The Short Films I will be looking at are;
- Heartstrings, Directed by Rhiannon Evans
- Zero, Directed by Christopher
These films cover both animation and life filming and looking at both styles I can see the ways that they are different and what impact that has on the audience. I will be looking at the use of cinematography, genre, codes and conventions, representations, target audiences, locations, Characters and Inter-textual References.
NorwichFilmFest. (2011) NFF2009: Best Student Film - Heartstrings by Rhiannon Evans. [Online Video] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwnZs7_C_Q [Accessed: 18.1.13]
HEARTSTRINGS CASE STUDY 1
FILM TITLE: Heartstrings
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION: United Kingdom
DIRECTOR: Rhiannon Evans
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 2009
SYNOPSIS: It is a story of two string people, who fall in love and are connected but then they are pulled apart from wanting to go in different directions. They then feel lonely without each other and one asks for forgiveness. One of the string people then they said sorry and together they connected their hearts with a bow which mended their broken hearts.
FEATURES
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THE SHORT FILM AS A WHOLE
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PARTICULAR SHOTS AND SEQUENCES
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GENRE (type of film)
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The film uses the genre of a romance.
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The film shows two people who seem to have a connection which is shown through their demeanour and the way they interact with one another.
A clear example of it being a romance was that it followed the 3 act structure of a romance. The couple meet, and then there is an argument. One of them leaves the relationship which leaves both to be lonely. One asks for forgiveness and then they love each other again. This is a very common structure in romance genre films. The particular shot which tells the audience it is a romance is when one character gives the other the heart and they connect as this instantly gives a symbol of love and connection between the two characters. |
SORYTELLING CODES AND CONVENTIONS
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The film uses minimal colour, only using predominantly white and with bits of red. White is often meant to mean the idea of innocence in Britain so this mixed with the use of red, a passionate and fiery colour worked showed the simplistic nature of love.
Many of the codes and conventions followed through from the particular style of the way that Evans filmed the piece, she explains in her blog that she used research and inspiration from “Morph, Voodoo Dolls and Sad Sack from The Raggy Dolls.” (Evans, March 10th 2009)
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The codes and conventions of a romance used were the use of the hearts on screen, represented with the heart strings which come from chest of the characters.
Another convention which was used was that the characters were string figurines and were animated in a simplistic and children’s show fashion. Such as shows like Morph from Art Attack.
Like in Morph the characters were given simple names as stated by Evans “I’ve named them Lefty and Righty because for the most part of the film they will occupy the left and right side of the screen” (Evans, March 10th 2009). This allows for a wider appeal and engages the audience as they can relate to the character as it is more of a blank canvass. This convention is often used in role playing games as it allows you to feel what your character feels and put your feet in their shoes.
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REPRESENTATIONS
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The use of colour and expressions in the film is used particularly well, emphasising the idea of the simple needs of love.
The use of expressions on the characters is well used and conveys the message but better than if there had been a voice over.
In the film the director used a lot of symbolism to put across messages to the audience, these are both subtle and obvious and aid the viewer in understanding what is happening.
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The whole film has a sense of naivety about the character, the way they interact. The way they are surprised when things happen. This in turn makes the audience see the power of love in a new and more awe inspiring light.
As previously mentioned in both Codes and Conventions and Genre is that the piece is artistically simplistic and the use of a small pallet of colours and the simplicity of the heartstrings. This was stated in a review by Flickering Shadow Designs “Two white teddies with only eyes to distinguish them enact a romance with no more than a red thread each. Clever animation, evocative and expressive.” (FlickeringShadow, 2010)
In the piece one of the characters has a small head and the other a large head, this was meant to establish gender between the two characters.
Another representation in the film and the most obvious is the heartstrings, in which the film gets its name. The director made a visual representation of the connection of love between two people through the string which left the chest cavity. This again in a very easy and meaningful manner told the audience what was happening through visual metaphors which were mimicking the feelings of love through a real entity.
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LIKELY AUDIENCES
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Personally, I believe that the overall film was most likely aimed at a young audience, this is because of the way the director has taken on a style from children’s shows such as Morph and The Raggy Dolls, but also because the end project is light hearted and deals with the strong emotions of love in a simple and loving way.
