Short Film Research: Prosopagnosia (mystery)

    This was by far a favorite, this storyline explains a man who lost his best friend, Julia with curly red hair, in a murder, however, he saw the killer but could not recognize their face due to his medical condition prosopagnosia- a condition that prevents a person from recognizing anyone's face. In the beginning, the man is being interrogated by an investigator, the investigator seems to get more aggressive with the man because he believes he is to blame for Julia’s murder. However, he explains he loves Julia very much and that he saw the clear but simply couldn't recognize him. The only thing he can say is he had a Yankee's shirt and was the same description as him. The investigator eventually gets evidence to believe him; they both end up driving to the crime scene to prove something which somehow causes follow-up questions including any past with Julia. The man dated Julia but he ended it due to him only seeing her in a platonic way, eventually, he got with another woman named Laura. A flashback of the man occurs of Laura, a blond short-haired woman, he takes a picture of her and she tells him to keep it so he can recognize her face. Her face turns blurry to put focus on a car behind her, then the flashback ends. The detective seems suspicious but continues to drive. At the house, the detective shows the man that the person he saw was himself in the reflection of a glass closet. A Yankees sign lays inside and due to it thundering in the dark it seemed like the sign was on his shirt, which is why the description related to him. The detective asks him to stand outside, in the meantime, the man stays silent outside where he sees the truck from his flashback in front of Julia's apartment. Once the detective comes out he asks about Laura once more to the man. He states he only has her email and the picture he took, when he shows the detective it he seems concerned. Before the detective could say anything, the man also stated seeing the truck before, the detective responded by saying it was Julia's boyfriend's truck, and he had just gone upstairs to Julia's apartment. The detective follows up by giving the man a picture of Julia's autopsy and of Laura as he runs upstairs to catch Julia's boyfriend. The audience is shown both pictures which demonstrates both having the same women. Meaning the man just lost his girlfriend and best friend most likely due to her boyfriend as he caught her and the man on a date- hence the flashbacks.

    This was honestly such a great film to watch for pleasure and research on how to do our film. The ending was perfect in adding everything that happened up, throughout the film it kept you wondering and trying to solve the mystery yourself, which is exactly what my team members want to accomplish. 

    The film was similar to others with dark lighting, suspenseful music that rises depending on intensity, props/outfits that further the reality of the film, close-ups, over-the-shoulder shots- and a favorite that not all mystery films have- flashbacks. Throughout the investigation, short flashbacks are shown from the man's perspective which each gives a clue about the story. There were three important flashbacks with two that repeated a few times in the film which allowed the audience to infer what everyone is realizing about the crime/mystery. The first was what the man saw when he arrived at the crime, this was shown a bit however not as much as the other two. Close-ups in a dark room, with broken glass, blood, a body presumed to be Julias face down on the floor. The next two are the flashbacks that show Julia and Laura. Julia is her back facing the camera, while Laura is facing the camera. When the man discovers both women being the same person in his flashback Julia turns around to reveal Laura's face, which is followed up by a quick and sudden switch between the women's faces. This editing technique was perfect to demonstrate the stress, confusion, and heartbreak the man felt. 

If I were to take anything from this film/genre is these types of films are hard to tell a story- which forces a director to become extra creative with how it's presented. So I dislike how quick mystery films must be in order to keep suspense but make sense at the end however a huge help in doing these are flashbacks which will be perfect for our film.