Essay idea/Ink (2009)

A quick review of the film i want to write the essay about.

Director: Jamin Winams
Writer: Jamin Winams
Reviewed by: Dmitrij Polukarov

Topic of the review: Concept Design of the Environment and it's Connection to the Story

Ink is a movie written and directed by Jamin Winams with an independent movie company called Double Edge Films. It's a story about the battle between two forces who exist outside of the real world,but are deeply involved with us. The Storytellers,the warriors that come at night and with a touch to the forehead they bring happiness and joy to people in their dreams. The opposing force are the Incubus,who give happiness to the mind,that result the person's thoughts in to a nightmare. But there's also the the real world and the drifter Ink. The film goes through the connection of three stories and times which are deeply connected. The first story is about the businessman John who is about to lose an important account at his company and finds a way to win the economical battle. But in the back of his mind his family is on his mind. The second story goes around the drifter Ink who kidnaps the businessman's daughter Emma to bring her to an Incubus meeting where he,in exchange,would be turned in to "himself" and released from all the scars in his soul. On their way they meet a storyteller Liev,who tries to convince Ink to remember his true self and how he became the way he is. The third story goes around the storytellers who are trying to save Emma with the help of a blind pathfinder Jacob who can interact with the "beat of the world".



The movie was made with a strong sense of colour and contrast balance to create the mood for the scenes. A lot of scenes show alot of strong contrast where the dark figures shown in an illuminant blank dark way while the white and colourful figures are shown with a strong saturation and soft light. Also the technique of sound and camera work was used to create the scene where Jacob uses his ability,which can also be discussed as a concept idea for a design of the environment. This strong contrast, unstable colour gamma has really created a world that looks like the real one,but is still different and more exciting.

 "Ink‘s unique achievement is to materialize a world where invisible metaphysical armies clash over the souls of simple folk with all the fervor of a war fought for oil or for Islam, a fight where each decision a man makes is a strike or a blunder in a grand campaign where failure means damnation." 


                                                                                                                              - 366 Weird Movies

The first noticeable scene would be the Storyteller's world. It's colourful,peaceful and easy to look at. Alot of soft light is added to underline the peace and harmony of the surroundings. It is made in the nature,the forest,to show that harmony created for the sake of balance.

The Storyteller's world.

The second scene with strong colours is the world of the Incubus. It's made in a soft combination of blue-green-black,which are softly combined but also very dynamical saturated. With the help of light reflection of leather materials the viewers can recognise and see more clearly the dark dwellers of this world. 

The Incubus's World

 "All the different planes of existence in Ink’s world are accompanied by a strikingly different palette of colors and lighting techniques. It not only creates the appearance that they are entirely different dimensions, it becomes other dimensions altogether." 

                                                                                                          - Midnight Showing

The Dream world is also amde in to several types of dreams. The good dreams,bad dreams and the lost ones.

The good dreams with soft light and and a contrast that is easy to watch. Some blur is added to show the dream-like state of the scene.

The bad dreams are shown like the real world,but with the exception of sudden flashbacks that have a green,poison tone to them.

The lost dream of the dead actress's soul is show in a pink glamour and glory emphasized by the decorations. But the fowers are dead and that first expression of the pink colour quickly dies and is show in a desaturated dead state. It is to show how lost and dead that soul is.

The last scene which was mentioned in the beginning of this review is Jacob's "beat of the world scene". The concept of the scene is that the colours are about average,but with the help of music and the Jacob's musical motion and beat counting the mood and the atmosphere quickly changes in to something more dramatic and epic,but at the same time relaxing and easy to comprehend. Every emotional reaction and simple action becomes something deeply connected with the "beat". The ending of that scene shows just how deeply does the viewer dive in to the atmosphere and the mood with every count and motion.

In conclusion,Ink is a film with rea-time footage from the real world. None of these scenes were created with the help of CG,but with the help of a strong colour and contrast control,every scene has it's own unique individuality.