Open Windows:
I have watched this screen-life film called ‘Open Windows’ and ‘Searching’. I think ‘Open Windows’ showed a unique way of presenting film through the use of a computer camera, in this screen life fashion, using the different tabs to present different shots which is a fascinating use of editing switching between the windows to the shots and then eventually to the antagonists POV shot still whilst keeping the concept of being on a computer right to the end where the main female character closes her computer. This experimental type of film created an interesting creative approach to a style of film that is not often seen within mainstream media which made the film stand out slightly to other films however i believe that the way that it is structured made the film slightly contradict what we have learnt about IMR as the the film lacked the continuity of editing but does use some elements that creates the classic Hollywood cinema such as the point of view shot near the end and some of the other “camera” computer shots throughout but it does not really demonstrate IMR rules well within the film.
The film is innovative and creative for trying to use this idea of showing the audience all of this happening through a computer as though they are trying to create a sense of paranoia or connect with the audience with the realism of seeing through the computer as if they are part of the experience by seeing similarly to what the main character does but the overall narrative and structure lacked slightly when it came to keeping the audience engaged.
There are a few films and shows that come to mind when I was watching ‘Open Windows’ as well as ‘Searching’ that use similar concepts of the screen life elements in them. The main two that i first thought of when i saw this style of film was ‘staged’ which basically centres around David Tennant and Micheal Sheen who uses a platform in the style of zoom to create an entire sitcom series. This is similar to the effect that ‘open windows’ has when showing the main characters through the idea of a face-time type element. However, ‘Staged’ does not overwhelm the audience with the many windows and creative elements.
One of the other films that came to mind when watching this was the horror/mystery film ‘Host’ which uses similar ways to create paranoia and tension however is similar to ‘staged’ where it takes place using a zoom like structure which is done effectively and does not overwhelm the audience with too much going on at once. I believe that the screen life style of film is difficult to create within the IMR rules as it doesn’t use the same traditional camera and narrative ideas that normal film uses to attract an audience. But ‘Host’ still manages to create an effective narrative and characters that todays audience could relate to due to the current situation of the pandemic. This film uses a lot of similar elements to ‘open windows’ with the concept of only seeing these characters mainly through the zoom call (instead of windows) and gives the audience the sense as through they are in the call as well and doing this it allows the audience to feel the tension and eeriness that happens within the film.
Some Examples of films similar can be seen in the image below:
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