Window to the Past (Short Film)

Introduction

For our film, we want to focus on our interpretation of a small excerpt from the poem "A Strip of Blue." From these lines, we tried to interpret the window as a way to look into the past, with" a glimpse of blue immensity" representing the brighter and happier period in the character's past and "a little strip of sea" as a symbol for sadness in her past.

Early Process

Early on we planned on using the entire poem to inspire our short film. But because of this, we ended up with too wide a scope and a film that would seem too broad. From early feedback, we ended up choosing only a small part of the poem to interpret instead.

Poem

Excerpt from the poem “A Strip of Blue” by Lucy Larcom:

My window keeps for me.

A glimpse of blue immensity, --

A little strip of sea.

Interpretation

From these lines, we interpreted the window as a way to look into the past, with" a glimpse of blue immensity" representing the brighter and happier period in the character's past and "a little strip of sea" as a symbol of sadness in her past.

Style

Our film will use a blue/green hue style and a limited colour palette to maintain a simple look.

Synopsis

Window to the Past follows Hina, a young woman having a hard time accepting her mother's death. Consumed by sadness, Hina finds it difficult to experience joy in her present life. She eventually comes upon a window she used to sit by with her mother, which transports her to happier times with her mother.

Looking through the window, Hina recalls the places she and her mother used to go and relives those memories again. The more she remembers, the more she can let go of her sadness and heal again. As time goes on, with each window she looks through, Hina starts to understand her mother’s love and devotion throughout her life.

However, Hina soon learns that the window represents more than just a physical one - it also represents her mind and heart. She knows that the past cannot be lived in again; it can only be recalled. Hina comes to terms with this and musters the strength to part ways with her mother and continue her life, finding comfort in their shared memories.

Mood Board and Storyboard

Following a few rounds of feedback, we made a revised mood board, storyboard, and shot list.

Mood Board

Storyboard

Behind the Scenes

Some pictures from the magic behind the camera! For production, I was in charge of filming and cinematography. My partner and I shared the role of director and producer.

Editing

For post production, I was in charge of editing, colour grading, and sound. I mainly used DaVinci Resolve to edit the film, but I also used Premier Pro to stabilize some footage as it has a better stabilizing system.

Rough Cut

Final Film

Not completed yet!

Reflection

A challenge we face early on was having our film be over four minutes, which seemed lengthy for the film we wanted to produce. After some feedback, we shortened the length of the shots but increased the variety of shot types. During filming, unfortunately, the actor who plays the mother was no longer available, as such, we had to pivot our film to exclude the mother but still convey enough emotions for the audience to understand.