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THE BOROUGH; (2009); Kelly Oliver; Digi; TRT: 1.32
There are a lot of ugly things in this world. I wish I could protect you from them.

There is a line in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird in which the character Atticus Finch says to his son, “There’s a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep ’em all away from you. That’s never possible”. The Borough is a video that, at its core, is about the anxieties and fears that come from being a parent.

I incorporated that sentiment in this piece using several voices, including my daughter’s. I also layered several sounds: windshield wipers in the rain, insect noises, and found-footage audio. Some of the sounds, including the mourning dove, remind me of my own childhood: of being in the backyard of my parents’ home, and listening to the world around me. There’s a sense of nostalgia and an invocation of memory.

I intentionally wanted a voyeuristic feel to the images in this video and a dark, moody, noir style. There is the suggestion from the tone and the images that something bad could be happening, but no actual event is revealed. That anticipation may lead to a sense of uneasiness in the viewer.

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