An exploration of the change of speed of subjective time through the creation of an interactive one take short film

Abstract

The nature of Time is something which has baffled scientists and philosophers since the dawn of, well, Time. It has intrigued artists who have attempted to capture its essence since antiquity to varying degrees of success. Our experience of Time is even more confusing. No one can disagree. We’ve all experienced that disorienting and frustrating feeling when after having spent five minutes with a loved one the clock tells us an hour has gone by; Or that feeling of despair during a boring meeting or lecture when an eternity proves to be five minutes long. Clearly, our emotional state of being affect our perception of the speed of Time, and yet, regardless of how fast or slow we feel time passing, we have no choice but to live in the now. We cannot go back. This reality is not reflected in film. The director makes sure that any important plot point is seen by the audience, sometimes ignoring the natural flow and order of time to do so. In this thesis I attempt to study how time is manipulated and warped in film. I then create an interactive short film which removes the security usually provided through editing and gives the audience the choice of where to look within the film’s small universe. Actions happen simultaneously but feel to be taking more, or less time, depending on what is happening within them. This difference in the perceived speed of time might distract audience members to how much time they are spending not looking at a particular area of the narrative. This could result in the audience missing out on important plot points, and as in real life, there is no going back.