I see resemblances from this film in other children’s shows such as Get Well Soon aired on CBeebies which explains medical issues such as water infections and how to avoid them in a simple and children friendly manner.
I think the film is aimed at a target audience of all ages and feel that it can be related to by anyone. It has the joyful and humorous moments for the children, has the information and emotion for teenagers and for adults the light hearted take on an emotion which is known throughout all strands of life.
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The use of the string characters in particular adds the cartoon element which is used in almost all children’s shows such as The Hoobs, Get Well Soon, The Wombles, Teletubbies, Pingu and many more. This added to the film as it straight away told the audience that the film is light hearted. It also brings in a young audience to watch the film as at that age children are often curious about the world and seeing things that they can’t believe are happening such as the use of stop motion. By having this element it has that effect of showing that love can happen with anyone no matter who or what they are.
Another particular element which lends itself to a young audience is the use of humour throughout. The vivid emotions portrayed by the characters plays a key role in the film’s success and it allows the audience to easily identify how that character is feeling.
The film also has elements which suit an older audience such as the topic in which the film is about. Love. The most common emotion which is used across films as it has a lot of power and meaning behind it. The story shows the couple and visually shows what love does to someone. This is quite a mature story and wouldn’t yet have been experience by young people.
It was picked up upon by the British Film Institute that “quite brilliant in its ability to render every turn of emotion.” (Bradshaw, 2012) which again shows that through the use of the cartoon figurines and as Evans called them ‘big, beady eyes’ (Evans, 7 April 2009) she could create a simplistic, cute and innovative style on her film.
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LOCATIONS
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The entirety of the film is based in one location; this again adds to the simplicity of the piece and strengthens the message behind it. It also is just plain white and this works well as it means that there are no distractions in the background which would stop the viewer watching the video.
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The use of the white background meant that the audience could leave it up to themselves where there were and be more engaged with the piece. It also gave room for white space which meant that the red of the string.
The director, Evans stated in her blog that she tried a variety of different backgrounds including Carpet and Knitting but she found that the material was the best as “it was lighter so the puppets stood out and it had no pattern so gave the illusion of infinite space, which is what I was hoping for.” (Evans, 27th April 2009)
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CHARACTERS
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There are two characters in this short film. Lefty and Righty. The characters are genderless but it is shown through their sizes and their demeanour that there is a difference for genders. Neither of them have a pinpointed gender.
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Lefty is shown to be the smaller of the two characters and throughout the piece Lefty is shown to be more shy and timid than Righty.
Lefty is also the one who fixes the broken heart string by making a bow, we see his loneliness during the time when the character are apart. We feel more for Lefty as he is the one we feel the pain with in the mid-section of the film.
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INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
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The overall film shows references to shows such as morph through the character movement and the style of the film.
There are also references to films such as romantic comedies like Love Actually, The Proposal. These commonly follow the same outline, a clear example would be Remember Me up until the ending sequence of the film where the storyline follows the same route as described in the synopsis.
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References
Bradshaw, N. (2012) ‘Best of Herd’, British Film Institute. [Website]. 6th January 2012. Available at: http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/best-herd [Accessed: 18.1.13]
Evans, R. (2009) ‘Backgrounds’, Heartstrings.[Blog]. 27 April 2009. Available at: http://makingheartstrings.blogspot.co.uk/2009_03_10_archive.html [Accessed 18.1.13]
Evans, R. (2009) ‘Big, Beady Eyes’, Heartstrings.[Blog]. 7 April 2009. Available at: http://makingheartstrings.blogspot.co.uk/2009_03_10_archive.html [Accessed 18.1.13]
Evans, R. (2009) ‘Start at the beginning…’, Heartstrings.[Blog]. 10 March 2009. Available at: http://makingheartstrings.blogspot.co.uk/2009_03_10_archive.html [Accessed 18.1.13]
NorwichFilmFest. (2011) NFF2009: Best Student Film - Heartstrings by Rhiannon Evans. [Online Video] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWwnZs7_C_Q [Accessed: 18.1.13]
ZERO CASE STUDY 2
FILM TITLE: Zero
COUNTRY OF PRODUCTION: United Kingdom
DIRECTOR: Christopher Kezelos
YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 2010
SYNOPSIS: The story follows our hero Zero, born into a world of classes. He struggles to feel like he belongs anywhere. He meets a female Zero and they against the laws fall in love. He then is sent to prison for his crimes, she sees him, as se goes into labour. When she gives birth, the baby is born with the symbol of infinity. Then Zero realises that you can making something out of nothing.
