REM (2013)
REM (an abbreviation of rapid eye movement) is a stage of sleep in which one's eyes move around rapidly in a range of directions but do not send any visual information to the brain.
This experimental short film presents repetitive shots of colored lights moving in various directions. Sounds of the ocean bookend the piece, signaling the auditory start and end of REM (harkening to the cyclical tides, similar to cycles of sleep). The middle of the piece contains repetitive sounds of daily life (a dripping faucet, a car alarm, a siren) paired with colorful lights. While the light patterns vaguely mirror the movement of the sound, they lack the expected, visual source of the noise in waking life (a sink, a car, a fire engine). Thus film's mirroring of the REM cycle: a period of frenetic movement devoid of concrete visual information. Like one's dreams it contains elements of waking life, but in a mixed-up presentation missing narrative, logic, and concrete form.
This experimental short film presents repetitive shots of colored lights moving in various directions. Sounds of the ocean bookend the piece, signaling the auditory start and end of REM (harkening to the cyclical tides, similar to cycles of sleep). The middle of the piece contains repetitive sounds of daily life (a dripping faucet, a car alarm, a siren) paired with colorful lights. While the light patterns vaguely mirror the movement of the sound, they lack the expected, visual source of the noise in waking life (a sink, a car, a fire engine). Thus film's mirroring of the REM cycle: a period of frenetic movement devoid of concrete visual information. Like one's dreams it contains elements of waking life, but in a mixed-up presentation missing narrative, logic, and concrete form.
r e m from Nicolette Daskalakis on Vimeo.