Action Cut: Echo Back – The Time Travel Virus

Echo Back - the Action Cut

First time around

A little while ago I watched Echo Back – The Time Travel Virus. A short online movie written and produced by William Rosenthal and Tristram Geary.

Biological time travel in Echo Back
Biological time travel in Echo Back

As well as the underlying plot line of the reaction of the masses (and authorities) should time travel be preferentially ‘available’, Echo Back also lead me to think about the reality of time travel using biological processes, and how that might stand up against current (or future) technological advances.

Echo 1: Action Cut

Now comes another installment. It’s not a sequel or a prequel (or any other kind of a ~quel) but more of a subset – an “Action Cut”. Will explained that some viewers of the full version really wanted to see what the fight scenes with Vance looked like by themselves, so he and Tristram edited it all together without the stock.

I suppose that just as cuts through a solid object give us a better idea of what’s inside that object, perhaps the same can be said in the filming / editing business. In this case, the Action Cut offers us another view into the original film. Actually, it’s the same stuff, but the focus is different.

Personally, I think this Action Cut version shows more clearly the physical strain of the fight that Vance has with the authorities, but what I particularly like is how his mental frustration of having to go through all of this again also comes through really well.

It’s this latter point which got me thinking about repeating various parts of your life. Again.

Echo 2: Oh no, not this again!

The idea of reliving part of your life again and again is not new. Indeed, it seems to come round again and again! 😉 Replay, Groundhog Day, and my recently reviewed Buckyball all have this theme, for example.

Phil Connors clearly shows frustration to the point of self harm in Groundhog Day until he grabs the bull by the horns and steers his own destiny. Jim in Buckyball, perhaps being younger (at first), is much more open to the possibilities which are available when you effectively have second chances.

(And to be blatantly honest here – I can’t remember any more what happened with Jeff in Replay regarding this angle).

Phil and Jeff have no control over their replays or repeats, whereas Vance and Jim do. Control is a much sought after commodity, but both Jim and Vance have another variable which they can’t control – other people.

Vance in the Action Cut of Echo Back.
Other people are the problem for Vance in the Action Cut of Echo Back.

But back to Vance in Echo Back. It strikes me that he’s just had enough. He’s learning with each iteration, quite literally so that he can get on with his life. But the trouble is the people around him – they’re not learning or becoming wiser because they don’t know any better. For them, it’s the first time that things happen.

Vance in Echo Back: Frustration.
Vance in Echo Back: Frustration.

Reliving a part of your life again sounds like it might be fun, sometimes – but only if other people are willing to let you.

The choice is yours?

Would you choose to relive a given day or moment again? People around us wouldn’t behave differently, but we would. Our accumulating experience would make sure of that.

In some ways some of us already do relive the same moments in our lives – and we’re not impressed. And thee are others of us who bring a stop to their enjoyment, or at least, make their lives a living misery.

I remember my first year at university. We played many practical jokes which at the time we thought were blindingly comical – and original. But here’s the thing – what we thought was new and original had already been done before by previous year groups. And of course the staff were never impressed – they’d seen it all before. They had to relive these first few days of first year students every year.

Or there’s the time at secondary school when an overly self-conscious version of me is taking a leak and a female cleaner walks in. I rapidly zip up.

“Don’t worry!” she says, “I’ve seen it all before!”

Yeah, but not MINE!

So the point is that a repetitive life isn’t always a good thing. Production line workers need variation in their schedule before they numb themselves with boredom. Like them, and the university staff, Vance seems tired of it all. Wouldn’t you be?

Einstein’s sometimes quoted (perhaps incorrectly) as saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity.

But I think the question remains: who goes insane – the time traveller, or those around him?

Paul

PS: Here’s the link to the full version of Echo Back – The Time Travel Virus:

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