this is a very serious attempt at working with an external light for the first time…
did you do your duolingo today?
if you have ever somehow been indulged in the language learning app duolingo, you possibly know of the comedic craze around it. the app, or the character duo, sends threatening (!) notifications to invite users to go back to the app and learn language, most commonly spanish. so this film is about duo, and spanish, and a bit of horror.
in terms of lighting, i aimed to start bright to convey an innocent, not at all threatening duo. over time, i tried to make the lighting darker, emphasise the shadows and give a more creepy feeling. the more the viewer looks at duo, the scarier it seems to be.
i think for a first attempt at using non-natural light, i did a good job. there were moments where you can see some noise, and i have been struggling with noise in my other night time shoots as well and i am hoping to improve on it.
after finishing the edit for this film, i realised i wanted to take this a bit further than experimenting with light. i wanted to make this a proper film. so with help from my very kind friend tim who volunteered to score, and an interesting observer who got caught on camera during the shoot, this new edition of the film came together.
spanish or vanish (twisted edition)
in fact, there is a twist. the story is not about duo at all. it is a conspicuous monster who was using duo as a cover to shift the attention away from her.
using the same footage from spanish or vanish, the twisted edition introduces a twist to the film and takes it a step further. starting with innocent sounding music and evolving into chaotic, disrupted sounds, the score emphasises the urgency and thriller. the ending is aimed to be surprising and catch the audience off guard.
i very much enjoyed the process of making this, and it was interesting to work with the same footage and change it to make two different films.
thank you to tim and nabihah for their many contributions!!