Digital Refuge_Monica Qiu

Link for my short film! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW8hnO4Nmus

My Reflection:

Creating a short film without dialogue, character faces, or a traditional protagonist was both a challenging and enlightening experience. My project explores the phenomenon of people turning to digital spaces as a refuge from real-life struggles, using virtual worlds to escape everyday hardships and disappointments. By focusing on imagery, objects, and first-person perspectives, I aimed to create a sense of relatability that invites the audience to project their own experiences and emotions into the scenes depicted.

The studio exhibition revealed the interactive power of my project. Many viewers expressed excitement upon recognizing familiar game scenes, finding them delightful and intriguing. I brought along my Nintendo Switch, which allowed viewers to immerse themselves further, experiencing firsthand the sense of escapism the film addresses. This interactive element brought a fresh perspective to my project: the digital world is not only a space for isolation but also a shared experience that can evoke joy and nostalgia. This reaction highlighted the dual role of digital media in providing both a personal retreat and a communal experience, underlining the uncertainty of its impact on human connection.

Through this interactive element, the project speaks to the ambiguous role digital media plays in shaping our experiences and behaviors. By blending real-life and virtual symbols, my film examines how digital worlds offer temporary comfort yet cannot fully replace the challenges and realities of everyday life. This aligns with our studio’s exploration of how the digital world both bridges and widens the gap between human connection and isolation.

One feeling my film focuses on is the sense of isolation and the longing for connection that digital media can both soothe and intensify. The reading What can and cannot be felt: the paradox of affectivity in post-internet art resonated with me here, as it discusses the paradox of digital interactions—how virtual spaces offer emotional experiences yet lack physical presence (Monteiro and Barranha 2018). This idea helped shape my approach to depicting digital escapism as a means of managing emotional overwhelm. Through first-person views and isolated scenes, I attempted to visually narrate this feeling of “being in” a scene without actually being connected to it, a reflection of how digital worlds create a false sense of closeness.

Throughout production, I experimented with different ways to represent this emotional distance. Early shots focused solely on static objects, which didn’t quite capture the intended isolation. After several iterations, I shifted to using first-person camera angles and added scenes showing empty rooms and dimly lit spaces, each shot chosen to convey a sense of emptiness and disconnection. This aligns with the paradox of affectivity, as viewers recognize the emotional content but still feel the void, mirroring the strange sensation of digital detachment (Monteiro and Barranha 2018).

My project evolved significantly through experimentation, especially as I experimented with visual symbols and unique perspectives. My decision to avoid showing faces or traditional protagonists was inspired by the reading on The New Aesthetic, (Bridle, 2012), which discusses non-human perspectives and the blending of reality with digital mediation. By presenting scenes from a faceless perspective, I aimed to mirror the strange, mediated quality of modern life. In this approach, the digital world is a space we occupy yet never fully belong to, echoing how digital media enables us to be present yet distant.

This experimental approach posed challenges. For instance, feedback from test viewers indicated that certain scenes were too ambiguous. This led me to add more recognizable symbols of daily life, like a classroom or a street, creating an anchor for viewers to ground themselves. This process underscored the importance of balancing abstraction with relatability, a valuable lesson that has influenced my approach to digital storytelling.

Collaboration was crucial in refining my project. Feedback from peers led to key changes, such as incorporating scenes that suggest the passage of time and using ambient sound to heighten immersion. This collaborative process emphasized the importance of outside perspectives, as it became clear that certain elements needed more clarity for audiences to connect. One key takeaway was that digital media can evoke powerful emotions even with minimalism and subtlety, provided the choices are purposeful and well-considered.

Looking ahead, if I were to expand this project, I would focus on deepening the core concept of “digital dependence.” Inspired by From Narcissism to the Dialogic: Identity in Art after the Internet, which discusses the evolution of identity in digital spaces, I would add subtle digital distortions to represent the fragmentation of self within digital realms (Gronlund 2014). These effects would symbolize how we negotiate identity in virtual spaces, further highlighting the tension between presence and absence that digital life evokes.

This studio has significantly reshaped my understanding of digital media. The readings and discussions emphasized how digital media is a sensory medium that goes beyond mere representation. The New Aesthetic inspired me to incorporate imagery and first-person perspectives to emphasize the strange, “uncanny” quality of digital spaces, where physical and digital worlds blend seamlessly yet remain distinct (Bridle 2012). This perspective influenced my film, allowing me to explore digital spaces as both a comforting escape and a source of emotional dissonance.

In summary, my short film serves as an exploration and critique of digital media’s role in shaping human experience. By highlighting the disconnect between real and virtual life, I aim to convey that while digital escapism offers solace, it also reflects—and sometimes amplifies—the complexities of our struggles. This project has deepened my appreciation for the nuanced, sometimes contradictory ways that digital media impacts our sense of self, connection, and reality. (908 Words)

Reference:

Bridle J (2012) The New Aesthetic, 1854 Media, London.