Storytelling in the dark

Abstract

My essay examines how black imagery in film can function as an imaginary room. Through my short film Songbird, I explore how darkness, sound, and the absence of visual representation can transform passive viewers into active participants, thereby creating a space that evokes empathy. Instead of offering a complete visual world, Songbird creates a space for subjective interpretation and inner images. Drawing on theories from Margaux Guillemard, Mia Engberg, and Vivian Sobchack, I explore how “The Visual Silence” can shift the narrative power relationship to the audience and challenge dominant cinematic norms, a concept invented by director and researcher Margaux Guillemard. Methodologically, I analyze my own artistic process - working with diegetic darkness, immersive soundscapes, and disruptive subtitles - to reflect on both the aesthetic and norm-challenging aspects of a non-visually image-driven film. The essay argues that the black image is not a void but a material and a cultural and social space that enables introspection and resistance. In this way, it challenges Western film traditions where the image often has power over the narrative and reformulates how stories of invisibility, trauma, and migration can be represented.