Sirenomelia

In the short film Sirenomelia, there is a mermaid that is seen swimming in a decommissioned NATO base. The part that I particularly found interesting was the noise and camera angles of when the mermaid was in vision. The beginning of the video states the sound is “white noise” but I noticed that when the mermaid was in frame it sounded like a disruption in audio. Exemplifying a disruption in reasoning and belief of the reality that mermaids could exist.

The changes in audio and video quality was evident throughout the whole film, another notable change was when the camera was closer to the water/ in the water the video quality was blurrier or not as clear and the audio was stronger—in a almost eerie kind of way. Where as the beginning and the end of the film, once the camera was panned out or in aerial view the video quality was more clear and the audio was more of tranquillity. This detail in the film definitely ties into the description of the film stating that the creators wanted to show “The Future is Certain; It’s The Past Which is Unpredictable…history can both be rewritten and imprint itself on the future.”

The contrast of blurrier images and sounds replicate the past that was something the present could only understand through the lenses of others that show unclarity. Where as the clearer images show the future and the progression that future is advancing in.