
ECLIPSE
a film installation
Pitch Deck by Eilythia Penati
Abstract
This projection-mapped film installation experiments with film, sculpture, and poetry to investigate unique family dynamics. Using auto-ethnographic methods, it delves into the multifaceted relationships within my own family to help viewers reflect upon their personal relationships with family members, specifically questioning how interracial families where different roles, values, and traditions are prioritized, leading to complexities that can be ignored creating dysfunctional relationships.
The piece highlights how the intersections of age, gender, and cultural backgrounds have caused shifts in my relationship to my mother, father, and brother. The three-part film series relates the intricacies of the relationships through analogies of the solar system, dissecting how patterns and cycles between us occur similarly to the rotation of the sun, moon, and stars. Film, poetry, and sculpture are employed to recreate a childhood bedroom with multi-channel projection to display the films on unconventional surfaces.
Limited time and space for thoughtful reflection often results in strained and ineffective relationships within families and never becomes resolved. The piece provides the audience with a new outlook on their familial bonds and encourages viewers to reach out to their family and take the first step in creating a healthier relationship with one another.
Writing
The first stage of this project is writing about each family member through analogy. When having difficult conversations it can be easier to process and communicate intense emotion through analogies.
Over the course of five years, I have written these poems documenting how my relationships have shifted. Each family member correlates to a part of the solar system based on their relationship to me.
Film
The different film styles of archival footage, documentary style, and staged video techniques provide a grounded tone that captures the intimacy of the relationship between the subject and filmmaker.
As my family is naturally camera shy, shooting in an informal setting is key in capturing our true family dynamic.
Below are some writing samples, visual concepts, and archival footage

for the sun,
if it does not play, click here
above: concept film for “for the sun,”
The sun is for my dad.
for the moon,
The moon is for my mom.

for the stars,
The stars are for my brother.
Installation
Imagine this, but more of a bedroom setting with more film and text being projected. –>
<– My very first draft of how I wanted the visuals to look. Imagine this with the addition of a bedroom.
Shana Moulton’s Meta/Physical Therapy use of sculpture and environment has inspired by installation process
The installation replicates my childhood bedroom creating a nostalgic environment for the audience