FEATURES
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THE SHORT FILM AS A WHOLE
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PARTICULAR SHOTS AND SEQUENCES
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GENRE (type of film)
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The genre of the film is an animation and follows the narrative structure of a hero's journey.
| The film follows the genre of animation, using both stop motion and compositing throughout the film. |
SORYTELLING CODES AND CONVENTIONS
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The film follows the general codes of a character led story, in which we follow Zero.
Codes and Conventions of an animation used throughout the piece are the use of animated figures, and the ability to create and fantasy world. | The use of colour follows the idea of seperating Zero from the rest of the people within the film, this is done in many films such as Shindler's Film in which everyone is in black and white except for the young girl in red. This use of tells the audience that this person is different, it also tells the audience that this person is the one to follow. Particular instances of when codes are conventions of animation are used like when Zero wakes up from badly beaten and the way they show the female zero as an angel and bring a fantasy element to the piece that couldn't be created in the real world. The film could have been made as a live film, but the use of the codes and conventions of an animation lent itself to the film as it added to the element of taking it away from this world, it takes away that element of realism. With that gone it allows the audience to take in the idea easier. |
REPRESENTATIONS
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The main representation throughout the film is the use of the numbers which represent the different class systems present in real life. It follows the similar principles of the socio-economic scale.
The use of colour of costume on the characters also represents that Zero is different than the rest of the people and the use of different brown coloured threads gives the impression that he is lower than the pink of the other characters. | The first scene we see is of a fetus within the womb and we see it spinning changing numbers. The way it is filmed gives the representation of a slots machine and the number the character was given is just by chance. That the character has no choice in the rank they are born with. The next scene of the film we see the sequence of Zero's mother giving birth, when Zero is born a candle on the desk goes out. The candle is often a symbol of hope as can be seen in many religions such as Christianity. So the visual of the candle represents the idea that all hope for the child is gone. Another symbol used within the film is the butterfly which is used in the school scene. After we see Zero is hit with a stick by the teacher for something he hadn't done, the audience see a butterfly out of the window. The butterfly is behind a window and we see it free, this juxtaposed to Zero's containment in the classroom creates a stronger feeling within the audience. Another representation used is through the locations used. An example of this is when Zero is rejected from the job at the shop and he ends up sitting on a dark alleyway, in which the lighting is very dark and this is used to represent the mood and how Zero had felt. In juxtaposition the most vibrant sequence in the film is when Zero is with the Female Zero. In this sequence there is a shot of the clouds and a blue sky, this is used to represent the idea that the couple were in the clouds. Above the law, on top of the world. |
LIKELY AUDIENCES
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In my opinion, the film is aimed at all ages, mainly aiming at people who want informing from a film. I feel that the film is all about diversity and they have tried throughout the piece to use different techniques to keep all audiences interested.
| In particular I feel that teenagers are the primary audiences, through the use of loneliness and the idea of being bullied for being different. This is a very common feeling which are felt throughout teenage years. The piece tackles a clear and important message in a clean and easy way which helps people understand that everyone is equal and that "nothing can be truly something"(Kezelos, 2010). |
LOCATIONS
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Throughout the film there are many locations used, these include; Within the womb, Mother's bedrooms, School, Park, Diner Street, Alleyway, Park, Prison and outside the Court rooms.
