Convergence Primitive Technology Analysis

Convergence, Primitive Technology, and the Witch’s Existence

Hunted by the unknown, lost and deprived of sleep, three amateur filmmakers Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams gradually break down as they undertake the task of documenting the Blair Witch in the woods in Maryland. According to The Blair Witch Project’s (BWP) opening, the “three student filmmakers disappeared” and “a year later their footage [this film] was found” (Myrick 00.31). Banash claims that the horror of the film comes from “our fears of and insecurities with (mimetic) technologies that we can neither trust nor escape” (5). Mimetic technologies like cameras are technologies used to replicate or record reality, but they are incapable of recording the

Banash states in his writing “whatever is shadowing them approaches their tent over the course of four nights, leaving totemic piles of rocks and bundles of sticks” (3). Banash uses this sentence only to provide a background and never refers to what the witch left as communication technologies. The totemic piles of rocks, however, are commonly known as cairns, a primitive technology used commonly as trail markers to communicate among hikers. Bundles of sticks are also used in BWP as a package to contain blood, human’s teeth, and a tongue (Myrick 64.30), albeit another direct communication technology. Also, throughout his essay, Banash does not at all mention humanoid stick figures and the translucent slime on Josh’s rifled possession. While unconventional, stick figures and a slime are clearly meant to convey and represent a message specifically to the filmmakers, and, though more symbolic, are still communication technologies. Failure to recognize cairns, stick figures, a slime, and a package as technologies with crucial functions in BWP creates an empty hole in Banash’s theory which focuses solely on the technologies and not on the existence of the Blair

In BWP, cairns are a technology the filmmakers cannot trust or use due to its alienation from the original purpose of marking trails to symbolizing death. Cairns’ inability to provide more than its death message is also along the line of Banash’s argument that “all representations are incomplete constructions incapable of laying bare a god’s eye view” (5). While fitting Banash’s theory in these aspects, the key difference lies in the word “dependence.” Perfect representation or not, it is unlikely that the three filmmakers would depend on these cairns which convey a terrifying message in any aspects. In fact, they try to ignore, to doubt and to deny the existence of these cairns altogether. Mike states “whatever it is” repeatedly and nervously to deny the message, and tries to get away from cairns as quickly as possible (Myrick 33.55). As I have stated, the convergence process in cairns confirms the existence of an unknown entity. Indeed, the death message alone is terrifying but the fact that these cairns prove the existence of the Blair Witch is the main cause of horror. With cairns, the filmmakers are horrified to be informed of the unknown entity and that they are being hunted. Even though cairns do not disprove Banash’s