He lives in a damp-ridden box room at the top of a 1970’s high rise. It’s in the middle of a dirty and smoggy city and it’s a reality which he cannot stand. To escape he starts putting together a jigsaw puzzle - the depiction of an idyllic sun drenched beach. He loses himself in the puzzle - covering his walls in travel posters and magazine cuttings.But as the puzzle nears completion he finds to his dismay that the final piece is missing - tearing his dream apart. He overturns his room in a useless attempt to find it. We leave him at his table with his head in his hands… The scene fades out. We fade back in again to a beach, like the one in the idyllic jigsaw puzzle, but instead on a grey overcast day. Pylons replace palm trees and litter is washing up over cold grimy pebbles. And slumped right in the midst of the depressing chaos is final jigsaw piece.
Runtime:
00:04:45
Information for the Audience:
When I was a student someone once accused me that a film of mine was too dialogue heavy - so I decided to make a film without dialogue. I suppose it was an exercise in traditional filmic storytelling and economic exposition. But I wanted to say something that was distinctly visual and distinctly subtextual - something that could not be said through dialogue alone. I knew it had to involve some kind of metaphor. With a narrative it would have to have an ending and that could be a twist. Perhaps a reveal of some kind? Something that people see. The screen flipping? Reflecting on a reversed image? In the back of my mind it was something todo with parallel universes and trying to travel between them. But this universe was just the man’s horrible room and the other universe was this beach that he was trying to escape to. I took a lot of inspiration from Nolan’s student film Doodlebug - which has a very metaphysical concern over our perception of scale and ourselves and our significance. I thought it was amazing that a short film could convey so much complex philosophical meaning. I have no idea if this film does the same but I’d like to hope that it leaves people with something a bit different to think about.
He lives in a damp-ridden box room at the top of a 1970’s high rise. It’s in the middle of a dirty and smoggy city and it’s a reality which he cannot stand. To escape he starts putting together a jigsaw puzzle - the depiction of an idyllic sun drenched beach. He loses himself in the puzzle - covering his walls in travel posters and magazine cuttings.But as the puzzle nears completion he finds to his dismay that the final piece is missing - tearing his dream apart. He overturns his room in a useless attempt to find it. We leave him at his table with his head in his hands… The scene fades out. We fade back in again to a beach, like the one in the idyllic jigsaw puzzle, but instead on a grey overcast day. Pylons replace palm trees and litter is washing up over cold grimy pebbles. And slumped right in the midst of the depressing chaos is final jigsaw piece.
When I was a student someone once accused me that a film of mine was too dialogue heavy - so I decided to make a film without dialogue. I suppose it was an exercise in traditional filmic storytelling and economic exposition. But I wanted to say something that was distinctly visual and distinctly subtextual - something that could not be said through dialogue alone. I knew it had to involve some kind of metaphor. With a narrative it would have to have an ending and that could be a twist. Perhaps a reveal of some kind? Something that people see. The screen flipping? Reflecting on a reversed image? In the back of my mind it was something todo with parallel universes and trying to travel between them. But this universe was just the man’s horrible room and the other universe was this beach that he was trying to escape to. I took a lot of inspiration from Nolan’s student film Doodlebug - which has a very metaphysical concern over our perception of scale and ourselves and our significance. I thought it was amazing that a short film could convey so much complex philosophical meaning. I have no idea if this film does the same but I’d like to hope that it leaves people with something a bit different to think about.
Categories:
Cinema London - Semi-finalist
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