Optical De-dramatization Engine (O.D.E.) applied in 40-hour cycles to Thomas Ince’s “The Invaders”, 1912
As the U.S. extended its reach into North American territories during the 19th century, its army massacred or displaced indigenous peoples in the path of its westward expansion. At the beginning of the 20th century, memories were still vivid for both European Americans and Native Americans who fought the battles of invasion and resistance. What types of human encounters coexist with those of occupation and insurgency? Thomas Ince would attempt to re-focus the American Western movie genre toward this question in 1912 with his film, “The Invaders”. Including Native Americans as actors (Ogala Sioux from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota), the film develops parallel personal dramas for the Native American and European American characters. “The Invaders” tells a story set in the 1860s during the building of the transcontinental railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad Company brings its surveyors into Sioux territory with the complicity and protection of the U.S. Army. In response to the broken treaty, Sioux band together with Cheyenne and fight the invaders. In this Optical De-dramatization, each minute of Ince’s film is extended to one hour.
