2024 Book
Zhenxi Xu
"Sometimes I think I’ve felt everything I’m ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I’m not gonna feel anything new, just lesser versions of what I’ve already felt."
-Her (2013)
Her is a thought-provoking sci-fi romance directed by Spike Jonze, set in a near-future Los Angeles. The story follows Theodore Twombly, a lonely, introverted writer recently separated from his wife. Struggling with the weight of his loneliness, he purchases an advanced operating system, designed to adapt and develop its own personality, named Samantha. As Samantha learns and grows, she and Theodore form a deep emotional bond, evolving into an unconventional romance that challenges the boundaries of intimacy and self-understanding. Through their relationship, Her explores themes of love, isolation, and the complexities of human connection in an age increasingly defined by technology.
Research
This project delves into the complex interplay between human connection and technological isolation, exploring how modern advancements shape our relationships and emotional wellbeing. Motivated by an era where digital interactions often replace face-to-face communication, this work examines the effects of excessive reliance on technology, depicting a trajectory from contemporary life to a futuristic landscape of near-total isolation.
Through stark and contemplative visuals, the project invites audiences to feel the solitude, distance, and ultimately the existential questions that arise when human interaction becomes mediated by technology. The aim is to create an immersive experience that leaves viewers questioning the cost of digital convenience and encourages them to reconsider the role of genuine connections in their lives.
Research - Film
Taxi driver Theme
Cinematic Techniques: The film’s signature use of close-ups and long tracking shots brings the audience intimately close to Travis’s isolation and paranoia, while the unsteady, almost voyeuristic framing reflects his alienation from society. The slow, deliberate pacing builds a sense of tension, amplifying Travis’s sense of entrapment within his own mind and his nocturnal world.
Color Usage: The stark, artificial hues of the city’s lights contrast with the dim, shadowed interiors of the taxi, symbolizing his psychological battle and his growing sense of disillusionment. The palette captures the seedy underbelly of 1970s New York, aligning the visual style with themes of corruption, isolation, and moral ambiguity.
Setting and Scene Design: The portrayal of New York City is integral to Taxi Driver, with its crowded streets, rundown buildings, and endless stream of pedestrians serving as a physical representation of Travis’s isolation. The taxi itself becomes a significant setting, acting as both a mobile prison and a vantage point from which Travis views and judges the world around him.
Her The Martian
Cinematic Techniques: The film employs a soft focus and natural lighting, creating a sense of intimacy that highlights Theodore's internal experiences and vulnerabilities. By often isolating Theodore in the frame and using shallow depth of field, Jonze visually represents his emotional disconnect from the physical world, enhancing the sense of loneliness even as he grows attached to the artificial intelligence, Samantha.
Setting and Scene Design: The film’s futuristic setting reflects a utopian but detached vision of Los Angeles, with sleek, minimalist designs and a warm color palette. The interiors are open and understated, emphasizing a sense of space and separation that mirrors the characters' emotional distance from each other. The warm pastel tones evoke a superficial comfort, contrasting with the underlying theme of isolation as individuals retreat into technology for companionship.
Cinematic Techniques: Directed by Ridley Scott, The Martian uses a combination of expansive wide shots and intimate close-ups to illustrate astronaut Mark Watney’s solitary struggle for survival on Mars. The vast, desolate Martian landscapes emphasize his isolation, while the frequent use of handheld camera work for Watney’s video diaries brings the audience closer to his personal thoughts, creating an emotional bridge between the protagonist and the viewer.
Setting and Scene Design: The barren, rust-colored landscapes of Mars, recreated with meticulous attention to detail, serve as a stark backdrop that reflects Watney’s isolation. The contrast between the inhospitable Martian environment and the confined, sterile interiors of Watney’s habitat underscores his vulnerability and dependence on limited resources. The habitat’s design, with its minimalistic and functional layout, symbolizes the tension between survival and the psychological toll of prolonged solitude.
How Spike Jonze Shoots Movies
About Loneliness
Go really wide or really close
An extreme close up can make us feel overwhelming emotion...
...while an extreme wide shot can make us feel a character’s isolation in the frame itself
How Spike Jonze Shoots Movies About Loneliness
Shoot a montage
While often covering time moving forward, a montage can also work in reverse, as a flashback, like the above scene from Her.
Do less with your style
You want to put your director trademark on every shot, making every scene a masterclass in coloring, framing, suspense, you name it.
But more often than not, less can be more when it comes to loneliness.
Video style reference
Stalker - 1979
Style: Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, Stalker is known for its haunting, minimalist style and its use of black-and-white cinematography to evoke a sense of unease and otherworldliness. Tarkovsky’s lingering shots and slow pacing create a meditative quality, with stark contrasts and shadowed compositions that amplify the feeling of isolation. The film’s sparse, high-contrast visuals focus on texture and light, allowing the barren, unyielding landscapes to feel alien and unsettling. Tarkovsky’s approach to silence and restrained movement invites the viewer into a reflective and introspective space, allowing the story to unfold through atmosphere rather than overt action.
