The End
The End, an experimental film accompanying Makwaia’s Love Songs for an Apocalypse EP, uniquely explores themes of loss and transition through a parallel viewing experience: two identical versions presented in traditional 16x9 and vertical 9x16 formats, highlighting how shifting aspect ratios reshape storytelling, composition, and the way we experience endings. Taking place in the aftermath of the 2024 Bridge Fire in the Angeles National Forest, the film explores three separate but interconnected “endings”: the impermanence of love, the destruction of nature, and the transition of filmmaking into a new era. Presented in both traditional and vertical formats, The End is a story about what is lost over time through a parallel viewing experience. MAKWAIA: I was really inspired by that overwhelming sense of grief- both in personal relationships and in watching the world literally and metaphorically fall apart. I remember producing the very first draft at my home studio in my Ableton session looking at my mic before I hit record and really picturing what it would feel like to get the news that you had to witness the end of the world- and then I hit play: "Tell me, / Baby are we done? / Simple question, answers none. / If this is it, then was it all there was?" Lyrically, it grapples with questions of finality, offering a poignant reflection on the inevitability of loss while hinting at the urgency of action, particularly in the face of climate change. In scouting for potential locations, we realized that the recent Bridge Fire in the Angeles National Forest that threatened residents and their homes in September was 90% contained with certain roads still closed. When we visited the area, we were met with visible scorched remains, a visceral reminder of the all too present threats facing us daily in our own backyard. JAE: Navigating the turbulent waters of the current film industry, I couldn't help but think about the rise of vertical content and how it is rapidly transforming, some might say undoing, decades of cinematic tradition. Given that Makwaia's song was already about multiple endings, I imagined having two versions of the same film, in opposing aspect ratios but otherwise identical shot for shot, to represent the end of an era of filmmaking. When viewed simultaneously, it is evident that certain details don't make it into the vertical cut and the viewing experience itself shifts dramatically. We're confined to the cramped, oppressive walls of 9x16 that feel designed to accentuate individuality or the self(ie) and present challenges to framing more than one person in the shot without shrinking our subjects or forcing them together like conjoined twins. However, as easy as it is to view verticals as an affront to the filmmaking craft itself, depriving it of its composition, depth, and scale, it could be said that they offer a welcome alternative to an often “this is the way it works” attitude towards storytelling, and with that, an opportunity to examine new paradigms and ways of thinking. As Makwaia’s character discovers, we may find ourselves in an uncertain world without love, without life, or even 16x9, but with every ending comes a chance to explore a new beginning. MUSIC Co-produced, written, and performed by MAKWAIA Co-produced, engineered, and mixed at Trial and Error Studios by CONNOR SCHULTZE and JESS BEST Mastered by DONNIE SPACKMAN VIDEO Written and directed by JAE SHIM Starring MAKWAIA and JULIANA LAI