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EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA
Under the harsh conditions of crushing pressure deep below the oceans waves, life takes on a terrifying and primal appearance in order to survive in such an unforgiving environment, away from prying human eyes. From the Hatchet fish, who’s haunted appearance when viewed head on makes them look like tortured, lost souls that resemble shrunken heads to the terrifyingly savage and nightmarish appearance of the Goblin Shark, the deeper we go the more alien and inhuman life appears to be. I would like to suggest that The Diver belongs among these ghoulish creations of nature and that he grows to feel some kind of kinship with them as he descends. Ultimately, he will come to accept what he is and his fate among them as he plunges ever deeper into his own psyche. This medically recognised phobia, taken from the Greek words for “sea” and “fear”, is an intense fear of the sea, large bodies of water, travelling over them and the vast emptiness of the sea. I would like to draw upon and mirror this phobia with The Divers fear of both his physical and existential dive and the initially empty void of his psyche, adding an extra level of discomfort and anxiety. I would consider myself among the people who suffer from this phobia, even though I have an active interest in the sea. If I can make myself terrified while designing and executing this project then I will know that I have communicated the fear I wanted to achieve in an effective manner! "He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee" This quote is taken from German philosopher and poet Friedrich Nietzsche’s 1886 philosophical work Beyond Good and Evil. Given my penchant and fascination with the darker recesses of life, this is a quote I have often regarded as a cautionary warning. Taking this quote as inspiration, the feared will now become the fearful as they sink ever deeper into the deep, dark depths, mirroring the “abyss” of the mind and environment that Nietzsche warned of.
Having watched Gravity again and identified it as a source of inspiration, I have decided that I would like my experimental media piece to revolve around a single character lost among a void of darkness. I think the oceans of our planet, rich in metaphorical connotations of birth and death, will be a perfect environment to represent this void. I will name the film Void Dive. The protagonist of my piece will be a deep-sea diver who is sinking ever deeper into the dark depths. We all spend the first 9 months of our life encased in water whilst developing in the womb so it is a natural conclusion that my protagonist will spend the last hours of his life whilst encased in a diving suit trying to keep the water out in a reversal of the manner in which he entered the world.
Writer, director Alfonso Cuaron’s hard scfi film Gravity sees it’s protagonist Ryan Stone isolated among the deep black emptiness of space. This mirrors the void and its isolating effect that has been left behind in her soul by the sudden and accidental death of her daughter that ultimately drew her to be among the vast emptiness of space, almost as if her soul belonged there. But on the other side of that space Earth awaits her return, full of the life that has been drained and taken away from her. The use of very wide angle lenses and long takes that depict the impossible void of space, is contrasted very effectively with short, claustrophic close ups of Stone literally stuck in her own insulating “bubble” of a space suit and helmet whilst facing adversities of both the physical and existential kind. This ensures that the prevailent visual metaphors of being lost among the stars and then rebirthed submerged among the embryonic fluids of Mother Earth, our ultimate symbol and provider of life, that Stone’s character arc communicates remain both engulfing in scope and deeply intimate and personal on an emotional level. To my mind, there has been a no more disorientating and terrifying image displayed on a cinema screen than seeing through Stone’s visor as she spins uncontrollably out into the unknown blackness of space.
The oceans of our planet have long been a source of mystery, wonder and fright for me and, as the last unexplored frontier our planet presents us with, have often sparked my imagination at what possibilities lie within its depths. I have wanted to create a project that is set underwater for a long time now and I think the Experimental Media brief will give me the opportunity to realize this environment in a creative way. Life under water presents humans with a truly alien environment that can be portrayed in a wide range of techniques to express a number of different emotions and themes. |
AuthorMy name is Clay Sandford and I am currently studying an FDA in Film and Media Production at University Centre Weston. I have a keen interest in directing, cinematography and camera operating. Archives
April 2017
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