An interview with Michelle L. Li, Director of Sleep Talking

‘囈語 (Sleep Talking)’ is a short film focusing on abstract dance and expression of an unnamed Woman.  There are plenty of beautiful costume designs and dance performances that are left open to interpretation for the audience.  We caught up with Michelle L. Li with an interview on this short film.

UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): The costume designs are very beautiful and intricate.  How did these costume ideas come together?

Michelle L. Li (ML): I am very interested and often inspired by ideas in psychology. The fundamental structure of the film is derived from Freud’s theory of self: the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. All the details of the costume add up to the story that developed around this psychological structure. Therefore, how to use visual language to describe the representational elements, and how to use the movement of the garments to emerge narration were essential to the design process of the costumes.

(UM): What is the backstory behind this short film?

(ML): As I mentioned, the structure of the film was heavily inspired by theories in psychology. The whole film was intended to be a bit abstract but the basic outline is to illustrate this journey within a dream that allows the protagonist to explore through different stage self such as Id, Ego, Super Ego…

(UM): Was the short film open to interpretation of each dance performance?

(ML): Yes, absolutely. There was a prompt and music of wanted aura given to the dancers, but I did not ask the choreographer to design a very realistic dance. It was my intention to leave space for the audience to interpret.

(UM): Can you explain the meaning behind the title ‘Sleep Talking’?

(ML): The Chinese character “囈語” (Yi Yu) translates to “talks in the sleep” or simply “sleep talking”. People speak of bizarre things that don’t make sense while they sleep, which I think suits perfectly the theme of my short film. It could be our subconscious talking about the adventures we experienced while dreaming.

(UM): What inspired you to create this short film?

(ML): I was torn between studying Fashion Design or Costume Design when I apply for universities. I see too much gray area between these two majors and don’t see why they can’t come together. For this reason, I decided to explore the idea of “undefined” for I think “to define” is “to limit”. To illustrate this “state of undefined”, I decided to use “dream” as the medium because it is also something in between, something between reality and fantasy.

(UM): What do you plan to do with this short film after its release?

(ML): I want to collaborate with other visual artists to create a more interesting platform that showcases this film, as my professor, Brendon, once told me, how the film is being showcased is often neglected.

(UM): How long have you been a costume designer?

(ML): Not very long? This is my first-time “costume design”. I graduated from Parsons 2020 majored in Fashion Design. The film was supposed to be my thesis project. But the pandemic delayed the whole process. I finished the short film a year and a half after my graduation.

(UM): What influences were there behind the choreography of the dance performances?

(ML): There wasn’t really a well-directed choreograph that the dancers will follow. Most of the dances were free-styled based on some “atmosphere” that I described. There were only certain movements that I wanted them to include for sure, what was between the given movements were mostly improvisational.

(UM): How long did it take to complete this project?

(ML): I started planning the concept during my Junior year, which is around the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019. It probably took me almost 3 years to completely finish everything.

(UM): Will there be a sequel?

(MLL): Hopefully yes, when there is another mesmerizing dream worth dreaming:)