Being In You

Synopsis

What remains of us after we die? Being In You is a mixed-reality documentary created with musician and geologist Cat Janice, before and after she passed away. The project reverses embodiment: instead of you stepping into her world, Cat asks whether she can step into yours, into your senses, your imagination, even your body’s movements. If you smile now, I will be in your smile. A tender duet between the living and the no-longerliving, an intimate encounter with the digital afterlife, holding someone’s echo of existence.

Statement

In stories, and especially in virtual worlds, we are asked to step into someone else’s shoes. Being In You moves in the opposite direction, a gesture I call reverse embodiment. Instead of asking you to see through her eyes, Cat asks you to look through your own. I invited Cat to collaborate on a project that uses the medium of XR as an instrument for staying, a way of remaining a little longer. Over two years, we developed it through rehearsals, improvisations, script development, and long conversations. We never knew how much time we would have, and in the end it was too short. What remains are fragments and traces: recordings, images, thoughts, music, geological research. Rather than simply replaying these materials, we built a mechanism that lets Cat reappear: in movement, in another person’s body, in relationship with the viewer. Because the central element is you, your body and your imagination. What happens when Cat asks you to smile, touch the floor, look around her room, breathe in rhythm with her? Through these simple actions, she reappears in the physical world, and you become a medium for her existence.

Videos

• ▶Bringing XR to Venice: Library of Dreams and Being in YouPresentation · XR4Europe

Credits

Director

Michał Stankiewicz

Production

Betwixt Foundation (Michał Stankiewicz, Martyna Nitkowska) with the support of the Polish Film Institute and the Creative Industries Institute; Southern Devices (Ash Eliza Smith)

Running Time

22'

Language

English

Country

Poland

Main Cast

Catherine Janice Ipsan

Screenplay

Michał Stankiewicz, Catherine Janice Ipsan, Ash Eliza Smith

Music

Catherine Janice Ipsan

Art director

Ash Eliza Smith

Lead developer

Jakub Oleś

Developers

Michał Stankiewicz, Michael Barngrover, Random Error Studio (András Szabó, Botond István Tobai, Bence Pápai)

Designers

Michał Stankiewicz, Jakub Oleś, Felix Wójcik, Random Error Studio (András Szabó, Botond István Tobai, Bence Pápai), Ebert Studio (Tomek Ebert, Marcin Ebert)

Technical team

Alex Gee, Chris Varner, Martin Scholl, Thomas Livingston, Wawrzyniec Skoczylas, Jan Szewczyk