disConnect

My name is Peter Chin, and I am grateful for the opportunity to present my short film ‘disConnect’. As a filmmaker, I have always been drawn to creating stories about relationships on simple premises that i can explore emotional nuances through the characters.

The idea of 'disConnect' comes from my advertising digital content experience where i have worked with numerous influencers, and some have shared with me how their personal and social media lives are intertwined with no boundaries. I took bits of these personal experiences from different influencers and pieced together a story of mental struggle, self-worth and exploitation in the social media realm. This also paints a view of today's digital conundrum, where we find ourselves investing more than one-third of our total online time on mobile devices daily, drawn into social media distractions rather than connecting to meaningful relationships.

I envisioned 'disConnect' as a coming-of-digital-age journey for the protagonist, Joe, where his connection to the world through his mobile phone, confronts the demands of his digital persona. I want the audience to experience the emotional arc of Joe through the perspective of his mobile phone device, which is present in every pivotal moment. I deliberately inserted the phone's POV with the sense of his privacy being unknowingly invaded. On that note, i wanted to have the sub-text of how manipulative and malicious the digital world can be.

The sound design in 'disConnect' was an important process as well to drive Joe's emotional transition throughout and to also seed in signs of Joe's mental state, more notably through his breaths. The story starts with Joe on the bed, which i wanted the bed representing an experience of disconnection between mind states. At the height of Joe's anger and frustration, I switched to a view of Joe being trapped in between his mobile tripod stand as a 'semiotic' moment to his predicament.

'disConnect', to me in so many ways, was a challenge in simplifying everything from the story, camera work, audio, pace to the character. It was a work of love and passion from myself and the talented cast, crew, and everyone who believed in this vision. I hope you enjoy the film as much as we enjoyed creating it.