Welcome to the archival edit of my COVID quarantine project, Ringmaster Rex. Content warning – Ringmaster Rex deals in symbolism, dramatization, humor, camp, and spectacle but also in abuse, trauma, horror/gore and adult sexual themes. It contains many flash and visual effects that may trigger epilepsy. Take care of you.
Synopsis
Ringmaster Rex is essentially the coming of age story of my dissociated toxic masculinity, seen from the evolving perspective of a protective and controlling alter in what is most easily described as an OSDD system (the walling off of developing personality fragments due to the impact of complex trauma)
In a dark, colorful, magical world of his making, Rex exists in a sort of self imposed isolation, unaware of his place in a larger whole of a fractured consciousness. As his curiosity overtakes his reactivity toward unexpectedly facing a deep wound from his past, his story unfolds as a mirroring of the healing warpath I previously took in my life, told now from his previously suppressed perspective (dramatized and rich in hyperbole, of course. We should not REALLY kill and eat the lords of society, or call upon our inner knowings with magic to know and heal ourselves. That would be fucking TERRIBLE. *cough*).
Through the work of rediscovering long forgotten aspects of himself, and finding that there were others beyond the silence who were seeking him out as well, the show ultimately describes my inner process during COVID quarantine as two of my most dominant aspects (Rex and Kat) finally recognize, and ultimately choose one another, through psychodrama.
Running time and format
Ringmaster Rex consists of eight episodes averaging 5 minutes in length each. The Behind the Scenes video is around 45 minutes long, and Extras are about 10 minutes.
Optimized for viewing on a phone or tablet, the videos are portrait oriented. You may like to stay prepared to pause or rewatch portions, especially the behind the scenes/making of video (1 hour) which often has a lot of text on screen.
Other things to note before beginning:
- This project originated as a frivolous “murder ringmaster” halloween experiment where each clip looped individually as a caption was read. Though I am rather impressed with what I was able to accomplish in editing, the real value is that evidence of this organic, realtime discovery process still exists in reality at all. It will not flow like a conventional film, and the format may take some time to get used to for those unfamiliar with tiktok.
- In terms of flow, I suggest people take all the breaks they need to process. If I were presenting the project formally, like a viewing party, I’d put an intermission after episode 5.
- Production quality increases greatly as the series progresses and I figured out the depth and importance of what the fuck I was actually making.
- I am discouraging the sharing of this particular work to nebulous followings on social media, actively avoiding marketing it or trying to publish it outside of my personal archive here. Feel free to vaguely reference how amazing I am on your socials, but please pass this link along to those you expect may appreciate it directly.
- For those familiar, one might consider this project an indirect spinoff of The Obsidian Show, focusing now on the Ringmaster’s personal character and story.
