SUBMERGENCE

Für die performative 360° Filminstallation SUBMERGENCE arbeiteten wir in vier Projektphasen intensiv an der Projektentwicklung:

1.) Recherche und Cast: ab dem 26. April bis zum 30. Juni recherchierten wir in enger Koordination mit Stückliesel Creative Production im Hamburger Hafen nach thematisch relevanten Inhalten und Kontakten sowie nach möglichen Protagonistinnen. Wir recherchierten vor Ort, sammelten Geschichten von Crewmitgliedern die in den Seemannsmissionen verkehrten. Um die Identität der Crewmitglieder zu schützen arbeiteten wir in dieser Phase ausschließlich mit Tonaufnahmen (Konstantin Bessonov). Die Gespräche stellten sich als sehr aufschlussreich heraus, die Kürze der Begegnungen (1-2h) stellte sich als unbefriedigend heraus. Im Zuge dieser Recherchen lernten wir Manolet de Castillo kennen, einen äußerst erfahrenen, ehemaligen Kreuzfahrt-Patissier der bereits über 13 Jahre an Bord gearbeitet hatte. Im intensiven Austausch mit ihm entwickelten wir das Konzept wesentlich weiter: Wir suchten jetzt nach ehemaligen Kreuzfahrtmitarbeiterinnen, die heute in Norddeutschland leben. Über persönliche Anschreiben, Insta- und Facebookposts, Aushänge in Bücherhallen und Sporttreffs suchten wir nach unserem Cast für SUBMERGENCE: Maria Antigua, Mary Grace Wesch, Vanessa Fauvel, Manolet de Castillo, Anthony Balboa und Gadie Santos.

Protagonist*innen/Expert*innen

2.) Technikenwicklung und Tests: Zwischen dem 1. August und dem 30. September galt unser Fokus der Entwicklung der (Film)-Hard und Software, der Planung des 360° Drehs und der baulichen Planung der Installation. In zahlreichen Tests suchte unser Videotechniker Luca Kowalinski nach der geeignetsten Technik um das Projekt auf höchstem künstlerischen Niveau und möglichst kostensparend umzusetzen. Die ersten Tests führten uns in Richtung 180° Aufnahmen mit der „Canon RF Dual Fischeye-Objektiv“ und der „Zwei-Kamera-Fischeye“ Technik. Weitere Tests fanden mit der GoPro Max und der Insta 360 Pro2 für 360° Aufnahmen statt. Die Ergebnisse der Insta 360 Pro2 überzeugten uns und standen auch in einem akzeptablen Preis-Leistungsverhältnis. Luca Kowalinski zeichnete sich außerdem verantwortlich für die Sound- und Lichttests, sowie der Entwicklung eines digitalen Codes, der das gekoppelte 360° Abspielen von sechs Tablets in der nachgebauten Kabine ermöglicht. In Zusammenarbeit mit Bauer&Planer (Leitung: Till Richter) erstellten wir Raumpläne und 3D Zeichnungen für den Bühnenbau/Setbau; zeitgleich wurde das Material gekauft. Für die Vor- und Nach-Lagerung des Materials wurde ein Lagerraum in der Hammer Deichstraße 10 angemietet.

3.) Workshops: Im Oktober begannen wir mit den Workshops und Proben mit den Protagonist*innen und schrieben erste Textskizzen in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Theaterautoren Jan Eichberg (Transskription und Übersetzung Annika Scharm). Ab Ende Oktober bis Mitte November probten wir einzelne performative Szenen und in Szene gesetzte Gespräche. Friederike Höppner drehte dabei einzelne Testaufnahmen. Auf der Suche nach einem geeigneten Raum für die Dreharbeiten wurden wir mit dem Studio Admi in der Admiralitätsstraße Hamburg 71 fündig. (Anmietung bei Gerrit Frohne-Brinkmann). 4.) Dreh: Die Drehs fanden vom 5. bis 17. Dezember im Studio statt. Mit der Bewerbung des Projekts beim international ausgeschriebenen Wettbewerb der Venice Biennale College Cinema VR wurden wir zur Teilnahme im Januar 2023 eingeladen. Die Premiere von SUBMERGENCE ist für Oktober 2023 auf Kampnagel Hamburg angesetzt.

