Project No. 1 - "Nighttime Reader"

Working the topic of mundane rituals, I wanted to explore reading before going to bed and how the process of that can affect our internal hardwiring for both the good and the bad. I chose the medium of film because that is where I work best and make the most out of my more elaborate ideas. The film is titled “Nighttime Reader” is simply about a young man reading before retiring to bed. However, there is a twist toward the end that I included to give the film a more interesting narrative edge aside the ambient music, crisp color contrast, and various camera angles. With this film, I also wanted to visually emphasize how there is a simple beauty to what we consider "mundane" through the slow and steady pace of the film as the calming, reflective music plays in the background. Michel de Certeau says in his book The Practice of Everyday Life that, "The 'insignificant detail' inserted into the framework supports [the story] makes the commonplace produce other effects" (de Certeau 89). By inserting the surprise of a supernatural presence, I believe I gave the film further reason as to why carries its grainy, subdued pastiche. That particular aesthetic hopefully adds to the feeling of discomfort despite its comfortable setting with audience having already learned the eery ending of this film.