“Other People.”

Written and Directed by, (Robert) Masseo Davis
“Other People.”
When I started putting together the concepts for my film “Other People”, my main concern was to have a strong thesis regarding the human experience. I soon found myself with two major themes that would consume my film. I wanted to explore the human mind, memory, and the stories that we tell ourselves based on our actual human experiences. I also wanted to integrate the notion that hell is other people, and that we experience that notion through emotions, such as guilt, jealousy, and love.
In my film “Other People” memory is a primary narrative force, for the film is a series of flashbacks that recall events in a man’s life. I found myself highly interested in how we remember things, and the clarity of our memory’s vision.
I used color to depict that which is the present; the reality of the story, and that which my main character will remember forever. There have been many films and instances where people hear about and/ or feel themselves that they vividly, remember an event in their own history and will never forget. The rest of their thoughts are vague, fleeting, scratchy or lacking a sense of authenticity The real world is in color, and I used the lack of that realistic factor to illustrate memories that do not scar or represent an event that is meaningful. I wanted my main characters memories to stand as visual narration to the films audience, and I wanted his feelings to be the most influential aspects that enticed his memory. I wanted the film to visually illustrate thoughts such as; “I’ll never forget the way she looked at me”, “I can’t forget the way it felt”, and so on.
My movie had slowly transformed itself into a love triangle narrative told by way of visual narration of a man’s memories. When I recognized this I went back and looked at my previous work, I wanted this film to be different, yet I needed to remain loyal to the films morals. My previous work had spent time expressing the discovery of love and people becoming emotionally attached, however they always end after the discovery. My new sub-mission for this film was to address the question, what’s next; in regards to the emotional connection?
My films prior to “Other People”, were films with happy endings, a sense of closure, and/ or relief, regardless of the fact that’s just not how the world works sometimes. “Other People”, is my first stab at a less enjoyable piece, focused more on the authenticity of relationships. “Other People”, proposes the notion, “We may love each other but that doesn’t mean we are meant to be together”. I wanted to illustrate that love is the most bipolar of emotional connections between people. It can entice extreme attraction, and make us subject to unforgettable pain. Those moments in a man’s life are that which pop out in his memory and I hoped to parallel that action the way I filmed “Other People”.
The idea that hell is other people, in a sense comes with the territory of love when it subjects us to pain. Love while viewed as a picturesque landscape pf emotional splendor; it in fact is a double-edged sword.
“Other People”, was made to demonstrate both blades of that sword. The splendor, the guilt, jealousy, and envy all attached to the emotional connection.
I filmed the movie without any dialogue because of two major reasons. The film is an exploration of the mental images, and I did not want the viewers to get caught up in plausibly cheesy, clique, or unappealing lines. I wanted it to be strictly visual storytelling, where the narrative did not depend on the dialogue to move the story forward.
I also believe that you do not need words to express/ illustrate emotions.
Thus making the presence of spoken words, both irrelevant and unnecessary.
Ultimately, “Other People” is a film about a man remembering a time in his life, on the morning of his wedding, and questioning his choices. The events in his memory nearly drive him off the edge but instead of like a classical Hollywood picture he doesn’t follow his heart he continues down his current path. This is not a picture about the unfaithful nature of men, nor is it a film that disapproves of love and it’s ways.
“Other People”, is a movie that talks about the power of our own thoughts when we are left alone with ourselves. The stories that we bare about ourselves, and those we learn to cope with and continue on. It is a tragedy of sorts, based on the theory of love while remaining true to the real emotional human experience.