Leseprobe und Probedreh mit den Projektbeteiltigten der Textskizze I REMEMBER, ein Text in dem sich die ehemaligen Crewmitglieder gemeinsam an ihre Lebens- und Arbeitsrealität an Bord der Schiffe erinnern. Durch das gemeinsam Erinnerte ensteht ein kaleidoskopartiges Bild im Kopf der Zuhörer*innen das die unterschiedlichen Perspektiven der Billiglohnarbeiter*innen unter Deck der Schiffe erzählt. Gesamter Text im Anhang.

Probedreh des Karaokesong “para sa akin” auf Tagalog (philippinische Landessprache)

I REMEMBER

Text von Jan Eichberg, Martina Mahlknecht und Martin PrinothEntstan in Zusammenarbeit mit den Protagonist*innen Maria Antigua, Mary Grace Wesch, Vanessa Fauvel, Manolet de Castillo, Anthony Balboa und Gadie Santos.

first day on the cruise

I remember my first day on the ship, after a 24-Hours flight or even more. I remember it was my first flight abroad so I still had jet lag and I never had a chance to rest for a day. I remember the 1st time I saw the ship where I was supposed to live and work for 9 months. I clearly remember when I first entered the ship, I was very nervous and I looked carefully at all the facilities, as well as the crew walking in the hall way. I remember my first step on the gangway, I was very excited and with mixed emotions seeing a nice lobby inside the ship. I remember the first shaking of the ship when it left the port. I remember the romantic sailaway view of the port when the ships sails away from New Jersey, USA. I remember we directly did the ship familiarization, the distribution of the uniforms and then proceeded to our working stations. I remember I was so tired but no choice I needed to work. I remember the overloaded information I needed to absorb. I remember my first time working in the dishwash. I remember that there were so many sections of the kitchen, tooks days to finally remember the right way to get to the workplace. I remember mountains of pots and pans are dumped in the pot area and many plates for washing. I remember I was so amazed how the cooks move so fast in the workplace. I remember the bunch of documents to be submitted and filled out for the crew purser (HR office). I will always remember the day I arrived on the ship, that was the first day I started working. I remember they gave me a uniform and I was happy because the uniform was beautiful. I remember that from this day on I did wear this uniform every day until my contract ended. I remember my first night after the first day of work, I was very emotional and sad with all kinds of emotions. It was so heavy that night that I cried but they said all that is normal for a beginner. I remember the day when I had been on the ship for quite some time, all the adjustments were over, sometimes I did break the rules, the fear was gone and the sadness was all back to normal.

fire alarm

I remember my first drill on the ship, I was a bit new, I got lost and I couldn’t see the station where I belonged. I remember I was afraid because I was not allowed to be late for the drill because they always check the security number. I remember every crew has a safety card where you can find all the important safety number and muster station. I remember being lost every time on my first 2wks inside the ship and it takes me sometime to memorize every deck plan. I remember during crew drill “hard to find your e.station”. I remember fire in the galley where we have to evacuate my cabin and the cabins in my area because its close to the crew galley. I remember when our ship rescued a fisherman’s boat in the middle of the sea because it was in trouble and about to sink so we let all the people in this boat come to our ship so that they can be safe back to the nearest port.

