I SHOULD GO

BY: Dante Fresse

A lone actor tries to navigate California and reach Los Angeles in an exciting video on Vimeo. James Vincent McMorrow’s “I Should Go,” produced by Kenny Beats, plays over a video compilation of “Ezra” as he works to find his place in Hollywood’s acting scene.

Ezra Ewen is the main character, portraying an actor exploring identity and career through a series of phone interviews and videos he directs. Ezra encourages us all to express individuality through the way he uses tools which he finds around him (cameras, iPhones, and lighting devices). He ends with a filmed audition of him reading a script as he apologizes for a mistake at the end.

For Ezra, the Instagram Live app becomes a tool for the social distribution of information. His stage is his social media profile: @ezra_the_actor, which also operates as a platform for collecting stories. His storytelling is intimate and covers geography and experience, documenting everything he does as a loner in LA. He wanders around shoe shops and hotspots in the city, recording interactions on his camera phone. Ezra opens up to a broader community of voices by creating this chronology of phone diary experiences.

The video takes on a new form as it opens for Ezra’s digression in LA. His phone is his power, operating as an interview and discussion hub, and a means of putting his face in public. We receive a compilation of images about LA’s experiences–working out, buying clothes, and traveling alone. As such, we feel closer to Ezra. His life becomes molded to ours and we see him grow. PROVOKR encourages you to watch this video.