A Photographic Visual Character Sketch for a Short Film, ”Melinda & Kimberly” by Huilun Shi
35mm film photographs, medium format film photographs.
The series of still photographic works introduces the two female leads in the story: Melinda and Kimberly. The works depict the relationship between the sisters and their emotions throughout the story. The same titled short film tells a story between two sisters and their long-dued conversation after the passing of their father.
The writer/director uses two fictional sisters to explore the complex relationship and its ideologies between the siblings. The film is about sisterhood, loss and what it means to be one’s child and sister. It is also a meditation of the writer/director’s person- al relationship with his parents and sister. The two characters: Melinda and Kimberly represents two kinds of person in the context of a family. Melinda is the older sister of the two, she, with more responsibilities given by the parents, became a pa- rental figure and felt less and less connection from her parents. she, on one hands, truely loves her little sister, but envies her for the attention to her from the parents. Kimberly is the young- er sister of the two. She is spoiled, and loved. She is the only one in the family Melinda loves. She takes compassion on her sister but she is angry for her sister as well for leaving the family.
The film is shot in black and white. In the film. The writer/director uses mostly close-up shots in the frame to avoids the two characters being in the same frame to indicates their relation- ship being pulled away from each other. The music composed by Chengyou is originally a trio piece, the director pulls the piano part, leaving the cello and violin representing the sisters miss- ing something in their sisterhood. Maybe the long-dued conversation...
