Prompt 3

Word count: 442 words

For my major essay film, I wanted to create a piece that explores the taboo emotions of shame and guilt, and how our relationship changes with them as we grow from childhood to adulthood. 

The aim is for the final film to be a collection of stories about shame submitted anonymously (for safety and privacy), paired with visuals of home videos from childhood and the innocence and naivety of being young contrasted with footage of the same people from the home footage grown up and acting differently in environments that without shame or discomfort would result in different behaviour. The reason for this decision is I do not want to openly say “The version of ourselves we were as children is either gone or deeply buried within us”, but would prefer to practice the visual storytelling that has been seen in multiple works we have screened so far this semester to create a meaning that the audience figures out themselves. I attempted to do this with my short 30-second piece about the destruction of homes to build something new, which can be found here. 

 I wanted to create something that is not in the documentary format that Varda is known for, but was inspired in part by her exploration of self and her approach to “writing” the film as she films it. I also think the best approach for my piece is a voiceover as is done in many documentaries/essay films, and think it would be interesting to hear reactions from people as they read a stranger’s confession for the first time. Whilst interviews are something I do enjoy doing, I do not think it is the right fit for what I intend to create this semester, but I am still open to changes in my ideas. 

Inspiration was definitely sparked by Gallagher’s Do You Want to Go for a Drive (2016) however. The use of storytelling with a clear motif (in Gallagher’s film it is consent and respect) to convey a message without ever overtly expressing it is a craft and something I would be interested in experimenting with. Initially, I also liked the idea of having one long take and doing a similar animation, however, I am not very skilled at this (zero experience in it) and it would be an unrealistic timeline for me to develop this skill in the given time and use it at the same professional-looking level. 

Given that I have drawn a fair bit of inspiration from these two pieces alone, my plan for my final piece is bound to shift and will need tweaking as we continue to watch works throughout the semester. 

References 

• Gallagher, K 2016 Do You Want to Go for a Drive [motion picture]
• Varda, A 2000 The Gleaners and I [motion picture]