In an instant, some freak accident, a moment of bad luck, or some unforeseen event can change your life forever. These unfortunate events are the stuff films are made from. Rather than have characters blather on about how bad life has been, Tawan Bazemore’s short film Sound pulls you into the chaotic aftermath of a traumatic event.
The short is about photographer Isabelle Pisano (Crystal Porter-Bazemore), who becomes hearing-impaired after a traumatic car accident. But Sound is not a narrative. Instead, it’s an art piece designed to not only draw you into Pisano’s trauma but make you see and feel her struggle overcoming her disability.
“…moves back-and-forth from muffled audio to crystal clarity accented the sharp ringing often associated with tinnitus.”
Sound has virtually no dialogue, except for a video phone message from her physician offering faint hope. Bazemore uses the film’s images, audio, and flashback moments to speak for itself. The sound in Sound moves back-and-forth from muffled audio to crystal clarity accented the sharp ringing often associated with tinnitus. The images also fluctuate from chaotic to serene beauty to jarring flashbacks of the accident.
Bazemore’s short does not pretend to be a hopeful peace of overcoming new challenges, but a powerful emotional short film that illustrates the struggle one goes through when what was once normal is now drastically changed for the worse. The feel-good term, PC-culture uses is the “new normal.” But feeling good is far from the point.
Bazemore employs a few thriller film techniques to bring a darker edge to Pisano’s “normal.” It’s a short that will jar your senses and leave you emotionally stunned, which quite frankly is what more short films should do.
Sound (2019) Written and directed by Tawan Bazemore. Starring Crystal Porter-Bazemore.
7.5 out of 10 stars