Until the alleyway scene, the locations follow the expected journey of someone going through life. Being born, childhood, job. By using these locations, it gives the audience an insight to his life, snippets of the way he was brought up. | The first scene is within the womb, this location was needed as the representation explained in "representations" with the slot machine. It also shows the viewer that we would be following this baby throughout the story. The second scene again is shown as it is when the baby reaches the real world and when he is then rejected. Taken away from his mother. We then see Zero at school where he is bullied and picked on by both the students and the teacher. This gives the audience an insight to his life as a child. The chalkboard is showing that in lesson the teacher is telling him he is not allowed to have relationships. We then see the other students in the vibrant park and see what Zero could have had, if he had been born with a higher number. At the diner we see Zero face the hardest challenge, when he gets turned away from the job at the diner. This location is the darkest location we see after the birth scene and this is important as this is when Zero loses and then hides away. Zero reaches the complete bottom, this is shown in this location, but then the street starts to glitter and this follows the similar representation of the candle, of there being a light at the end of the tunnel. We then return to the park with Zero and Female Zero, we see the vibrancy of the world around them and it juxtaposes with the location shown beforehand. We then see our hero, in prison, dark, lonely and lost. This is to make the audience sympathize with Zero and to be on his side from now on. At the end we see the female Zero pregnant outside the court rooms and by having her at this location it gives the whole seen more emphasis of what will be the verdict and will justice be served for our hero and heroine. |
CHARACTERS
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In the piece there are two main characters and then a number of supporting character who are there as antagonists within the story.
| The main character within the piece is Zero, his behaviour in space and time within the film shows him to always be looking at the bright side of life. He always looks for the silver lining. Examples of this is when he stares at the butterfly in class with awing eyes, when the children hang him upside down from a tree and he just stares at the mother bird feeding the two babies and straight after being rejected for the diner job he gives some money to the homeless and injured zero. These examples and others within the film all together make the audience more empathetic towards Zero. Our main heroine is female Zero, again is shown with the same look as Zero of |
INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
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The overall film shows references to children's shows such as Morph and other animated children's shows.
It also shows inter textual reference to the world that we live in today, the activities the characters do mimic what we do throughout our lives. This makes the world seem familiar to the audience. | Throughout the film there are references to human objects such as money. Jobs such as working in a diner or being a cleaner. |
REFERENCES
Kezelos, C. (2010) Zero (2010): IMDB. [Online] available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549172/ [Accessed 25.1.13].
RESEARCH PRESENTATION
Kezelos, C. (2010) Zero (2010): IMDB. [Online] available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549172/ [Accessed 25.1.13].
RESEARCH PRESENTATION
We have been set a task to find 5/ 6 short films which are connected in some form or another. I have been looking at different documentaries and these are some that I came across and felt were really inspiring.
For each of the films I will give a quick explanation of the story and some of the filming techniques used within the films. As a short analysis. I will then do a thorough analysis on the ones that I feel link with my quote.
When we first got set this task I thought that I would choose the five films around a quote that I hold close which is "If you don't lend a hand when a hand needs lending, Who will?" from the song Who Will? in the animated film An American Tail: Monster of the Night.
I felt that this quote has a really strong message and that it would be good as it would bring my own personal morals and my love of films together in one nice piece. I started looking up short films on youtube and seeing what I can find.
A list of all the films I have watched so far:
The first of the films that I looked at is Apricot. (Below is the film)
Apricot. Directed by Ben Briand. Made in 2009.
In the film we see a couple at a table discussing school, past lovers at schools and then goes onto there first love. The man throughout the conversation asks all the questions and shies away when asked about himself. She starts describing her first love, and we see the memories on screen. It was filmed with a warm hue and in a "rose tinted glasses way". Throughout the piece she becomes more and more annoyed with this stranger asking her these outlandish questions until he says very heavily "I can't remember". She realises that he was that boy, the first kiss, her first love. The film ends on her kissing him again, in representation of her realising who he was.
Silence. Directed by Faizal Yahya. Made in 2009. (Film Shown Above)
I watched this film as the title intrigued me. When I begun watching the film, the way that the film maker used the technique of beginning and ending the film at the same position and I felt that this worked well in the film, I also felt that the use of narrative throughout the piece helped bring the audience along in a more attentive way. As we follow the story of the young girl who is mute, we follow what she writes in her diary. This works well as it means that we can hear her inside thought on the story. We then have the issue of the boy, who he gets her friend to talk to over the phone. He sends her away for lying and this makes her feel depressed, time and time again being pushed away. She passes her journal to him and leaves. This then changes the narrative as we are now in the shoes of him, as she looks for her, from reading her journal he found that she wanted to commit suicide. After this we see that the boy is then mute and writes his life in the journal and he is speaking with her as a ghost. He then sees how she was treated and understands her completely.
