Play Blog

Here’s yet anothing shortlisted film, this time from the pro category of the ‘Digital Revolutions’ short film competition. (For more details on the competition, please see a previous blog post)

This film was made by Simon Wan, and below he describes the meaning behind his film.
We hope you like this one too!

I had known ‘James’ (the boy from my film) and his family for a while so I had been aware of the fact that his older brother ‘Robert’ had recently left for university. I popped round to see the family and after a few minutes talking with him it was obvious that he was missing his brother terribly.

Having spoken to James’ mother about how he had felt, I brought up the subject of a Skype video call, and had he tried it. The answer was no, and although they had heard of it, they weren’t sure how to use it, thinking it would be complicated and expensive. So, my plan was to spend a few hours with James and ask him questions about what it’s like to have a brother and how he feels now he has gone and then surprise him with a Skype video call.

What amazes me is that to James, the Skype call was simple, something obvious. When he describes what he thinks will happen, he almost get’s it right. He says, ‘The pictures go from me, to my computer then to Robert’. Simple yes, but hugely intricate and complicated as well. This though, is something that James won’t have to think about. What he saw was his brother, what he heard was his brother and to him that meant the world. With the click of a button, which made him laugh, he was right there next to him again.

Now James and Robert Skype each other all of the time. With a click of a button and a wave at a camera they are in the same room. Julia, (James’ Mum) is also now making video calls to Robert, making sure that he’s washing his clothes and not skipping lectures. To some this may seem mundane, but being able to spend a few minutes every now and again speaking face to face with someone has, in this case made a huge difference. It’s great to make a call, send a text, but sometimes it’s even better when you can see the person you love or the brother you miss.