Simply put Alone is a short film I made for my final major project. It is very experimental and completely different from anything I have ever made before. Previously my style has been very detail oriented and long winded, I stuck to my safe zone of churning out information. So therefore I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and really challenge myself to break away from 'clean cut simple informative'
So I did.
Alone Explained
Alone is a film in three parts, it can be broken down into two, but it is designed to be in three; the middle, THE BEGINNING, the middle cont. Realistically the middle and the middle cont. the same section simply split in half by THE BEGINNING. A common misconception is that each part simply refers to the time in which the events occurred and while this is vaguely the case the real meaning goes beyond this.
The minimal speech in this film allows the audience to put their own unique spin on the short. They can interoperate Alone however they want and take different views on the events/storyline. This is intended and desired, I really want each person who watches it to have a different interpretation of the events presented to them, possibly even relate it to their own experiences. The micro-narrative I have created is intended to make the film more personal to each viewer.
However, this is what the film says to me...
The whole film is Milo's interpretation of events, THE BEGINNING is capitalised, as this is, in Milo's mind, the most important part. He feels that when he was with Skyler was when he felt like he had purpose and meaning, therefor the capitalisation of THE BEGINNING is supposed to signify how this is what he if focus and fixated on. The colours for the title is bold, bright and happy, again to reflect on Milo's mood when he was with Skyler, he is longing for the happier time.
The editing to make the shots look like an old film has a couple of purposes within THE BEGINNING firstly (and most obviously) to show that this is Milo's own personal reflection on past events (a flashback) it signifies that this is not a chronological film. Secondly the 'old movie' feel is to help signify Milo's mind-set. Milo is looking back on this time in his life and romanticising it, like a movie he is skipping out/ editing his memories to show an idyllic view of a date that him and Skyler went on. This is also the reason why the whole segment is 'home movie' style Milo and Skyler are filming each other, mainly Milo filming Skyler, he is in control of the footage, or his memories, so he can manipulate them to look like a perfect dream. Idyllic, romantic, happy.
The last shot of THE BEGINNING is possibly the most significant; throughout the entirety of this part we see the camera zooming in on Skyler. This shows how she is the focus of Milo's mind, she is all he is thinking about and is very important to him. This is the reason there are far fewer shots of Milo in THE BEGINNING, even in his mind he is purely focused on Skyler, the few clip we see solely of him are his fantasies that Skyler is thinking about him in the same way. However in the very last shot the camera zooms out and moves away from Skyler, this signifies that in the deepest darkest depths of Milo's mind he knows that he has lost Skyler that this is all a memory and she has slipped away from him.
The middle is the first part of the film. Here we are first introduced to Milo, an insomniac stuck, unable to sleep in a cheap hotel room. For this title I purposely chose to not use any capital letters, this is to demonstrate how Milo feels very disconnected and like this time in his life doesn't matter and is not significant to him, it is not worth emphasising or capitalising, he is drifting through in a state of dissatisfaction, sadness and frustration. The colours chosen are very typical comforting 'night time', this later conveys irony as Milo, an insomniac, finds no comfort or rest bite in the night, to him these colours are torment as he is left to lie awake.
All of the shots in the middle have a very subtle cool blue hue on them. This was done to showcase Milo's cold, blank and lonely state of mind and also contrasts later in the film to the very warm friendly and inviting look of THE BEGINNING. The middle is where Milo is really introduced, he is a detached, sad and lonely person, and this is due to the fact that he can’t sleep. I wanted to really get across in this first part how dissatisfied and frustrated Milo is with his inability to sleep, and that it is this insomnia that leads his mind to wander to Skyler, not Skyler that brought on the insomnia. The reason when the middle come before THE BEGINNING is that is shows Milo's condition before Skyler is introduced, if it where done chronologically then the audience could assume Milo was unable to sleep due to fixating on his last relationship, rather than his reflection on said relationship, simply being the result of a tired mind wondering.
the middle is really about Milo desperately trying to get to sleep, he tries meditation and distraction, then simply tiring himself out. However none of this works and he is left stuck and alone in a new environment that he is not fully comfortable in. The unease and frustration at not being able to sleep causes Milo to become angry, hence his violent actions and loud outbursts when something doesn't go his way, when tired you become emotional, irrational and unsettled and this is exactly how Milo feels before he completely gives up and lets his mind wander...
This is not a conclusion.
It is a continuation of the middle. Milo's sleep deprived brain has wandered and romanticised his relationship with Skyler, now this is what he is thinking about. The lighter colours of the title suggest two things, firstly that it is now early morning as apposed to late night so it is starting to get light out as Milo has not been able to sleep for so long and secondly: hope. THE BEGINNING sees his mind wander and fantasise about a 'better' time, so now with this new idea about how being with Skyler was better, the middle cont. shows him continuing this line of thought and preparing to try and re-kindle things with Skyler. The lower case letters again imply that he is still dazed/un-sure and slightly unhappy in his current situation.
The middle cont. is primarily about Milo thinking and trying to decide what his 'next move' is. He can't sleep and is now starting to reminisce about what to him seems like a much better time. Milo leaves the 'safety' of his hotel room in this section, indicting that he is starting to step out of his previous mind-set; he has come to the conclusion that Skyler is the key to his happiness. The reason that he looks so lost is that he knows he would have to make the first move, which to the exhausted and run down Milo is a big thing, it is also implied that it would be a huge gamble for him to call Skyler and he has built their time up so much in his mind (as seen in THE BEGINNING) that to have her reject him would crush him.
This section is about Milo really contemplating what is the best thing to do.
The final scene of Alone could be construed as slightly confusing, Milo calls Skyler and then the screen goes black and the audience hear her answer. The reason why no solid conclusion happens is that I wanted to create a very open end narrative, not so there is room for a sequel, but so that it is up to the audience to decided what they think happens with all the information presented to them. I really wanted to challenge the viewer, to make them think, understand and project their own experiences onto the short. There is no 'ending' because we are with Milo, following his thoughts feelings and (idealised) memories. He now, in the present, has no idea what will happen next, for the first time in the narrative he is not in control of the situation as he doesn't know how Skyler will react to his call, so therefore the audience can't know either, and are left to figure out what they think would happen, as Milo figures out what will happen to him, he has not reached his conclusion, so neither can the film ever reach one.