Square One | Synopsis

I've finally titled my final major project brief as 'Square One':

'Square one' — a starting point.
'Back to square one' — the beginning of a situation — to return to when things go wrong.

SQUARE ONE | Title_Sequence

‘Square One’ is based around a time when life was easy for me. A time when everything was in its right place. A time when I was growing up on Phillimore Road with my family and the family next door to ours, whom I am still in constant contact with to this day.

‘Square One’ is short title sequence and an introduction to my life.

The credits found within are not conventional credits, but rather credits which give recognition to the location and the people who played a major part in my upbringing. The title sequence pays particular attention to both my parents and the parents of my neighbours, who also provided my sister and I with the same love and support they gave their own children.

Namely, my mother, Francoise Silverstone and my father, Michael Silverstone, who died of a heart attack in 1996, without whom, I wouldn’t have had the experiences I had then, and turned out to be the person I am today.

The shots taken of modern day Phillimore Road have been slightly desaturated to explain that while the location and composition may be the same as that of the photographs taken years ago, the life and experiences surrounding the areas (the vibrant colours) have since long gone. However, the title sequence juxtaposes these current images against past photographs to show that this life and experience is still, and always will be, embedded within the location.

The area and the memories which encompass it have always stayed with me – there’s rarely a day that goes by when I don’t think about growing up at Phillimore Road, at a place I still call home. These memories often cloud my thoughts, to the point of wanting to go back and relive those days gone by. It is this grasp by which my memories have taken hold of me, which has made me question our lives and the purpose behind them.

We’re thrust into life, on our ‘one-way’ path, and for better or worse, we have to keep moving. There’s no time to stop and take it in. We have to let go of all that has happened and move on – but why? To what end? Am I unhappy about my upbringing or where I am in my life today? Not at all. Am I bitter about life’s unflinching, uncompromising, unexplainable timeline? Maybe. It’s not enough to simply say ‘that’s life’ and move on as if we understand what ‘that’ is.

‘Square One’ has reminded me that there’s more to life. That the enigma of life and death is so easily and readily overlooked, often because the answer’s too big for us to comprehend, but that shouldn’t stop us from thinking about it. I’m forever indebted to my family for the love they continue to show me, and I’m proud to be part of this world.

I only wish I knew more about it.