Final Films altogether

I was not sure whether to have all the films separately or all together, like this film you see here. I think that they work well together to, in the nicest way possible, confuse the viewer, and make them appreciate a small aspect of what Dementia sufferers go through on a regular bases. All the films relate to the illness and the sound was made by myself, aside from the TV which is a home video and therefore the sound is from that. Enjoy!!

Starting from top left working to top right and then from bottom left to bottom right, here are some of the ideas behind the films.

Film 1 - Candle

After reading about one persons experience with dimentia, they described the experience as a light slowly going out in their head. That all the information that they have is slowly fading away, and they are slowly fading into darkness, not being able to remember anything or anyone.

I wanted the film to be conceptual and abstract, so used the metaphorical image described quite literally by cutting off the air supply to the light from the candle by placing the glass vase over the top of it.

Film 2 - TV

This film plays on the idea of your vision having the affect of a tunnel. You are able to see the light at the end, but around the edges it seems blurry. By using a family home video on a tv, I have portrayed a personal memory visually and used a piece of tracing paper to distort the film. However in the centre of the image I have cut a hole to enable the viewer to see some of the film. I wanted to portray the idea of being able to retrieve parts of your memory but not necessarily all of it. Things seem hazy and you are unable to do anything about it, but wondering and try and make the most out of the shapes that you see.

Film 3 - Ink

The ink in this film is meant to represent the disease of dementia itself. Although there is not much solid information about the scientific details of the disease, the idea of your memory being taken over and preventing you from remembering everyday events in your life is scary. I used the ink to take over the water, to show that dementia is not an instant occurance. You dont have your memory one day and then the next you dont. It comes and goes, but gradually gets worse and worse, taking over more and more of your brain.

Film 4 - Post Its

I used post its to represent different memories, one for each memory. The post its start to disappear and then come back and then go, gradually getting less and less until there are none in the end. As with dementia, you may forget something one day, but it comes back to you another day, however slowing growing worse over time.

Film 5 - Printer

One again based on a quote I read about. The ink is gradually fading, running out and finishing, but with that occasional strong line of ink coming through on the paper when something suddenly comes back to you.

Film 6 - String

Last film, once again based on the something that I read. The memory in our brains is made up of networks, which are represented by the string, attached to different parts of the brain, and over-crossing. By cutting away at the string/networks, you are loosing the connections within the brain, and therefore making it harder to retrieve information.