The appropriately-named experimental short film Memories Make Me… takes a look at the emotions that are conjured up as we recall the past. The title offers two meanings: the first is the statement that memories make us who we are. The inclusion of the ellipse at the end of the title leaves an open-ended sentence for us to describe how our memories make us feel (“Memories make me sad/happy/lonely/etc.”). Director Kent Youngblood uses 8mm film, stock footage, and home movies to show how memory is not limited to storing and recalling information, but that it often includes unintended or unexpected emotions as well.
Content
The film opens with a pair of hands holding a small musical carousel. As the music plays and the painted horses turn, it fades into a montage of different images: children, adults, families, playing, working, fighting, etc. By the end of the film, we are right back where we started, as the hands wind the carousel up again. This project is only five minutes long, but it is able to express its point eloquently in that amount of time. I think that making the film any longer would’ve been too much.
The footage in the montage has a very rough chronology, going from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. The stock footage clips work well together in the montage. Most of the footage had images from different time periods: an older child playing with cars (late ‘70s/early ‘80s), a man getting married (1950s/60s), a small child on a playground (early ‘80s), a father kissing his two children goodbye before he gets on a plane (1950s), etc. On one hand, this made it confusing, because you’re trying to figure out, “Who is the person holding the carousel? Is it the father? Is it the boy? Are these his memories or things he’s been told?” On the other hand, this is an avant-garde experimental film, and moreover, this reflects how our memories often operate: they drift from one story or experience to another, often mingling our own memories with those others have told us. From that perspective, Mr. Youngblood did a very good job of editing the footage together.
The older home movies provide
an interesting feel to this film...
...as do the varied types of
stock footage that have been used.
Visual Look
There is not much to be said about the visual look of the film. As mentioned before, it is mostly a montage project, assembled from stock footage and home movies. Only the carousel scene was made specifically for this film. Some of the footage is in good condition and is clear; some of it is slightly out of focus and/or scratched. Again, this variable quality works within the film, because our memories can be like old film: still watchable and somewhat clear, but dusty and blurry around the edges
Use of Audio
Other than the score and a few occasional audio clips from the footage, there is no other sound in the film. The audio clips are few in number (a baby cooing, a heartbeat, children taunting and screaming at each other, playground noises), but it is their juxtaposition with the footage that makes it interesting. The best example of this is the sound of children fighting; the first time you hear it, it is matched up appropriately with the video footage. It pops up again a few times later in the film, but each time, it is placed with footage that isn’t associated with aggression. (An example is a boy opening presents at Christmas, while you hear sounds of boys fighting and picking on each other in the background.) How often in our own memories have pleasant recollections been intruded on by painful ones? Again, this reflects the nature of memories and the emotions that are associated with them.
Use of Budget
A budget of just under $1,000 may initially sound steep for a project that is just five minutes long. However, it is spot-on, considering that it covered: shooting the beginning and ending on 8mm color film, obtaining stock footage, transferring home videos, and securing all of the necessary rights and clearances.
Lasting Appeal
Although this film is not nearly as abstract as some experimental films, it still appeals to a niche audience. While I might not personally watch it again (as it’s not my particular niche), this is a film that I would definitely show/recommend to friends of mine that like avant-garde and experimental films. I would also recommend it to people who want to learn more about this genre and would like to see a good example of such work.
Overall Comment
The film is succinct in its presentation and shows –through an apparently simple montage of footage—the tremendous emotional effect our memories have on us. The somewhat mixed nature of the footage (and the sound that accompanies it) appropriately reflects the random ways our memories flit through our minds. Memories Make Me… is an excellent example of an experimental film; it is not so abstract that novices to the genre will be confused and turned off, nor is it so concrete that avant-garde enthusiasts will lack thoughts to share.
A
powerhouse in management, Kari
Ann Morgan successfully produced a feature length film before
coming to work at Microfilmmaker as Assistant Editor. In addition
to writing for the magazine, she's been successfully working with
various distributors to get microfilmmakers the chance for theatrical
distribution.
