Clarke Scott’s If I Had Another Day is a complex film we’ve really enjoyed unpuzzling. The melancholically toned story of a girl coping with grief after losing her loved one is, at the same time, a cleverly conceived, whole-souled effort to examine the emotional turbulence of a break-up and a filmmaking endeavour that shows a substantial interest in the storytelling technique. Scott skillfully mixes up the past, present and future by shifting between colour schemes and playfully experimenting with brightness and slow motion. The strength of this gem of a short film is further enhanced by the artistically powerful idea that gave birth to the project—instead of finding an actress that fits his story, Scott decided to get to know the actress first and then develop the story based on a traumatic event she had really experienced. Thumbs up for the bold idea and kudos for its elegant realization.
I have always been fascinated by visual storytellers and I draw great inspiration from the work of Wong Kar Wai, Terry Malick, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan in that regard. The self-reliance of Ceylan, the big question philosophy of Malick, and the groundedness of Wong Kar Wai’s human relations provide a template for the kinds of stories I’d like to explore, and importantly how to do so. That is to say, I like the idea of exploring human potential within a larger context but without ignoring the boundaries of the human condition, and doing so without asking for permission or waiting for someone to come along and give me a shot.
Actually, I’ve always been attracted to mavericks. Those people who do not follow but rather, those that listen to their own intuition and back their own game even when they fail—I find this hugely inspiring. And believe me I have failed too many times to count! But now with the perfect storm of low-production costs and digital platforms to distribute our work we all have the chance to go explore the stories we wish to explore. There are no excuses any longer and this is kind of scarey to be honest.
In the end, it is indeed a great time to be a creative person, and I’d be happy to be half as good as Wong Kar Wai, Malick, or Ceylan, some day. —Clarke Scott
Clarke Scott is a Writer/Director from Australia with several short and feature length films at various stages of development. He also works as a freelance commercial director, cinematographer, and editor. He is looking for a creative producer/collaborator so drop him a line if you’re interested in his work.
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