When I watched the film I felt that I really connected to the film, although this was heightened in my personal life as I could understand how she felt as until I was 8 I was mute. The feeling of not being able to connect to the world, the bullying and the way it affects you, your personality and confidence. The film showed this well and it explained the frustration through the filming, the angle were mainly constrained, often cutting off the edges, this gives the idea of her feeling closed off and away from society. The use of a shallow depth of field also separates her from the world around her.
The Broken. Directed by Michael Fernandez. Made in 2011.
I have stumbled across this short film before, and although my views have brought me to become an atheist I believe that the film does handle these issues that females face quite well. It shows snippets into five girls lives and the issues they have to face, one who deals with her appearance in terms of spots and how she has to hide it with the use of make up, then she covers her self harming wearing bracelets. Hiding her true self from the whole world. The second of the girls is then seen touching her hips and then throwing up which instantly covers the issue of weight which is very common in teenage girls she sits for a while and it just lets the audience go into her mind space. The third girl is then seen partying and she isn't really enjoying the party, she just feels like she doesn't belong there. The fourth girl is then seeing a grave, she then holds an army uniform in her arms, symbolizing loss of a loved one. The last of the girls is seen posing with a t-shirt under her top, she then takes it out and it is visible she is slightly pregnant, with the way she holds herself and the emotions in her face.
The girl who is writing her letter to god is shown at sunset or sunrise and the lighting is like an ac of god, whereas all of the girls have quite gritty and dark lighting and this is to show the difference and how you can feel if you believe in god even if life doesn't go your way.
Gone Goodbye. Directed by Keith Rogers. Made in 2009.
The film is shot very simply and this works with the strength of the soundtrack and the letter that the man is sending his wife. All of the footage in the film is shown in slow motion almost and in a dreamlike manner. This allows the audience to think and take their time with the footage. The colours throughout his walk are very dreary and dark and this contrasts to the final sequence in which we see the actor interact with a vibrant yellow balloon. This is used to represent his emotions for his wife, but then at the end it pops and he loses them and that happens once he has finished writing his letter to her.
Validation. Directed by Kurt Kuenne. Made in 2007.
A full indepth analysis of this film can be found under the blog entry "VALIDATION CASE STUDY 4"
The film follows a man who always smiles and makes people happy. This follows my first quote "If you don't lend a hand, when a hand needs lending. Who will?" and it conveys the message of how one simple thing can change a lot across the world. In the film he meets a woman who refuses to smile. He then loses all joy, this then effects everyone he works with and he loses his job. By not doing that one thing and lending a hand to them people he lost everything. After a passage of time we see him at universal studios, taking pictures and he begins to become joyful again, getting sincere smiles. He then helps people in the street feel better about themselves, one of them is an old lady in a wheelchair. We later find out that she was the mother of the girl who wouldn't smile, and the woman explains she never smiled as her mother had forgotten how. Her mother had been so ill, both of them stopped smiling. She then started smiling, all because of him helping someone feel better about themselves.
The whole of the film was shot in black and white film and this gives an age to the film, even though it was made in 2007, when colour and digital film was readily available. This meant that colour was an important factor for Kuene and he wanted it to be black and white to give a feel to the piece. It also sets the time period, as well as the intertextual reference to "It's a wonderful life".
For each of the films I will give a quick explanation of the story and some of the filming techniques used within the films. As a short analysis. I will then do a thorough analysis on the ones that I feel link with my quote.
When we first got set this task I thought that I would choose the five films around a quote that I hold close which is "If you don't lend a hand when a hand needs lending, Who will?" from the song Who Will? in the animated film An American Tail: Monster of the Night.
I felt that this quote has a really strong message and that it would be good as it would bring my own personal morals and my love of films together in one nice piece. I started looking up short films on youtube and seeing what I can find.
