Film Studies
Reflective Analysis
We decided to do a new wave short inspired by Chungking
Express, which took 1 hour to film and another hour to edit. We used many new
wave techniques including slow motion/fast paced tempo, smudge motion, jump
cuts and close up camera shots. The students walking by took part in the hustle
and bustle scenes to show that the main character in an emotional stasis. Life
is passing him by while he stays on his own; this was shown in the jump cuts
and slow motion. The mundane tasks are very often shown in new wave cinema and
we wanted to make that apparent, this gave it a documentary feel. I
particularly liked the main character touching the engraved names on the wall-
this showed a search for identity, a common convention in new wave cinema. The
twisting of the metal wire into a knot showed how the main character wants to
fix his broken situation and his broken identity. What I would have changed is
maybe having an apparent situation where there is a broken relationship and because
this character is so stuck in the past he cannot do things himself. I also
wanted to use a close up on the posters in the common room such as ‘Adam Bede’,
which would evidently show a sense of identity; the dropping of an ID card
could show this as well. The non-diegetic music is by DJ Shadow, it felt very
90’s and that would reflect the time period of Chungking Express.
