OFF SEASON
Off-Season offers a poignant exploration of a British seaside town during the winter season, where the vitality of summer has dissipated, leaving behind an atmosphere imbued with melancholy and spectral quietude. Through its observational lens, the projection renders the town as both a physical and metaphorical space in transition, where the rhythms of daily life for its remaining inhabitants echo the pervasive stillness of their surroundings.
The projection deftly examines the cultural and socio-economic erosion of modern day Britain, capturing the physical and symbolic decay of a once-thriving locus of national identity. It interrogates the tension between nostalgia and modernity, positioning the town as a microcosm of broader societal shifts. The imagery reveals a nation grappling with the aftershocks of its imperial past, now overshadowed by contemporary uncertainties and the hollowed-out promises of neoliberalism.
The collapse of traditional rituals and cultural practices, supplanted by commodified and transient markers of identity. The film contrasts these waning traditions with the persistence of outdated pop-cultural icons, which now serve as ersatz rituals. The depiction of labour is particularly evocative, illustrating the Sisyphean toil of elderly day labourers engaged in repetitive, physically taxing work for minimal recompense. The relentless churn of the cement mixer becomes an aural metaphor for the inescapable cycles of monotony and futility that define their existence.
At the centre of the piece is Darren Graceland Jones, a former steelworker turned day labourer, who periodically escapes his drudgery by transforming into Elvis. This fleeting metamorphosis elevates him to a quasi-divine status, exposing both the deep yearning for transcendence and the fragility of identity in a post-industrial context. His performance underscores the precariousness of the facades individuals construct to navigate a reality characterised.
The projection further critiques this commodification of escapism through its depiction of penny arcades, which persist as garish remnants of a bygone era. These spaces, with their flashing lights and alluring sounds, function as sirens, offering locals momentary relief from the bleakness of their quotidian lives. Figures like Nigel Farage exploiting the closure of the Port Talbot steel mill with disingenuous populist rhetoric. Farage’s hollow appeals to the working class echo the superficial allure of the arcades, simultaneously enticing and betraying those they purport to serve. His rhetoric seeps insidiously into the collective subconscious, normalising extremist narratives and exacerbating social fractures.
Off-Season’s contemplative visual language draws the audience into a slow, tidal current of imagery, inviting reflection on the broader implications of cultural and economic decay. By chronicling the interwoven threads of personal and communal despair, fleeting escapism, and the inexorable march of change, Off-Season constructs a nuanced and haunting portrait of a society at a crossroads.
PRODUCTION STATUS
Post-Production.
FILM SPECS
Channels: Two Channels
Resolution: 4K
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Sound: 5.1 Surround sound & stereo