In the seedy confines of his one-bedroom apartment, reclusive loner Harris Babel delights in watching the camcorder images of others: images he buys from a strange, smoke-filled store at the end of an alleyway.
They are pre-recorded trips to faraway places, memories he pretends are his own.
Holidays to Madagascar, trips to Lord Howe Island, tours through Kakadu National Park -- there are no boundaries. But Harris' claustrophobic world takes a disturbing turn when he receives a phone call from the airport, claiming he left luggage behind from a trip he doesn't remember. A trip he never went on. Or did he?
From script to screen, Baggage was an exhausting 14-month journey, beginning with the first draft of the script in May 2001 and culminating in the exhibition of the film in July 2002, two days after the final sound and vision cut was completed.
At its heart, the film is an exploration of identity, memory and the childhood demons that haunt us. It is about loss and abandonment, camcorder voyeurism and the obsessions that make us human. On reflection, it is a film with many flaws. But the process of recognising these flaws and better understanding the filmmaking process is an essential part of development and growth.
This paper will explore the writing and directing process involved in the making of Baggage, analysing structure, cause-and-effect, character identification, suspense, style and substance. It will also evaluate the state of the short film in Australia, its importance in the development of filmmakers and the avenues for exhibition and distribution.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/264964 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Noonan, Michael |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Michael Noonan |
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