MIRANDA JULY SHOWS YOU HOW TO BE MORE PRODUCTIVE
Productivity systems are a booming cottage industry, and while the commercial ones are aimed at businesspeople, artists are fascinated with them just as much. I met an artist/writer/actress the other night and we more or less geeked out on what productivity system we favored, debating the merits of the Four-Hour Work Week vs. Getting Things Done.
At the website Nowness today, Miranda July tackles the issue of productivity in a deleted scene from her most recent film, The Future. It’s been recut and newly scored by David Byrne, and it might offer you some insight into your own patterns of distraction.
Nowness: Why didn’t the scene above make the final cut of The Future?
July: This scene was meant to make it clear that Sophie was struggling against distraction, after losing time on YouTube—we all know how alluring these distractions are, and here we are seeing her attempting to take charge. I had her rig up a grape juice booby trap. In the next scene, which is actually in the movie, you see her run past the table and her white dress is covered in grape juice, which seemed like a funny visual way of showing that she had sacrificed the dress for the internet. Except that nobody got the whole grape juice trap. I don’t think a single person understood why she was doing any of it. It just seemed like a bizarre performance in the middle of the movie. So I cut it. It’s nice to show it here, and hopefully with the cards it isn’t too mystifying.