Take away critic #1 : “Cams” (L5) – A frightening carousel
Sweden / 2014 / 00:12:42
Beneath a false air of Google Street panoramas, the third short film by Carl-Johan Westregard gradually weaves its post-apocalyptic fabric by playing on our nerves with a simple and effective concept.
Cams builds its story through 360° panoramic shots, immersing us in rural, seaside and urban landscapes. In the beginning, everything seems fairly normal. But we quickly realize that it is a no man’s land. No crowd or traffic noise. Instead, we hear a beautiful sonorous ambiance of a nature that reclaimed what was hers. Seemingly calm, we see the occasional appearance of a few animals as well as strange black creatures.
We don’t know much more behind the story of Cams except that all trace of the human race has disappeared. What happened? Did humanity migrate to another planet, or were humans eradicated? We will never know. Each portrait reveals more mysteries than answers, for the director is mainly interested in making us tremble.
To accomplish that, he sets an unrelenting rhythm, the rhythm of the camera, which makes 360° turns, pivoting on itself. Combined with an often alarming soundtrack, the slow speed of this movement becomes a source of anguish as we are anxious to see what is happening outside our field of vision more quickly.
The images gradually distill disturbingly strange signs, such as the dark, mysterious small domes scattered here and there in the décor, and whose nature and function remain unknown to us.
The idea is then born that something is going to happen, perhaps arriving at a screamer effect like in the viral video for K-fee (a huge success during the early days of YouTube). We will let you discover what happens next.
Programme for viewing Cams : Lab Competition L5.
