Suppression

Approaching a deadline, a man’s stress, financial struggles and antisocial life manifest into a haunting demon.

As the director and the sole crew member, Millan’s aim was to incorporate German expressionism into modern-day film, he felt that a more neutral and desaturated colour palette would function better to ground the film in the present. However, Millan kept the lighting convention from the movement of only including one colour light and darkness, creating silhouette-like frames throughout the film. It served a pivotal role in my film as he aimed to create an air of mystery in every scene, which the harsh shadows did well. As stated earlier, the personification of metaphysical traits is a common convention in this movement which he grew fond of after watching “No Country For Old Men”. The Coen brothers used this common convention in their film as the character Anton Chigurh™ represents death. In my film, the protagonist doesn’t have a name as he represents all people going through an extremely stressful time. And the monster represents depression, sadness and stress. The pairing together shows people, as a whole, facing a mental barrier such as depression. Leading the surface-level message to say that we tend to lock up and suppress the barriers rather than overcome them. An instance where Millan used a rule to his advantage is when he broke the one hundred and eighty-degree rule. During the sequence where the protagonist rushes to complete his work, along with the quick cuts, Millan broke this rule multiple times to disorientate the viewer. This makes the scene more impactful as it creates a sense of ambiguity and a feeling of being all over the place, which is in line with the character’s mental state. Blocking was heavily used in the most important shot in the film. After the protagonist takes the pill, the monster is shown over his left shoulder and a clock over his right shoulder. In this film, the presence of time is a presentation of hope, as time if given enough, can quell stress and depression. However, it can also cause them, as shown with the use of deadlines. Therefore time can cause and kill stress much like how a key can lock and unlock a padlock. Relating back to the blocking in this shot, depression is shown over his left shoulder and hope for a better life is shown over his right. This is a plot device called the Angel Shoulder Effect, where an angel would be shown over one’s right shoulder and a demon over the left. After the monster disappears into the darkness, the protagonist walks off to his right-hand side, showing that he chooses to hope for a better life.