Shock of the New

OK, today we inaugurate a new feature on this blog: the monthly movie.  Basically, I'm going to try and make and present a short film every month during 2014.  I'm not going to go so far as to try and ensure each film has a theme appropriate to its month.  The films could just be experimental video projects I've been working on that I can't incorporate into other films, for instance.  The long and the short of it is that, for some time, I've felt that I'm simply not doing enough with my camera - hence this project.

Anyway, for January, I have decided to follow an appropriate theme of sorts.  As January ushers in a new year, I thought I'd take a look at some of the new building which has been going on around Crapchester.  Combining footage filmed on two local housing developments, 'Shock of the New' tries to capture the sense of isolation and, frankly, loneliness which seems to encapsulate these new developments.  Full of identikit houses, which are built to standard designs which try to suggest historical styles such as Georgian town houses, or Victorian cottages, arranged on streets which seem perpetually devoid of a human presence, they fail completely to create actual communities.  lacking shops, pubs or any other facilities, they remain simply collections of houses.  Sterile and soulless, it could be argued that they are a perfect symbol of modern British society.