los Angeles, California at the Sundance Next Fest on August 9th, 2014.[11] The full film was circulated again from March 20th, 2015 - August 16th, 2015, at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles.[1] Double Conscience would be shown in person again at the Sundance Festival in Utah in January of 2016[12].

Online Availability

The first known upload of the left projection may be an altered version made to a website owned by Matt Holis, a video editor, through an embedded Vimeo link.[2] This version contains more footage than the newer left projection, a more abrupt shift in the intro contains credits throughout the middle of the film, contains full credits towards the end of the film, and an almost minute long black and muted screen at the very end. Matt's contribution to the film was made as an "additional editor."

The left projection was publicly uploaded to the now-deleted post on Chayse Irvin's website, dating back to February 23rd, 2016.[13] The film would be abruptly removed as late as March 6th, 2016.[14]

One of the earliest re-uploads of the film's left projection was made anonymously to MediaFire on March 3rd, 2016.[15] On October 22nd, 2016 YouTube user Gianni Inizrillo uploaded a 0:16 clip of the short film.[4] On November 28th, 2016, YouTube user Sharp Clouds uploaded a 1:16 clip of the right projection, which is either blacked out or not shown for most of the short clip.

In 2017, Twitter user @one_aaron uploaded a 0:15 clip[16] of the intro, containing both screens at the Los Angeles County of Museum Arts. The screening was, according to @one_aaron, in May 2015.

Through the Instagram backup tool Imginn, several posts including the tag #DoubleConsience can be searched.[17] Most of the videos date back to the clips screening at the MOCA in Los Angeles. There does, however, seem to be a time limit, as most of the recordings of the film do not exceed 15 seconds.

Footage

The full left projection in 720p.

An early version of the film in 1080p.

1:16 of the right film.

0:16 of the right film, which is just mirrored off of the left.

Another demo used on the Yeezus tour, just one week later.

Demo of the film used on the Yeezus tour, blending footage of both the left and right projection onto a single screen

Screenshots and Pictures

  • Screenshot of a young Kendrick Lamar sleeping and Compton street around 4:19 into the film.

    Screenshot of a young Kendrick Lamar sleeping and Compton street around 4:19 into the film.

  • Picture of the Centennial High School marching band around 12:18 into the film.

    Picture of the Centennial High School marching band around 12:18 into the film.

  • Picture of the street sign for Rosecrans Avenue around 14:08 into the film.

    Picture of the street sign for Rosecrans Avenue around 14:08 into the film.

  • Picture of a house and the Compton skyline around 14:45 into the film.

    Picture of a house and the Compton skyline around 14:45 into the film.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kahlil Joseph: Double Conscience by The Museum of Contemporary Art. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 m.A.A.d. page on Matt Hollis' editing portfolio. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  3. ↑ good kid, m.A.A.d city Short Film | Kendrick Lamar by ZweiOptionen ArschOderMundauf on YouTube. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 KAHLIL JOSEPH m.A.A.d. by Gianni Inzirillo on YouTube. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  5. ↑ Kahlil Joseph's m.A.A.d. gives new visual life to Kendrick Lamar's breakout album by Eric Ducker from The Verge. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  6. ↑ KENDRICK LAMAR @ YEEZUS TOUR PHX AZ (12/10/13) from YouTube
  7. ↑ Yeezus Tour - Kanye West & Kendrick Lamar - Chicago, IL - United Center - Dec. 17th, 2013 from YouTube
  8. ↑ Audiovisual Black Subjectivity in Kahlil Joseph’s “Double Conscience” by Jheanelle Brown. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  9. ↑ Kendrick Lamar @ Yeezus Tour PHX AZ (12/10/13) by Jigar Patel from YouTube. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  10. ↑ Yeezus Tour - Kanye West & Kendrick Lamar - Chicago, IL - United Center - Dec. 17th, 2013 by Danny Anderson on YouTube. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  11. ↑ Kendrick Lamar film to debut at Sundance Next at Ace Hotel
  12. ↑ Sundance 2016 Days 4-5: Dark Night, Lo and Behold, and the drama of being human by Emily Yoshida from The Verge. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  13. ↑ m.A.A.d page on Chayse Irvin's website circa Feb. 2016 archived on the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  14. ↑ m.A.A.d page on Chayse Irvin's website circa Mar. 2016 archived on the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  15. ↑ GKMC short film on MediaFire. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  16. ↑ Kahlil Joseph: Double Conscience, LACMA, May 2015 from aaron on Twitter. Retrieved 4 May '23.
  17. ↑ Archive of posts containing the tag "Double Concensious" on Imginn. Retrieved 4 May '23.
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