Good Morning Alice
2018, 7 minutes
Alice, who knows appearances are everything, nervously begins answering questions before steering the interview in an unexpected direction.
The interview begins. White walls, white table, an infinity of expressionlessness that gives nothing away. Alice (Winter), a mousey, awkward, professional young woman fidgets nervously in her seat. She is given tea in a white cup. Her blue-green shirt, the only colour in the featureless room, makes her stand out uncomfortably from her stark, unyielding surroundings. As if shot for archiving purposes, only Alice is seen, the interviewer is obscured from view behind the camera itself and it is unclear whether or not there are other observers present. The questions are generic - career history, interests, family - and give little away about the motives behind or the purpose of the interview. In a level voice, the interviewer encourages the shy and guarded Alice to talk about in detail about herself and who, deep inside, she really is. Unsure exactly of how to respond to the questions, Alice comes across as bubbly, self conscious and eccentric. But the underlying feeling that the interview is going badly and that she has created a poor first impression leaves her plagued with self-doubt and self-loathing. The unerring feeling that she is not answering the questions in the way that she should further adds to her feelings of dread and discomfort. But Alice knows that appearances are everything. Seeking to gain the upper hand from her interviewer, she steers the conversation in an unexpected direction that drastically changes the way in which her interviewer, and the world, sees her.
