This is an intriguing film made up of 3 short stories. Ma and Da, Holy Cow and Joke.

As the name of the film goes, it explores the theme of ‘death’.

The different forms of ‘Death’ is conveyed through simple narratives, mostly following the simple 3 act structure.

The first story is ‘Ma and Da’:

Setup:

  • We hear a little girl singing a tune, probably of a nursery rhyme, while she is playing by herself in what appears to be the living room of a small apartment.
  • The shot changes to reveal 2 people at the back, probably her parents. The mother is helping the father comb his hair.
  • The girl stares out into the distant, with her parents blurred out. This scene gives a sense of tension and distance, as if something was going to change for good. (inciting action)
  • The mother calls out to her daughter and she runs to them, providing a transition from the child to her parents.

Middle:

  • We see a close-up of the mother combing the hair of the father, and almost immediately he uses his hand to adjust his hair. This simple gesture conveyed the lack of chemistry between the couple.
  •   The mother tries to strike a simple conversation, and was given a cold reply.
  • The tension is most intensified when she was trying to apply hair spray and the father just walks away from her. (Midpoint)
  • From that point the father’s response to the mother becomes shorter and colder. Ultimately he completely ignores her. (Disaster + Crisis)
  • The act ends when he slams the door leaving his wife in mid conversation. (Climax)

End:

  • The mother’s face and posture changes to that of annoyance and disappointment. Little girl appears in the frame, looking at her father leaving.
  • Her stare lingers for a moment longer, making the audience wonder about her response to the situation. (Climax)
  • She asks her mother whether her father is coming back, only to receive a short and simple ‘later’.
  • We see the girl’s worried look, a hint of sadness and uncertainty in her facial expression.

The second story is ‘holy cow’:

Setup:

  • Scene opens up with two girls, possibly siblings, playing out in the fields.
  • From the way they play, we can see that the girl in purple is the one taking care of the girl in the red dress, showing a stark contrast in maturity despite both of them being kids.
  • The story takes a change when they encounter a group of boys playing with the cows. The older girl pulls the younger girl away, indicating that they might be bad company. (inciting action + climax)

Middle:

  • The girls continues to play with each other, and get into a playful fight. (Obstacles)
  • Through this scene, there are shots of the boys, insinuating that they are also playing, like the girls.
  • The scene changes and the girls are in conflict, this time in the form of bickering.
  • The scene changes finally to the girls chasing one another, the older girl stops abruptly as she sees a shocking sight (Twist + Climax).

End:

  • We see a cow lying on the floor, gravely injured.
  • We see the wounds and rocks on the ground. We understand that the boys were the ones that injured the cows. (Climax)
  •  The older girl looks distressed, as the cow closes its eyes.

The third story is ‘Joke’:

Setup:

  • You see a couple being intimate with each other.
  • They separate and the boy decides to find out what their friends are doing at the apartment at the top of this building.
  • As the girl adjusts her makeup, she hears a call from the boy. He sounds distressed. (Inciting action + Climax)

Middle:

  • The boy calls out a few more times, this time more frantic.
  • We follow the girl up the stairs, while the boy calls out to her.
  • She stops at the apartment, doors wide open.
  • The silence of the mood creates tension, characters are purposely hidden from the camera frame.
  • Camera reveals a crowd of people over a slump body of a girl. She has a needle hanging from her arm. She appeared to be dead from overdoes. (Twist)
  • Despair washes over the face of the girl at the door, characters asks for help and she turns around to call for help. (Climax)

End:

  • The crowd bursts into laughter, as the ‘dead’ girl wakes up from her pretense and joins the crowd in laughing. (Climax)
  • The girl sulks at the corner, obviously hurt by their friends’ prank.
  • You hear a baby cry, and the ‘dead’ girl responds by getting up to attend to the baby.
  • You hear the tune of the nursery rhyme at the start of the film, as the girl makes her way down the stairs.

Personal thoughts:

I really liked the way how the concept of ‘death’ is closely linked to childhood.

From the first film, we see a child experience the death of a very important relationship.The idea of a child separating from their parent can be similar to that of a death, especially when they have yet to understand much about the world. One will start to wonder how this incident will affect the growth of the child.

The second film shows the child experiencing death in front of her eyes. Children ‘fight’ most of the time for fun and are just playful. However, the girl witnesses the consequences of violent acts, where the result of their ‘playfulness’ might bring irreversible results.

In the last film, we see people playing with the idea of death as a prank. What struck me the most was the fact that the ‘dead’ girl might be the mother of the baby. Despite having adult responsibilities such as having a child, the girl still acted very childishly.

In all, with simple and short story structures, we were able to experience very personal and deep ideas. In a way, effective story telling can help us convey complex ideas in the most simplest ways.

That’s all.

Have a great day.

KJ

 

Mainly inspired by the video ‘The Man with the Movie Camera’.

Really loved the way the videos flows so naturally even though it lacks an inherent narrative. The visuals and movement were good enough to keep me engaged with the film.

Wanted to focus on composition and motion in this entire project.

I want to utilize a general idea/word that people are familiar with and use video footage to convey the idea. In a sense I want to portray an idea present in modern day society.

My 3 ideas will all revolve around this same concept, differing only in subject matter.

Indra’s Net

Indra’s Net is a vast net that covers all existence, putting the net together are countless jewels. Each jewel reflects the light of all the other jewels in the net.

The idea of a ‘net’ is something i would like to explore. How it is present in our modern day and how a ‘net’ will affect our lives.

Below are a few ideas that i want to portray with the idea of a ‘net’:

  1. The internet connecting people together.
  2. Fishing net to provide sustenance (catching fishes)
  3. Cleaning nets to ensure survival. (clean water)
  4. People ‘packing’ together like fishes in a net.
  5. Things that have the shape of the net. ‘shape of windows in skyscrapers, spider webs’.
  6. Many more for me to explore.

In all, by using visual and movement, I hope to portray the idea of ‘net’ in our society.

What kind of subject should i zoom in at? Please do advise. 🙂

Pandora’s Box

Pandora’s Box contained all the evil on earth, which was unleashed on earth. However, something was left in the box, it was hope.

This idea inspired the previous idea. It falls in second place because of the difficulty in catching ‘evil’ in film.

However, the idea can be ‘deeper’ and more relatable as compared to the other one.

Same thing. What kind of subject should i look into?

Labyrinth

Lost. In modern day Singapore. Wanted to capture the endless maze within the urban jungle.

I hope to also capture the multitude of choices that people make in general (what to order for lunch, what clothes to buy and what career choices to make.

Advice, advice!

 

Out of the 3 ideas, which one should I choose? Then how can I develop on the idea? Appreciate all your advice. Thank You! 🙂

Have a great day,

KJ