A list of all the films I have watched so far:
- Apricot, directed by Ben Briand
- Silence, Directed by Faizal Yahya
- The Broken, Directed by Michael Fernandez
- Gone Goodbye, Directed by Keith Rogers
- Validation, Directed by Kurt Kuene
- The Desk, Directed by Albert Gonzalez
- The Imaginary Girl, Directed by Richard Porter
- Life, Directed by Vignesh Venugopal
- The Long Distance Relationship by Jared Lee
The first of the films that I looked at is Apricot. (Below is the film)
Apricot. Directed by Ben Briand. Made in 2009.
In the film we see a couple at a table discussing school, past lovers at schools and then goes onto there first love. The man throughout the conversation asks all the questions and shies away when asked about himself. She starts describing her first love, and we see the memories on screen. It was filmed with a warm hue and in a "rose tinted glasses way". Throughout the piece she becomes more and more annoyed with this stranger asking her these outlandish questions until he says very heavily "I can't remember". She realises that he was that boy, the first kiss, her first love. The film ends on her kissing him again, in representation of her realising who he was.
Silence. Directed by Faizal Yahya. Made in 2009. (Film Shown Above)
I watched this film as the title intrigued me. When I begun watching the film, the way that the film maker used the technique of beginning and ending the film at the same position and I felt that this worked well in the film, I also felt that the use of narrative throughout the piece helped bring the audience along in a more attentive way. As we follow the story of the young girl who is mute, we follow what she writes in her diary. This works well as it means that we can hear her inside thought on the story. We then have the issue of the boy, who he gets her friend to talk to over the phone. He sends her away for lying and this makes her feel depressed, time and time again being pushed away. She passes her journal to him and leaves. This then changes the narrative as we are now in the shoes of him, as she looks for her, from reading her journal he found that she wanted to commit suicide. After this we see that the boy is then mute and writes his life in the journal and he is speaking with her as a ghost. He then sees how she was treated and understands her completely.
When I watched the film I felt that I really connected to the film, although this was heightened in my personal life as I could understand how she felt as until I was 8 I was mute. The feeling of not being able to connect to the world, the bullying and the way it affects you, your personality and confidence. The film showed this well and it explained the frustration through the filming, the angle were mainly constrained, often cutting off the edges, this gives the idea of her feeling closed off and away from society. The use of a shallow depth of field also separates her from the world around her.
The Broken. Directed by Michael Fernandez. Made in 2011.
I have stumbled across this short film before, and although my views have brought me to become an atheist I believe that the film does handle these issues that females face quite well. It shows snippets into five girls lives and the issues they have to face, one who deals with her appearance in terms of spots and how she has to hide it with the use of make up, then she covers her self harming wearing bracelets. Hiding her true self from the whole world. The second of the girls is then seen touching her hips and then throwing up which instantly covers the issue of weight which is very common in teenage girls she sits for a while and it just lets the audience go into her mind space. The third girl is then seen partying and she isn't really enjoying the party, she just feels like she doesn't belong there. The fourth girl is then seeing a grave, she then holds an army uniform in her arms, symbolizing loss of a loved one. The last of the girls is seen posing with a t-shirt under her top, she then takes it out and it is visible she is slightly pregnant, with the way she holds herself and the emotions in her face.
The girl who is writing her letter to god is shown at sunset or sunrise and the lighting is like an ac of god, whereas all of the girls have quite gritty and dark lighting and this is to show the difference and how you can feel if you believe in god even if life doesn't go your way.
Gone Goodbye. Directed by Keith Rogers. Made in 2009.
The film is shot very simply and this works with the strength of the soundtrack and the letter that the man is sending his wife. All of the footage in the film is shown in slow motion almost and in a dreamlike manner. This allows the audience to think and take their time with the footage. The colours throughout his walk are very dreary and dark and this contrasts to the final sequence in which we see the actor interact with a vibrant yellow balloon. This is used to represent his emotions for his wife, but then at the end it pops and he loses them and that happens once he has finished writing his letter to her.
Validation. Directed by Kurt Kuenne. Made in 2007.
