Focus on Music

Creating a short looking into memory, I thought the music would be an especially important element due to the extremely nostalgic nature of music. Personally, I enjoy the aesthetic effect created by 60s/70s/80s Soul/Blues/R&B music in film and television from artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Irma Thomas, so I knew I wanted to incorporate it somehow.

One use of this style of music I enjoy most is in the extremely popular British Series Black Mirror. They use 'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)' by Irma Thomas as a motif throughout the four seasons. For those who are aware of its use as a motif, the song acts as an 'Easter Egg' for the fans. Furthermore, for those who aren't aware of its frequent use it creates an odd nostalgia, a sense of deja vu. The spectator feels as though they recognise the song from somewhere, but not sure where from.

When looking for a similar song for my film I began looking through Irma Thomas' other songs. After looking through most of her discography, I found 'Wish Someone Would Care', which was possibly the perfect match for my film.

The lyrics begin: 'Sitting home alone, thinking about my past.', exactly mirroring my already planned shot at the end of both versions of MAN sitting together, yet alone, on the sofa.

To mirror Black Mirror's sense of nostalgia, without having four seasons, I decided to put short almost unrecognisable excerpts throughout. I would match sudden cuts with static and an excerpt, I played it over the supermarket speakers, It played over the moment in the mirror when MAN and OLD MAN were superimposed over one an' other.

In the final sequence the song plays in complete clarity as both versions of the man sit on the sofa. Following a cut to black, the title appears, 'The Alzheimer's Society' appears and the credits roll,  the lyrics play 'And I wish, how I wish someone would care.' The intention of finishing on this lyric is not to claim CLAIRE, the daughter, doesn't care, but asking the spectator to care. The elderly is one of the most neglected demographics both because of their minimal political representation and of their position in society as an uncomfortable reminder of our own mortality.