The Thirteenth Floor
aka Simulacron 3
transcript of four scenes

Simulacron & Level
of representation.
The "Look"
and clues characteristic of that level.
Glitches
and other clues that identify a level or indicate that things aren't real.
Complexity
of the narrative.

Persona
Native to the level.
Just Visiting the level.
Transcending levels.
Why Visit?
Why move from level to level?

"God-like" Omniscience.
A View from Nowhere.
Global Unsituated Knowledge.

 
Universal Cellular Automata Computer.
Another Level of Emergence.
You and Me.
  • Situated Local Knowledge.
  • Limited Cognition.
  • The "Known" World..

5 Visiting Up to/for:

  • Seek Reality
  • Curiosity
  • Power

6 Visiting Down to/for:

  • Knowledge
  • Entertainment
  • Companionship
  • Love
  • Sex
Home DVD or Video.
  • Small 2-D screen.
  • Tape ends.
  • Home audience.
Theatrical Movie.
  • Large 2-D screen.
  • Movie ends.
  • Theater audience.
Dot world.
Unimaginable Future
"Real Home"
  • Unknown.
  • Dot fades to black.
  • Unknown.
2024
Apparent Future
"Simulacron 1"
  • Natural colors tinted with
    rose, orange and peach overtones.
  • Dawn and daylight.
  • Raster shrinks to a dot.
  • Cast of three.
  • One beachfront home.
  • David, Douglas Hall visiting up 5
  • Jane
  • Jane's Father

6 Visiting Down to/for:

  • Entertainment
  • Companionship
  • Love
  • Sex
1998
Apparent Present
"Simulacron 2"
  • Harsh primaries, initially red, green, blue.
  • Later yellow, black and white.
  • Very dark, gray and blue, largely indoor scenes.
  • Douglas' apartment identical to Decker's in Blade Runner.
  • Detective McBain complains about the broken spring.
  • Douglas sees the wireframe end of the world.
  • Memory leaks.
  • Deja vu.

 
  • Cast of hundreds.
  • Downtown Los Angeles.
  • Douglas Hall, David visiting down 6
  • Hannon Fuller
  • Natasha Molinaro, Jane Fuller visiting down 6
  • Whitney, Ashton visiting up 5
  • Singer & cabbie, who have aged naturally from the two singers in 1937

5 Visiting Up to/for:

  • Seek Reality
  • Curiosity

6 Visiting Down to/for:

  • Entertainment
  • Companionship
  • Love
  • Sex
1937
Apparent Past
"Simulacron 3"
  • Unsaturated colors and subdued tints.
  • Muddy browns.
  • Daytime and nighttime indoor and outdoor scenes..
  • Ashton sees the end of the world.
  • Action slows down the computation.
  • Memory leaks.
  • Deja vu.
  • Cast of thousands.
  • Los Angeles and Pasadena.

 

  • John Ferguson, Douglas Hall visiting down 6
  • Grierson, Hannon Fuller visiting down 6
  • Ashton, Whitney visiting down 6
  • Two singers, who age naturally to become the singer and cabbie of 1998.

5 Visiting Up to/for:

  • Seek Reality
  • Curiosity
  • Power