Insights and Application: The sense of alienation and the meditative quality of Stalker resonate deeply with themes of loneliness and desolation, which are essential for my short film. The film’s method of letting the setting evoke emotional depth, rather than relying on dialogue or quick cuts, is a valuable reference for creating an immersive environment that emphasizes isolation. In particular, the use of lingering shots and high contrast can help convey the internal struggles of a character surrounded by a foreign, inhospitable world.
The Night of the Hunte - 1955
Style: Directed by Charles Laughton, The Night of the Hunter employs a striking black-and-white aesthetic that draws heavily on German Expressionism, with exaggerated shadows, sharp contrasts, and dreamlike imagery. The stylized use of light and shadow creates a surreal, almost nightmarish atmosphere, emphasizing moral ambiguity and psychological tension. Laughton’s use of framing and composition makes each scene feel meticulously crafted, with shadows cast in dramatic, angular forms that reflect the characters' inner turmoil and tension. The film’s surreal visual style, combined with the intense contrasts, builds an emotional landscape that is as unsettling as it is captivating.
Insights and Application: The intensity of contrast in The Night of the Hunter offers a powerful way to convey inner darkness and tension. The film’s use of exaggerated shadow play, particularly in confined settings, is inspiring for my project’s scenes where characters experience emotional and physical isolation. The precision in lighting and the almost poetic darkness provide a strong model for creating symbolic shadows and light, which can be used to visually represent the inner conflict and detachment experienced in my story.
Storyboard
Part 1: NOW
The first part talks about what is happening now, people are becoming isolated from each other because of technology. i will shoot the streets at night, lonely people, harsh sounds. It will be a long take style.
Part 2: NEAR FUTURE
The second part is about what is going to happen. It is inspired by the movie Her. People are completely dependent on technology. Some people even choose to marry artificial intelligence. People are completely isolated from each other. AIgenerated animation will be used in black and white style.
Project development
Part 3: FUTURE
The second part talks about the future, the idea comes from The Martian, where humans moved to Mars because the Earth is not suitable for human habitation, and this part tells how a person lives on Mars.AI-generated animation will be used in black and white style.
Act 1: Present – Isolation in the Modern World
The film opens with a slow, lingering shot of empty streets at night. The harsh glow of streetlights illuminates lone figures, each absorbed in their devices, oblivious to each other’s presence. These scenes depict an isolating urban landscape shaped by technology, where individuals are physically close but emotionally distant.
Project development Project development
Act 2: Near Future – Dependence on AI Companionship
In this act, humanity's dependency on technology deepens as AI becomes more personalized and pervasive. Inspired by Her, this section portrays a world where human relationships have been largely replaced by AI companionship. From a first-person perspective, the viewer sees the world through a protagonist’s eyes, interacting only with a responsive AI. Monochromatic animations depict a sterilized, quiet existence in which technology mediates every human experience, culminating in a scene where the protagonist "talks" to their AI partner in an otherwise silent apartment. The absence of real human connection is emphasized, leaving an emptiness at the core of each interaction.
Act 3: Distant Future – Solitude on Mars
With Earth no longer habitable, humanity has migrated to Mars, but the isolation has only intensified. In stark black-andwhite animation, a lone human is shown performing daily survival tasks—such as growing plants, repairing equipment, and recording logs—with only AI systems as company. Shots of vast, barren Martian landscapes underline the protagonist's solitude, and the repetitive actions suggest a sense of endless survival rather than meaningful living. A final shot shows the protagonist looking out at the unchanging Martian horizon, reflecting a future where isolation is no longer a choice but a permanent condition.
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever."
-George Orwell
Reflection
Midjourney produces striking imagery, yet lacks precision for specific scenes, requiring extensive prompt adjustments that can disrupt workflow. This pushes me to refine my prompts and explore blending Midjourney outputs with more controllable elements in Runway or Premiere for greater cohesion.
Runway offers innovative AI animations but has limited control over detailed character movements and layered animations, sometimes falling short in conveying subtle emotions. I work around this by combining Runway’s abstract visuals with additional effects and overlays in Premiere, adding depth and nuance.
Premiere Pro is reliable for video editing, yet it struggles with the processing demands of multi-layered, AI-driven scenes, resulting in long rendering times and limited fluidity when blending AI visuals. I address this by optimizing my workflow and layering techniques to create smoother transitions.
The editing choices involve prolonged shots that create a stillness, reflecting the disconnect between individuals in the modern era. However, I recognize the risk of losing audience engagement with overly long takes. Therefore, I will strive to vary shot compositions and introduce strategic cuts to maintain visual interest while reinforcing emotional resonance.
Lighting plays a critical role in enhancing the film's atmosphere. The use of harsh street lighting conveys the cold separateness of characters, while soft, diffused lighting in the AI-dominated future mimics the artificial warmth of technologymediated relationships. I must further refine my lighting choices to evoke specific emotions and ensure clarity, especially in darker scenes where the theme of entrapment is explored.
Ask myself:
1. How can I further explore the interplay of light and shadow to evoke complex emotional responses in my future projects?
2. How can I move the camera or frame the actor to express the emotional state of the character?
3. What are the emerging trends in filmmaking and animation technology that I should explore to expand my creative toolkit?
4. How can I develop a more distinctive visual style that reflects my unique voice while still appealing to a broader audience?