By Francisco Delatorre
An interesting phenomenon to look at in addition to the growing trend
toward easily-produced, amateur digital cinema is the translation
of relatively high budget film productions into the digital medium
of the internet. My primary example for this is not the Blair Witch
web site, which many are quick to point to, but the Requiem for
a Dream web site (www.requiemforadream.com).
Unlike most movie web sites, which function as little more than digital
posters for the film, requiemforadream.com pulls you into the story,
immersing the viewer in a supplementary tale of confusion and despair.
Where blairwitch.com focuses on supplementing the film with a historical,
narrative background, requiemforadream.com focuses primarily on the
mental states of the characters. The film itself attempts to capture
the psychological turmoil of the characters through rapid cut sequences
and jerky camera moves, and many argue that this isn't as effective
as the elaborate prose used in the book that inspired the film. However,
the web site picks up where the film left off, emotionally, by forcing
us into the roles of the characters and making their experiences more
accessible. Rather than characters you watch, they become characters
you feel and understand.
Using unclear interfaces, shocking flashes of javascript code, misleading
appearances, and surprises all along the way, the web site makes fantastic
use of the versatility of flash to confuse and frighten the viewer.
Half the time we are convinced that our browser, and maybe even our
computer, is crashing. Ghostly sounds well up, and are cut off by
loud crashes. The images distort based on the way you move the mouse.
This all contributes to an overarching state of confusion that is
analogous to what the characters in the film are experiencing when
things begin to go awry. While you aren't experiencing their drug-induced
misery, you're definitely understanding their struggle to understand.
Interestingly, whether or not you have seen the film has little impact
on the effectiveness of the site; it merely changes the experience.
If, for example, you hadn't seen the film, this site would come off
as something completely baffling. The characters, places, and words
would make no sense, but would hardly detract from the engrossing
experience. Those who have seen it, however, are reminded of
the turmoil that these people endure, and being drawn into their struggle
is more frightening than confusing.
Requiem for a Dream sets a new standard in multimedia storytelling.
Its practice of focusing on the psychological rather than the narrative
is groundbreaking in how it supplements the overall story. When combined
with its hauntingly beautiful graphic design and malicious humor,
the site goes as far as, if not farther, than the film in telling
this story.