Night Fishing (Park, 2011)
A man casually sets up for a fishing trip at the water's edge. Evening comes and a tug on his line presents him with the body of a woman. While he tries to disentangle himself from the fishing lines, she comes alive. The scene changes and the woman is now a shaman priestess in a funeral ritual for the same man who drowned in a river. He speaks through her to his relatives, asking for forgiveness.
Cinematography:
The most important part of Night Fishing is arguably the cinematography, from a technical standpoint, it is highly impressive that Park was able to shoot the whole film on an iPhone 4. This means that the film has a lower resolution/quality look to it. However, this helps create an edge, and further enhances the horror aspects of the film. Park’s use of displaying the most horrifying and haunting scenes (scene of the man fishing the woman out of the lake & having his entanglement with her) in the dark/in black & white also further helps create and eerie setting that spectators are able to respond to. Some portions of the film are filmed hand-held which helps add to the verisimilitude of the film, while trying to balance the fantasy aspects to the narrative (for example flying hats & possible spirit possession). Park Chan-Wook unique way of shooting adds to the unnerving and unnatural setting of the film, which further adds to the dark atmosphere of the film. Unique shots Park uses includes filming upside down in the beginning music video-esque sequence, along with stalker-like shots including filming behind branches and trees and making spectators watch him from afar with panning shots as if the audience is in a boat at the other side of the river that the protagonist is unaware of. These shots help create a sense of tension and sinisterness. Park also uses an array of shot types, including POV shots to help align spectators with he protagonist, wide angle shots to show the man and girl are together/connected to a certain extent, low angle shots of the girl showing her power over the man. This array of shots keeps spectators engaged with the film and opens up many questions for the audience to ask.
Sound:
The non-diegetic composed score for the film plays a huge role in telling the story as its jarring nature acts as a reflection of the horrifying, fantasy events taking place on screen. The non-diegetic sound helps set the uncomfortable tone of the film as well as help the pacing of the film. When the non-diegetic sound is at a minimal for not there the audience is left to just hear the diegetic sound of the South Korean countryside, this allows the audience to be calm and begin to settle into the film. However, as the soundtrack begins to pick up so does the intensity of the scene/film. The non-diegetic sound is relatively experimental however still has aspects of traditional South Korean drumming which becomes intense in scenes such as the mans attempt to break free from the fishing wire and the ceremony in which the girl leads at the later part of the film. Overall Parks use of experimental sound helps set the overall tone of the film and help guide spectators’ emotions & feelings going into each scene.
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