Prompt: “I watched [insert title of screenwork here], and it got me thinking about…”

As our first 2 weeks were mainly focused on worlds in cinema, the topic of films with confined worlds came up quite often. I watched The Shining again recently, and it got me thinking about how just the setting of a world can impact a narrative so much. We spoke mostly about the worlds that are set in New York City, and how they affect the narrative, and whether or not films can exist in other film worlds. A film such as The Shining, which setting is so important to the narrative, simply could not exist in many other film worlds. There’s something haunting about the mountain-isolated Overlook Hotel, and this is given by the extremely powerful opening shot of a car driving through the rolling hills of nothing but greenery. No signs of life. This film could not take place in the world of movies set in New York City like Good Fellas or many of the recent superhero movies, or even other remotely set films such as Fargo. There’s a lack of a sense of community, which almost makes it feel as though outside the frames of the film, nothing exists. The car could keep driving forever and could just keep looping around the Overlook Hotel. Through the drama and suspense of the film, the setting creates a sense of abandonment, with no one to help the characters in danger. If the film was set in a populated town or city, there wouldn’t be as much fear for the character’s safety.

We also discussed other films with this certain binding effect of confinement such as The Truman Show and Room. These two both share similar factors, both being about a main character/s that has had their world made for them. In Room, the main protagonist is aware throughout the whole film that her world has been created by a man who adducted her, so she lives in the restrained world of a small bedroom. Her son on the other hand, was born in this room and is unaware of the world outside of his world, so his thoughts on his world are quite different to his mother. Similarly, in The Truman Show, we become aware that Truman has also been brought up in a world that has been artificially constructed for him, for the entertainment of the outside world. His motivations are determined by the makers of this world, as well as his fear of leaving the confined space. The line given by the creator of Truman’s world, Christof; “We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented”, has really got me thinking about different realities of characters. Not only are there worlds in films,

I also realised that many of the short stories or short films I have made in the past have included a small film world. It’s possible that this may just be an easier way of creating little to no budget short films, but I also I’m more interested in the stories about characters who live with physical boundaries. I’m not about to start psychoanalysing myself, but having grown up in the suburbs and not having much exposure to city life, I think these stories are ones I can relate to, which give me more interest in them.

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