food

I remember when I first ate in our crew mess, I was so amazed of the amount of foods and drinks and that all of it was free. I also remember going to the crew mess a few weeks later complaining that food served is always the same and tasteless! And I remember it went on for the whole contract, probably every contract coz that’s how crew mess in every ship is. I remember our crew mess they served different variety of food such as Asian, European, Indian, American etc… In my opinion most times I don´t get the Original Filipino Quality food. I remember it’s much better to buy a bottled water because the water is not so good for your stomach. I remember on the ship once we get diarrhea we directly need to quarantine. We have hospital with two doctors and two nurses. I remember the quarantine procedure and how I needed to stay in one room for 5 days with the food served in front of my door. I remember the nurse calling my cabin and my cabin mate bringing some of my clothes to the hospital and the housekeeping disinfecting my bed and the entire cabin room.

cabin

I remember our room cabin consisted of 2 double deck beds exclusively for women. It was very clean and tidy when I shared it with an Indian, an Ukrainian and one Latin American women. I remember getting the upper bunk bed coz newcomers always get the upper bunk beds. I remember I was the youngest and they always called me ‘Baby Grace’. I remember unpacking my luggage but only to unpack a few things as our cabinet is so small. I remember putting a picture of my family on the wall beside me when I sleep. I remember in our cabin everybody was respecting when someone was sleeping. I remember always silently going up the bed because the bed squeaks noisily. I remember the problem we had with one cabinmate since she brought her boyfriend to our cabin and letting him sleep there without our permission so we need to discuss a house rules not to allow boys inside our cabin. I remember my cabin mate called “smelly foot”. I remember the loud sound of the engine can be heard from my cabin. I remember my roommate every night making telephone calls to his family and I could not sleep. I remember the bunch of trash under my bed, left by previous crew members. I remember my roomate covering the exhaust fan in the shower room to smoke. I remember the birthday party and getting together in the cabin. I remember I had to walk a long way from the cabin to the work area. I remember that I got lost on the first week on the way to my cabin. I remember having a ship tour from a buddy (colleague) that was assigned to me, but still getting lost for the first month. I remember the numberings / labels to show the sections of the cabins. I remember when I got lost in the ship. I remember when we first drank and partied in my cabin because my cabin was big and we always had parties there. I remember the first time I secretly brought alcohol to our cabin and we had a party. I remember having good friends from bar sneaking and giving us different liquors and alcohols in the cabin and so instead of drinking in the crew bar, we partied and drink in the cabin. I also remember the first time the security raided my cabin because someone complained about another cabin, but it was okay because we hadn’t started drinking. I remember that we survived and moved to another cabin and continued the party there. I remember I never tried having a friend from galley or chef but one of my cabinmates did so she would always bring in plates of different food and share it with us. I remember one night sleeping in my small cabin where I can hear the sound of water banging on the portholes which makes me scared and let my life jacket on me while sleeping. I remember our laundry room, it was a great disaster because there are only 4 washing machines and two dryers. Imagine we are 800 employees. We need to pay attention about the time because most times some also steal some clothes. I remember one day I dreamed about my cat that he was already died. I woke up crying then my cabin mate was worried about me. I directly called my sister in the Philippines and she told me that my cat already died since last month. That was the saddest day of my life on the ship but I need to work while I am crying the whole day.

