Circle
Logline: Circle is an experimental short film about the reunion of a shy and quiet young woman Xiaoba with her old friend Xiaoyue who lives in the depression of urban life in a series of dreams.
Xiaoba and Xiaoyue are good friends who have been inseparable since childhood, but because of the age and work, they both have left the city where they grow up. They haven't seen each other for a long time, and over time they don't get in touch with each other very often. During the time apart, Xiaoba hears a lot of bad news of Xiaoyue and what has happened to her from others. Xiaoba decides to leave what she is doing and go to see Xiaoyue in the city she lives. As soon as they meet, Xiaoyue suggests going on a trip together, and Xiaoba agrees. Xiaoyue drives her car and take Xiaoba to a deserted place to start their trip.
In this trip, Xiaoyue tells Xiaoba what her encounters, her troubles and some confusion. Although Xiaoba gives a lot of advice, help and companionship, but Xiaoyue is completely caught up in her own negative emotions and feels desperate for life. Xiaoba witnesses her broken, uncontrollable and crazy state. Xiaoba finally decides to help her free herself and takes a knife to end her life. Seeing Yue covered in blood, Xiaoba wakes up from her grief and finally realizes it was a dream.
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Fei WangDirector
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Fei WangWriter
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Nancy NaiProducer
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Hugo HuangKey Cast"XIAOYUE"
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Project Type:Experimental, Short, Student
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Runtime:13 minutes
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Completion Date:December 1, 2021
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Production Budget:3,000 USD
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Country of Origin:China
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Country of Filming:China
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Language:Mandarin Chinese
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Shooting Format:Digital, 16mm
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Aspect Ratio:2.39:1 (Anam
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:Yes - University of Sydney
Fei Wang is a director now based in Beijing, she was born in Chengdu, China, she has completed the Bachelor of Media Arts and Production at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is currently studying for the Master of Moving Image at the University of Sydney. As she was about to graduate, she has hoped to continue to pursue her dream of filming after graduation, so she came to Beijing alone, which is the beginning of a new stage in her life.
The experience of family breakdown when she was still a child helped her find a number of friends. They are a group of people who found a sense of existence in creation after being abandoned by their families. Fei has picked up a film machine to record life since she was 14 years old. Maybe it was in this process that the seed of art sprouted in her. I wonder if it is because she accidentally watched Wong Karwai's Chongqing Forest one day or because she was moved by Woody Allen's film style, that she began to indulge herself in film art. She found that dynamic things are more alive than a photo with a story. Hence, in 2015, she went to Sydney to study filmology. During this period, Fei tried different positions in film production. These jobs include directing, screenwriting, post-production, art, DOP, recording, and sound design. She wanted to learn all aspects of film making from these positions. In addition, she not only produced short films, but also had many excellent photographic works. Her friends often say that when she is making a movie, her eyes are full of light. Fei also said by herself that only when she was making a movie does she feel alive seriously.
She is a person full of sadness, and she is not good at speaking in her usual life. She thinks that only through movies can she express her true thoughts. She said that she can see time fling by in a movie, which makes her feel extremely good. She likes to create and produce black stream of consciousness movies and experimental movies. Her objective is to explore people's inner world through her works and combine some theoretical knowledge to create a scaffold for the content of the film. At the same time, Fei hopes to find an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition of her own in the future, which will include her film and television works, photography works, installation art, as well as her paintings, in hopes that the audience can get to know her through the exhibition, and at the same time know the group of people who are not talkative.
The film aims to explore the inner world of the characters.
Living under the pressure of the urban life, many people unconcernedly bring their psyche into the Penrose Ladder, which is like a circle (CIRCLE) difficult to escape, hence the title of the film is also named after this. There is a quote from Dazai’s No Longer Human, “The biggest prison in the world is our brain, and if we can‘t walk out of our own perceptions, we are trapped prisoners everywhere.” Like the isolated place the two girls drive to in this film. The place is in the middle of nowhere and cannot be escaped from, which a symbol of their own brains and inner world. Meanwhile, there are a lot of scary elements in the film, which also symbolize people’s inner fear and some dark side. Another design of the film is using Klein blue as the main hue, indicating that people who have closed themselves up for a long time or who have been walking in a deadly cycle inside are approaching “death”. Because there is a folk saying that “after death, the colour of human pupils will turn into Klein blue”. That‘s why the whole film is presented in Klein blue. I want to make the audience feel and reflect on this film, whether they are in this state of mind at the moment.
In the end, I hope that one day, people can live without Blue.