Our chief and primary goal is to create a dreamscape onto video.

By utilizing the formal elements of film:

1) editing

2) cinematography

3) direction

We, as directors, intended on creating a world that has never existed, whether on film or in art and literature. Character inexplicably disappear, reappear, or are forgotten about entirely. Though the plot revolves around the murder of a mysterious man, the viewer must then challenge his notion about a detective story when the plot twists and follows a completely different character.

Our plot exists because of the first formal element listed: editing. The dreamscape arises through various editing techniques including parallel edits, cross cutting, overemployment of the dissolve, and a strong sense of non-linear story telling. By executing a parallel edit, we are able to transport the viewer into the mind of both the criminal and the detective, who must capture the perpetrator. In a sense, we are suggesting that in most standard detective stories the villain must be captured by the proganist detective, that their relationship is symbiotic; however, such is not the case with Nocturne. Instead, the detective is just as much the criminal as the villain. This parallel edit, the transportation from the criminal to the detective's subconscious shows a break from the standard detective story and an entrance into the protagonist's dream space. Cross cutting allows a complex narrative, such as the mental degeneration of two different detectives, to be told in only eight minutes. Brevity and ambiguity plays a vital role in Nocturne. What we discovered through experimental editing is that the dissolve, an overlapping of two different images, produces a very dreamlike transistion from one well-composed shot to another. Like cross-cutting, dissolves also help push the narrative forward, but their relationship differs because a dissolve, in our movie's case, is more specific. The transition allows us not only to push the narrative forward, but also to push it into highly metaphysical directions.

Cinematography for most student films (before getting access to film or VX-1000s) involves extremely small lighting setups. We used three 500 Watt Halogen worklights only at the alley location. Otherwise, natural light was our principal form of illumination. We often attempted more tenebristic shots of our actors when light was available to be manipulated. The cinema verite style found in many of the chase scenes was thought to increase the pace of the scene. Like most chase scenes found in modern film, we thought that keeping the camera handheld would create a frantic pace for the audience. Some shots during the chase scene were filmed with a crace. Built by the ingenious Nathan Wilks, the crane allowed us to shoot more tilted shots, like the one scene in this web site's background. As well, with the crane and a wide angle, we were able to give the chase scene a more definte location within the film. Much of the location was captured with many of the crane shots.

Much of our direction arose through spontanaeity and our brainstorming sessions. Since we decided early on that there would be little to no dialogue (the final version has one word, STOP!) so coaching the actors to speak like hard-boiled detectives was not a neccesity, alleviating much of the all ready mounting pressure. Much of the fun from the film comes from the inventive nature of both actors. Their ability to take an environment, like a forest or city alley, and completely interact with this space shows off the impressive talents of Caleb and Ben. We as directors were able to give them character notes and advice, but much of the performance was left to the actor's own design. Usually we stood behind the camera and watched, in awe, as two great performers occupied the camera's frame.