old home videos: american beauty

A film that has really inspired me to use old cameras to show memory is American Beauty, as Ricky is obsessed with filming everything in his so when he watches it back, he doesn't miss the beautiful moments of his life.

In an interview for a behind the scenes documentary, Wes Bentley, who plays Ricky, says that 'he uses the camera to remember things: it's not that that's his eye - well, when you look through a camera and a camera can zoom so tight, he gets to see something that maybe we all miss'.

I really love Ricky's motivation for using home videos, as I think this would also be why my male protagonist would film parts of his life. What appeals to me the most is the way that, as Wes Bentley said, older cameras allow you to have a smooth zoom that moves in really close in without the whole camera shaking. It has the ability to show a character's point of view and allows a character to see someone up close without actually moving towards them. It's a much more personal way to show a scene between too characters without having too many shot-reverse-shot scenes. 

I would like the opening of my film to be in a similar format the way American beauty opens: a short home video clip that establishes the theme for the film, followed by the title of the film. 

Instead I would like both protagonists to be speaking so we establish who he is talking to, and I would like it to reflect happier times- when they promised they would be friends forever no matter what comes their way. This tone will contrast with the title of the film, which will be more serious and downbeat.