A full indepth analysis of this film can be found under the blog entry "VALIDATION CASE STUDY 4"
The film follows a man who always smiles and makes people happy. This follows my first quote "If you don't lend a hand, when a hand needs lending. Who will?" and it conveys the message of how one simple thing can change a lot across the world. In the film he meets a woman who refuses to smile. He then loses all joy, this then effects everyone he works with and he loses his job. By not doing that one thing and lending a hand to them people he lost everything. After a passage of time we see him at universal studios, taking pictures and he begins to become joyful again, getting sincere smiles. He then helps people in the street feel better about themselves, one of them is an old lady in a wheelchair. We later find out that she was the mother of the girl who wouldn't smile, and the woman explains she never smiled as her mother had forgotten how. Her mother had been so ill, both of them stopped smiling. She then started smiling, all because of him helping someone feel better about themselves.
The whole of the film was shot in black and white film and this gives an age to the film, even though it was made in 2007, when colour and digital film was readily available. This meant that colour was an important factor for Kuene and he wanted it to be black and white to give a feel to the piece. It also sets the time period, as well as the intertextual reference to "It's a wonderful life".
The Desk. Directed by Albert Gonzalez. Made in 2011.
The film follows a boy who seems to be isolated from his peers, who is looking for a friend. He starts reaching out for friends by writing on a table. When there is a reply on the table, the whole of the film uplifts, we see that he as a character grows. This happens until he sees that the writing appears by magic, the way this is done and the music used creates the idea of a ghost being there. The class then immediately after leave the room and falls down into being isolated, lost again. Until a girl who has the same name as the ghost comes into class and hands him a note which uses the same calligraphy which says "do I know you?" which leads back to the ghost? It ends on this as a cliffhanger. and it allows the audience to make up their own mind on whether he is a reincarnation or whether something else had happened.
The Imaginary Girl. Directed by Richard Porter. Made in 2007.
The film follows a young girl who lives in her own world, playing with her toys she is completely isolated. She enjoys her time with the toys, whereas her mother thinks she is too old to be playing with toys and forces her to spend time with others. Her father is on her side and says she is allowed to play with toys. She tries but is always shut out by the others boys. Her mother finds her toys and throws them in the bin and throws her out once again. This time, the boys tell her to go away but she starts to play, she shoots the boys with her hands and kills them. She then goes back to her mum and tells her of the success of winning the game. Her mother than yells at her and we see the boys are still alive. It ends on this cliffhanger as it allows the viewer to make up their own mind on how that is possible and what happened.
Film making techniques include the use of colour, when she was in her room, the colours were the most vibrant and the lighting outside thehouse was dark, this was done as it reflected her feeling of how she feels and the mood.
Life. Directed by Vignesh Venugopal
The film is around the idea of life and how we all rush through life without thinking. The entire of the film is shot from a bird's eye angle and I think that this gives the audience a kind of god like feel on the story, watching over the people within the film.
The camera pans across the puddle as the people try to cross and we see how differently each of the people deal with the issue of crossing a puddle, the first two people pull up their trousers and walk across the puddle. Then the last boy goes and picks up some rocks and then is able to cross with dry feet. Spending that time allowed the boy to cross the puddle without getting wet. This gives the meaning of take your time and think about what you are going to do, don't just jump into it. It also looks at the simplicity of life and how much we complicate it.
The Long Distance Relationship. Directed by Jared Lee
This film is all about relationships and follows one. Throughout the film we see the couple talk to each other through the medium of online web chat. We see them over a period of time. This establishes a link between the audience and the couple as it allows the audience to feel empathetic for the couple. The use of common life routine activities again adds to the personalisation of the film. This makes the ending harder to take than expected. The use of the church leas the audience to believe the idea of a wedding and the worm eye shot of the male makes him seem quite powerful until we realise through the scene from the voice over that she has died and these were recorded images which he was playing over in reminiscence of her. We then see why she died and how he deals with the grief.
The camera in the film is quite shallow and intimate and the colour are very strong and warm, through these effects it all leads to the audience feeling closer to the characters. The bit where it reveals she died it is rose tinted and this leads with the metaphor of looking back on life with rose tinted glasses.
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