love on board

I remember I fell in love with a fellow man and an Indian but he has different type. 🙂 I remember only legally married couples can stay in one cabin. I remember on some ships even if not legally married they can stay in one cabin but importantly the woman is willing to live together with the man. I remember the Captain can make a legal civil wedding for guests or even crew members. I remember being in a complicated relationship twice which leads me to depression, in order to avoid it I had to change my agency and to go to another ship to have a new beginning. I remember the love rules on board and the temptations neither you are married or single. I remember meeting my husband on the cruiseship, with him I experienced the old style thing called `courting stage’. I remember waking up in my bed and opening my curtain only to find out my other cabinmate was sleeping with her boyfriend. I remember hearing squeaky noises and sounds and whatnots on top of me (when i was on the lower bunk bed) knowing my roomie is with her boyfriend. I remember having 8 people sleeping in one cabin where only 4 are situated, only because all of us 4 have our boyfriends sleeping with us. I remember being reprimanded by our supervisor because our cabin was put on the list of one of the messiest cabins after a random cabin inspection. I remember entertainment cruise staff are known as the messiest cabinmates to be with because of their amount of costume stuff. I remember hiding all our messy stuff, props and everything under our blanket on the bed before an emergency drill (because we know that they usually do cabin inspections during emergency drills. I remember emergency drill schedules are always posted so we know when to clean the cabin or “fake clean” our cabin. I remember cooking packed noodles with the hot water from the faucet of our bathroom in the cabin (with the ship that has a potable drinking water but it differs from ship to ship). I remember that warm water boiler that was being secretly transferred from cabin to cabin to cook packed noodles with it. (It is not allowed to bring in the cabin cooking machines). I remember not brushing my teeth and showering before going to duty(shift) because 2 of my roommates are already up preparing for their work and I would be late if I waited. I also remember sleeping in other cabins (cabin of my first ship boyfriend). I remember having an officer boyfriend and having experience being in his cabin with a bigger window and solo cabin. I remember married colleagues trying to flirt with me or saying they like me. I remember flirting with a colleague even when I had a boyfriend in the PH that time. I remember my PH boyfriend broke up with me via messenger saying he has fallen for someone else. I remember that time I thought it’s my karma, or maybe it was bound to happen because having Long distance relationship with no or little wifi in the ship to use for communicating sucks. But I also remember, I did cry too much in the crew toilet in the lounge located in the forward part of the ship at night after work. The sound of the waves being hit by the ship swollod my loud crying. I remember waking up next morning with swollen eyes, wearing sunglasses and teaching morning exercise trying to make people happy when I was so broken inside. I remember being in a relationship with a Swedish officer and that time I felt like a royalty as people always looked at me when I was walking with him and eating with him in our crew mess. I remember the dining area for officers is a different one and rank and file crew are not allowed to eat or go there. I remember getting an engine tour exclusively with my Swedish engine officer. I remember the first time I met my partner now. I said to myself that time “ she will be mine” no matter how, and now im here living in germany and have a one daughter with her.

money+sidejobs

I remember my first promotion after a year. I remember earning a big commission plus being the top seller and that makes me so happy that I could save more and sent to my Family Home. I remembered when I started working extra jobs. when I was first in housekeeping, I remember cleaning the toilet and doing beding once a week every time I change passengers, I do that for extra money. I remember we used an ID as a Debit card onboard. I remember we were given a cash monthly salary and had to wait in line in the crew purser office according to the work Departments. I remember I always request to receive 100 dollar bills as much as possible. I remember it’s a challenge to save money since shopping is everywhere ashore and onboard. I remember always looking forward to shopping after the salary comes, those times I have lots of money for myself as salary is not taxed. Of Course some parts of my salary go to my family back home automatically. I remember my first salary. I bought Nike shoes, chocolates and ice cream. I was so happy because I can buy whatever I want and I can finally send money to my parents in the Philippines. I remember I can make extra money by helping in staterooms during embarkation day. I remembered the extra jobs I was doing, I would cook food and sell it to the housekeeping staff, sometimes we would exchange goods with the bar people. like a good alcohol for foods. I remember many side jobs that crew members do like cutting hair, doing laundry, and cleaning cabins for fellow crew members. I remember enjoying Chinese new year onboard because all the chinese/singaporean guests give red envelopes to us!

