¶ Short of the Day #110: Carol

Perception de Ambiguity · #1

"Short of the Day" is the daily discussion of a short.

Tasks:
1) Watch.
2) Discuss.
3) Send me your suggestions for the next Short of the Day per PM, along with links to the shorts and comments, questions for the other users to think about, and/or info about the short.

Detailed project introduction & index: here

Carol (Ed Emshwiller, 1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEk6GH4imC8
Length: 5 minutes 50 seconds

Suggested by: Perception de Ambiguity

The trees, the branches and the leaves paint her skin's surfaces,
the forest's colors draw her face within the shadows,
the wind whispers with the voice of her,
and with her scent

Her movements express the love for life of leaves in the breeze,
her eyes' reflections mirror a forest's play of light,
her touch makes felt nature's embrace,
and her warmth

She is the trees, branches, leaves,
she is the shadow, color, light,
she is the sound, wind, air,
she is my everything

Poem by: Perception de Ambiguity

Carmel1379 · #2

Nice poem. Echoes the Ich such dich unter jedem Stein / Wo bist du sentiments (and those of the short exactly). For some reason I was reminded of Paul Clipson's 'Union' as well, it doesn't seem to conjugate badly with 'Carol' either.

Funnily the first thought I had when the short started was that the rocks surrounding the caves looked a lot like dermatoglyphic skin patterns, fractures and imperfections. Maybe I had subconsciously already read your poem when I glanced at it, so I had the equation of nature with the "skin's surfaces" already lurking in my head.

I had 'Antichrist' on my mind lately, and moreover after an exam everything seems a bit insipid, so the short didn't work for me at this time. But even for those nature adoration, "the wind blowing through leaves is so beautiful", blissful love-of-my-life fantasies type of films, the music wasn't very pleasant, despite uniqueness. Like I said, maybe this just wasn't a good time, maybe I'll rewatch it someday and be more affected.

This Ed Emshwiller guy is a nice discovery; I've also just seen his 'Thanatopsis', which was interesting and I guess fitting to my tumblr aesthetics.

Perception de Ambiguity · #3

Thanks, I assume you have also read the updated version?

I think there are no rocks, just tree trunks, not that it matters, I guess. And obviously it can be difficult to make out with this picture quality. The music would have to be the weakest element for me too, but it seems to work for me for the film overall.

'Thanatopsis' certainly seems more like your kind of Emshwiller film. And probably his video works, like Sunstone or Scrape Mates (incomplete) which are early computer graphics art. 'Carol' has to be my favorite though, even more so after yesterday's rewatch.