Frances Scott has been commissioned by b-side Festival to produce a new work, THE MIRACLE METHODS SERIES, a host for a constellation of micro ‘episodes’ to be broadcast in Weymouth and Portland, between July and September 2012. The programme comprises four recorded narratives – Distance Readers – transmitted as film and text at regular intervals throughout the day.

A ‘distance reader’ is a term used within the context of card-sharping and the act of marking cards to cheat. It is the defocusing of the eyes to spot fluid residue marks on an opponent’s distant cards. The content for each Distance Reader draws loosely on this history, and on systems for a hypnotic induction, gaming instructions, and the shipping forecast. At the centre of the work is a game, in which the prevailing winds – North, East, South and West – are indicated as four players. They are protagonists within a speculative fiction, in which the playing of the game might pre-empt the events beyond it, and ultimately predict the future.

See all the episodes online now www.miraclemethods.org

The Players: Diane Allan, Jenni Fleming, Susan Fuller, Yvonne Wilcox
The Dreamer: Tim Spooner
Camera: Lucy Cash, Frances Scott, Duncan Whitley
Editing:  Lucy Cash, Frances Scott

With thanks to: The U3A Mah Jong Group, Weymouth; R. Paveley Tailors, Fortuneswell, Portland; Larry Walker and Trinity House, Portland Bill Lighthouse; Fossil Beach, St. Mary Street, Weymouth; Sea View Chinese Restaurant, Weymouth; and Charles Carter, Dorset County Council