Wesley Chan of Wong Fu Productions has released his latest short film “Shell“. Much liked his previous works “At Musing’s End” and “When Five Fell,” he delves deeper emotionally than other Wong Fu shorts. Here’s more about “Shell”:

Our lives are shaped by our experiences. Our experiences are preserved in our memories. But what if we had a chance to remember things that we never actually experienced? “Shell” explores this idea through a quiet conversation. If you could look through a window that softened the edge between reality and fiction, what would you want to see? What would you want to remember?

Originally conceptualized as a senior project at school, the film was based on the idea was that, in the future, people would be able to buy memories– real or not. This technology would allow people to buy the ultimate human gift. What is more intimate and touching than a memory? The short blurs the line between fiction and reality. The visuals of the two environments are juxtaposed to one another as reality and “memories” become more of a confession of “true” feelings.

There’s plenty of symbolism in the “Shell”. As Wesley Chan describes “The shell is a protective housing that shelters something fragile. Not only that, but it preserves it. As we know, when we put a shell to our ear, it sounds like the ocean waves. It is an experience we can recall. Now imagine if you had never seen the ocean– if you lived too far from a coast. What would the experience of listening to a seashell mean to you? Would it be any less real? Other symbols include the glasses that Chris wears and the window that he looks out of. They are both barriers between what he wants to see and what he really sees. When his glasses are taken off, he has a new perspective on his reality.”

Shell is the Official Selection for 2011 Seoul International Extreme-Short Image and Film Festival.

Shell by Wong Fu Productions

Behind the scenes of Shell by Wong Fu Productions