In their short film “Noah,” Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg, a pair of Canadian film students, hit a common nerve that I know all too well, one I am sure thousands of semi-tech savvy individuals out there also can relate to: the ways in which the internet has impacted and changed how we communicate.
Their 17 minute short debuted at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The most interesting aspect of the film is that the entire short takes place on the main character’s desktop, starting when this soon-to-be high school graduate first logs onto his computer. Noah, your seemingly everyday high school student, has a serious girlfriend which becomes apparent within the first 10 seconds. The viewer is then drawn into Noah’s online world where his attention span wavers from a short, yet skeptical Skype conversation with his girlfriend to eventually hacking her Facebook account and soon declaring the relationship over.
Think I gave away the whole plot? I didn’t. For a film of only 17 minutes, “Noah” has its fair share of the unexpected. The most striking part of the whole film is how common it seems. Most of us who use the internet on a daily basis understand the anonymity, which allows us to freely explore at our leisure. Not often does one share with the world the little secret life they may lead on the internet. Noah, for example, turns on YouPorn in the background of his Skype conversation while telling his girlfriend he was looking at “LOLcats.” The internet has become a parallel universe for those who use it for socializing, listening to music, watching videos or meeting strangers; there is access to almost everything one wants to get their hands on all at once. Of course, this can also come with a price.
“Noah” is worth a watch, if only to get a little insight into the fact that you likely aren’t the only person who watches online porn, communicates with their significant other on a regular basis via the internet or doesn’t mind having a talk with a stranger in the middle of the night. Weirder things happen, right? For Noah, gathering information too quickly and making rash judgments eventually leads to the demise of his relationship. Then again, just as the film shows, another relationship may very well be just a click away.
(Editor’s note: Like almost everything involving Chatroulette, “Noah” is probably NSFW.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6eNuJdxAoQ