'escape' is a short social commentary film that brings attention to what lies behind everyone's screen.
Color Choices
Each character had their own color associated to them. Even though we don't see their faces, it's easy to distinguish them through their actions and characteristics.
The first character we see is pink and she's injecting something into her bloodstream. Pink is a common symbol for innocence and by having pink associated to her, it implies that she is young and new to this world, just looking for a quick and temporary escape from her mind.
The second character we see is purple and she dies taking a whole bottle of pills. In the film world, purple is a symbol for death. She is sitting at a table trying to work on her homework, but it obviously isn't working. She ends up weeping, and the audience doesn't know what it's about, neither do I to be honest. She takes the bottle of pills and we see her chuck all of them in her mouth. She sits there thinking about the mistake she made, but doesn't force herself to vomit it out, because she wanted it. Although it's not entirely obvious that she dies (she is just shown slouching back in her seat), it is implied that she did die, and the purple helps in that regard. This is a permanent escape from the world, and more work should be done to ensure that suicide numbers significantly decreases.
The third character we see is green and he rips the screen between him and the audience. The color green is seen in two different ways in the film world however in this context, the positive implications of green will be used. Green is associated with nature and rebirth. He starts with having a knife in his hand, leading the audience to believe that he will harm himself. Although he does with swiping his finger over the knife, he doesn't progress past that. Having him cut the screen tells the audience that he is ready to reach out and ask for help and support, thus 'rebirthing' himself.
“The colors in this film are used to subtly tell the audience the backstory of the characters as well as what will eventually happen to them.”
Preparing for the purple scene
Song Choice
Dismantle by Peter Sandberg is a beautiful musical composition. Intentionally or not, the audience can head Sandberg breathing and sniffing in the background which puts them in the spot of the characters. The uneven chord progression was a perfect choice for this film since it shows the emotion of the characters and their hesitant approach to their choice of escape.
The purple actress, Cheryl Lim, rehearsing the pill-spill shot.
The Screen
The screen is a physical symbol for the disconnect these characters feel from the life they are have on the other side. Their real world is their actions behind the screen - their ways of escape.
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