The Silence Within

The Poetic Truth of Depression

by Hermann Groeneveld / SilvergrainClassics

“The Silence Within” (Lautlos)

16mm Shadows, Film Noir Light, and the Poetic Truth of Depression

In a media landscape saturated by high-resolution pixels and digital perfection, filmmaker Christian Peschken has chosen a different path – one paved with grain, flicker, and deliberate imperfection. His new 30 minute short film, The Silence Within (Lautlos), is a haunting and deeply personal journey into the world of depression – told not with clinical detachment, but through the emotionally tactile language of 16mm black-and-white film and the moody chiaroscuro of film noir lighting.

Shot using Arriflex 16BL and 16ST cameras, and captured on Kodak Double-X 7222 negative stock, The Silence Within marks a powerful return to analog storytelling as both medium and message.

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Analog as Emotional Language

For Peschken, whose background spans faith-based and socially conscious broadcast work in Hollywood and Europe, this project is more than an aesthetic experiment – it’s an act of empathy. Produced in collaboration with the Oberberg Private Psychiatric Clinic in Schlangenbad, Germany, and supported by psychiatrist Dr. Freyer, the 15-minute film seeks to visualize the often-invisible struggle of mental illness.

All scenes featuring the protagonist – portrayed by actor and concert pianist Michael Moog de Medici – are shot on 16mm B&W. The result is tactile and intimate: soft grain, high contrast, and the unmistakable aura of emulsion breathing emotion into each frame.

“Film has a way of capturing fragility,” Peschken reflects. “Especially when you’re telling a story about something as elusive as depression.”

 

A Dance of Shadows:

Film Noir Comes Alive

What elevates the film’s analog authenticity is Peschken’s choice to lean into the film noir visual tradition – but not as pastiche. Here, noir lighting becomes a psychological language. Depression, in The Silence Within, isn’t rendered softly – it’s harsh, angular, isolating. The lighting design draws from the expressive tension of German Expressionism and classic noir: stark silhouettes, razor-edged contrast, and darkness used as space, not void.Lighting was orchestrated using ARRI tungsten Fresnels – 650W, 800W, and 2000W – tools often left behind in today’s softbox-dominated setups. These lights were shaped with discipline and intention:

  • The 650W and 800W units sculpted faces with hard key light, emphasizing isolation and emotional terrain.
  • The ARRILITE 2000W, used for intense backlight or high-contrast directional sweeps, cast psychological partitions between light and dark – hope and hopelessness.

There was no fill light in many scenes – just raw, exposed emotion. Sometimes, a shaft of light would narrowly illuminate a hand, a cheekbone, or a solitary eye – leaving the rest to dissolve into shadow. The darkness wasn’t just atmospheric. It was part of the narrative.

A Dual-Format Dialogue:

Inside and Out

While the film’s protagonist lives in the textured world of analog shadows, scenes with Dr. Freyer were shot in clean digital 4K, creating a jarring but meaningful contrast. Clinical clarity stands beside emotional opacity. It’s a powerful metaphor for how depression is observed from the outside – quantified, diagnosed – but remains murky and lived-in from within.

This dual-format choice creates a visual dissonance that reinforces the film’s central tension: the chasm between external understanding and internal experience.

Performance and Presence in 16mm

Michael Moog de Medici, whose haunting performance carries the film entirely without dialogue, delivers a masterclass in minimalism. His background as a pianist gives his movement a rhythm that complements the meditative pacing of the analog camera itself. The result is almost musical – his body and breath synchronized with the clicking heartbeat of the shutter.

Thoughtful inner monologues – voicing the silent struggles of the characters – are masterfully delivered by voice over talents Matthias Heyl and Marvin Kopp, adding an intimate layer to the film’s emotional depth.

Shot in confined, dimly lit spaces, the analog sequences often resemble photographs come to life – each frame composed with painterly precision. The Kodak Double-X stock embraces the shadows, allowing highlights to bloom and blacks to deepen into emotional black holes.

 

More Than Aesthetic:

Analog with Purpose

Far from being an indulgent stylistic choice, the use of film becomes an emotional instrument in The Silence Within. The grain isn’t a filter – it’s a feeling. The halation isn’t a mistake – it’s memory bleeding into the present.

“The cracks in the emulsion are where the truth seeps through,” Peschken explains. “Digital is beautiful, but sometimes it’s too clean for pain.”

By choosing film, Peschken has created a visual texture that mirrors the human psyche – fragmented, imperfect, beautifully vulnerable.

Beyond the Frame:

Advocacy and Impact

Once completed, The Silence Within will be available in multiple languages and distributed globally by Aberle-Media GmbH, including release on of relevant streaming services as part of a curated mental health-focused short film collection. More importantly, the film will be made freely available to mental health clinics, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations.

The project also includes a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, chronicling the hybrid analog/digital workflow, the lighting design, and the emotional resonance of the production – featuring interviews with Peschken, Dr. Freyer, and guests from the Oberberg Clinic.

 

Conclusion:

The Grain of Truth

The Silence Within is not just a film – it’s a cinematic act of compassion. By fusing the evocative grammar of 16mm analog film with the brooding introspection of film noir, Christian Peschken has created a work that transcends genre, format, and expectation.

In the process, he reminds us: sometimes the grainiest image can tell the clearest story.

 

TECH & STYLE RECAP

  • Film Format: 16mm B&W (Kodak Double-X 7222)
  • Camera: Arriflex 16BL & 16ST
  • Lighting: ARRI Tungsten Fresnels (650W, 800W, 2000W)
  • Style: Film Noir / German Expressionism
  • Distribution: Relevant streaming services (via Aberle-Media), festival circuit, free educational licensing
  • Supplement: 30-min Behind-the-Scenes Documentary

See Also

 

The Poetic Truth of Depression

 

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