loneliness, seasickness

I also remember the times when the waves in the sea were so strong that the ship was dancing, but we still went straight to work. We have saying” susuka pero di susuko” it means we will throw up but won’t give up. I remember the most dizziness I had was on my first 3 days onboard. I remember throwing up in the guest toilet coz of rough sea. I remember that eating more or having a full meal is against seasickness. I remember eating green apples helps sea sickness go away. I remember trying to make myself feel better during a rough sea with inhaling White flower ointment every minute! I remember the worst rough sea was sailing from the North Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean. I remember that night I was able to put on my costume only to go to work shift for a few minutes and then ask my supervisor for leave as I really cannot. I remember the work – cabin routine made me homesick. I remember waiting for the next port just to give my family and friends a call because only when we get a network signal that we can use data for the internet and not wifi. I remember installing a netguard app that saves wifi usage because wifi onboard is so expensive. I remember when I had family problems. I remember playing OPM songs in the cabin to fight loneliness or homesickness. I remember watching movies on crew tv channels every night. I remember exchanging external hard drives to have new movies. I remember good times in our crewbar. I remember the crewparty and our band night where I use to join and sing with the band. I remember the first party I attended, I enjoyed it so much and forgot the hard work. after that I always go to the crew bar after work. I remember how sad my mom was on the way to send me to the airport when joining the ship. I remember my family is so happy every time they pick me up at the airport. I remember religion on ship. One is from ´Hinduism´ of Balinese in Indonesia. They do the fasting and meditation. They really have hall where they can pray during their celebration. Also every countries celebrated there Independence Day on the ship and prepared some foods and more party but with limits. I remember there was a weekly Mass done by a pastor onboard. I remember the bible study after work.

other countries

I remember all the ports and countries I have been to. I also remember when we spent the overnight at the port, for us it was so much fun to spend the night. All the crew going out and enjoy the bars and club outside. I remember when I have almost come back late to the ship. I remember our overnights in ports and I went to the disco with my friends. I remember the Dog Sled crew excursion in Alaska. I remember my first jet ski experience in Mexico. I remember shopping Havaiianas slippers in Brazil and visiting the beach. I remember our drydock in Bahamas where we love to do banana boat riding in the beach. I remember the first Original Margherita Pizza I ate in Napoli Italy. I was surprised about the one whole Pizza was served to one person. It´s a complete meal. But in the Philippines a one whole pizza with 9 slices was most times being shared by four people. And I can´t even eat one slice of it because for me it´s extremely sour.

show for guests

I remember the raffles and crew stuff games like bingo. I remember that I always won prizes in bingo. I remember I saw an announcement on our Crews Hallway Board about Talent Searching for the crew show. I remember I directly called the Theater Manager and auditioned. It´s my first time to sing in a huge Theater. It was a dream come true for me to clearly hear my voice and the sound was really good like I am on heaven. I remember the Theater director telling me to sing on the coming cruise. I was so happy. That experience made my life on the ship even more fun. I remember how the shows we did in front of bar and restaurant. I remember us dancing and singing for the guests. we performed and prepared this show every week on Saturday the last night of the guests. We give them memories that they will never forget. I remember collecting special dinner menu to give to my guest as a souvenir on their cruise. I remember VIP cocktail party in the bridge and ViP dinner where I used to serve all the Officers and Guests. I remember running to the ship so fast as we are already close to being late. I remember being nervous when I heard “mr.firefox to the station” for the first time, as it means there is fire onboard. I remember hating sea days because it means we will be very busy and probably working full if not overtime hours. I remember speaking in front of my assembly station with the guests and crew during emergency drill as the assembly station leader demonstrating safety instructions. I remember speaking in the announcer making announcement of entertainment activities onboard that was broadcasted in the whole ship. I remember participating in crew shows which was one of the most unforgettable moments onboard. I remember hitting the crew gym midnight after work plus less people. I remember raising up all the lost and found items i find in public areas while i deliver it to the front office because the cctv should see that we did not try to pocket it or take money from it if it is a wallet. I remember winning 2nd grand prize in a crew bingo game (bingo games for crew are always most-awaited and anticipated). I remember staring at every port when the ship is leaving and telling myself that someday I will enjoy these ports we visit without time limitations. I will finish this the i remember because, a lot of experience I’ve experience there and its much to write down.