s3429368 Miguel Camacho – Integrated Media – Assessment Task: K. Film Essay

Chosen Film: ‘Nostalgia’ (2010) – Clare Anderson, Laura Stephens and Wichaya Kim Jensen

Pattern:
‘Nostalgia’ is a film that is hugely dependent on its patterns and their recurring nature to create meaning. The bank of footage that is available to the audience feels sad, reminiscent, disconnected and longing for something that seemed that was only real in the past. Through their nature, the videos combine to fittingly create a sense of nostalgia. They are sometimes grey – the colour of sadness, unfocused – effected by nostalgia and deeply meaningful in the subject matter that they present.

The music that was used to support the visuals also had huge amounts of power in adding meaning to the entire k-film. Like the visuals, the musical selection by Clare, Laura and Wichaya was superb, each video being intentionally matched to a unique track to emphasise its purpose.

Also remarkably important to the audience’s understanding of this k-film was the thematic pattern that ran throughout the text that was included with each different video clip. Seemingly written for each individual visual, the words that grace this k-film are what truly make the piece into something that effectively communicates some form of narrative to its audience.

‘Nostalgia’ relies on the recurring themes presented by the visuals, audio and text elements in order to convey meaning to its audience.

Interface:

The layout chosen by the makers of ‘Nostalgia’ is hugely effective. In the middle of the screen is the player for the visual tracks that make up the k-film. The fact that the visuals are centred immediately draw attention and the majority of focus to them whilst implying that they are the most important piece of the film. Underneath the player is four thumbnails that link to other video clips. Finally, on either side of the main visual playing area are two symmetrical borders that recede down the page, fittingly representing something that is falling apart or becoming disconnected.

The text that is situated between the main video area and the four thumbnails, as mentioned earlier – is hugely important in adding meaning and depth to the k-film. Without the well-chosen words that accompany each video, it might be difficult for the viewer to ascertain a profound meaning in ‘Nostalgia’. Snippets of text like ‘I try to grasp details, but my memories are fading’, ‘Everywhere I am, I’m at a distance’ and ‘Too many tears’ are what make ‘Nostalgia’ a truly emotive experience for the audience, who is able to draw meaning from the combination of video, music and text.

Belonging to an interactive medium, ‘Nostalgia’ is a k-film that basically presents its audience with a choice of four videos from its library at a time. As the audience clicks on any particular visual thumbnail, the accompanying text and audio are brought up as the video plays out. After each video, the audience is instinctually inclined to chose another and further uncover the narrative of ‘Nostalgia’. Because all of the visuals, audio tracks and textual inclusions share common themes, their repetition is the pattern of the film and makes for a strongly emotive viewing experience for the audience.

Content:
Ultimately, it is the sublimely selected content within ‘Nostalgia’ that is its biggest success. The video footage is of a very high definition and makes the viewing experience pleasurable. There has obviously been a great deal of effort put into the capture of these visuals, as they maintain and remind the audience of the themes of the past, sadness, being disconnected and longing. The colour tones and the general aesthetic of the clips are what help the audience understand these themes.

The music chosen by the makers of ‘Nostalgia’, in combination with the visual – is the most powerful combination of content. Due to the automatic nature of a person’s sensory inputs – particularly sight and hearing – the creators of this k-film are able to evoke a huge amount of understanding without the audience even making an effort to comprehend what they’re seeing. This makes ‘Nostalgia’ hugely successful in achieving the communication of a narrative revolving around the theme of nostalgia.

Lastly, through the reflective, saddening and thought provoking text that is found throughout the film, ‘Nostalgia’ is able to really punch another dimension of significance into the minds of its audience. Whilst relatively simple in its approach, the film achieves a lot because of the carefully constructed and chosen content that is found within the piece.