This version of the film moves away from some of the symbolism that was planned for the original film, however still follows the themes associated around death. I have tried to aim the film around the journey within the world he is in and focus around the frustration of being in this continuous loop. The shadowy figure instead of being the antagonist from the start, is seen as a guide by leading him to acceptance of death. The protagonist is still scared of him however the figure comes across as a helper, again moving away from the original idea. This doesn’t work as well as the original ideas as it doesn’t show as much character development from the protagonist the aim is to show him try and escape death and then finally come to accept it. However this isn’t the case with this version, he comes across as though he is trying to find something.
I have also incorporated sound effects which help build tension as well as break tension within the film. I wanted to include a sound effect which the audience understands something is coming, which is why `i decided to use the sound of the sea as an indicator of the loop starting again. As well as the sea, a swoosh noise is used to suggest he has been warped to the start of the loop again. This works well in terms of succeeding with my intentions, as it definitely breaks tension between point in the film.
After taking some of the symbolism out, such as the watch, lighter and photograph, it doesn’t give any context to the reason he is there. Like the photograph, if I had left it in, there would have been some given something for the audience to think about and could have had some semantic value. I feel that is what is missing from the film.
One aspect that works well for this film is the idea to make it black and white. The idea as of the film is that he is in a void-like place with no life. I thought that another way of expressing a lifeless environment would be to eliminate all the colour. This not only works well in looking good and fitting with the idea of the film but also brings all the footage together. There were some shots which were lighter than others however by making them black and white, it added a uniform look to the film. Also, by the way we shot the film, it looks very noir, with the hard light and dark shots. This also works well as it adds another dynamic to the film.
Overall the film makes sense and works well in telling a variation of the chosen storyline, however my choice to remove symbolism doesn’t work as well and often makes the storyline unclear, leaving the audience asking what has just happened. The use of black and white adds to the setting of the film as well as adding signifiers representing added meaning to the film. This is something to consider for the main edit of the film.
-Joshua Poole- 