Representation

Short Film: Comparative analysis

What is a short film?

Explain in your own words what the codes and conventions of a short film are.  How ould you explain a short film to someone.  Is it a ‘slice of life’,a vignette, or an opportunity to offer a window into another world.  Discuss the narrative and the restrictions that come with a timebounded project. 

What is your reaction to the short films?

Tell me your opinion and provide reasons. What is happening in the narrative wand what is your reaction? For instance, should the children in ‘Wasp‘ being taken in to care?

Which shots did you think were effective?

Discuss use of the camera. For example, in ‘Wasp’ there are a lot of hand-held shots.  Ramsay’s short film is a lot more formulaic and cinematic although she can also break the rules or add editing effects to create meaning.  Pick out specific shots and use screenshots to identify these.

How is the UK represented in these short films?

Discuss the variety of representations of place, character, gender, class.  For example, the mother in ‘Wasp’ is called a ‘baby factory’ and is a divisive character even in her own community. How do you respond to this representation?  Are these representations a fair reflection of life in the UK.  Headlines like ‘Breadline Britain’ and ‘Benefits Britain’ produce reactions amongst audiences. Does film allow for a more nuanced response to these representations and stereotypes of the UK?

What do the directors have to say about childhood?

What insight have these directors provided into the lives of children in the UK.  You could refer to some wider reading and watching of other work by these two directors.

Discuss the careers and work of Andrea Arnold and Lynne Ramsay. Find out more about their lives and work and use this information to comment on the short films. 

How is mise-en-scene used effectively to create meaning?

Some people say that film cannot do metaphor but in short films you often have to show rather than tell as time is short.  In planning mise-en-scene your short film will be much richer.  Analyse how these directors use mise-en-scen in these short films. For example, how is the wasp used as a metaphor? How is dialect and accent used in the films ? What is left unsaid in the films?  What dangers are visually present in the film ‘Wasp’?  What strong images remain with you from the film ‘Gasman”? 

Identify your Research

Include a bibliography to evidence your research. Try to go beyond the obvious sources such as Wikipedia. Use our magazines in the library and the archive editions on the web. The librarian will have details of passwords to access these.

·      Sight and Sound

·      Media Magazine

Use images to illustrate your work. 

Submit this as a draft as your Summer term assessment. It will be marked and you will gain verbal feedback with an assessment feedback sheet. 

You can then re-draft and add to your web-log as evidence of research into media products.

Deadline 30^th June 2016

Baggage

Now that you have researched the masters of the short film it is time to do it yourself.

In English Literature lectures  you may have read about Willy Loman in  'Death of a Salesman.' The suitcase is metaphor for the burden of memory and regret that he carries around with him. 

In Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited (2007) the characters are jettisoning metaphorical baggage as their search progresses. 11 Louis Vuitton bags are a ridiculous encumbrance for the journey they are undertaking. It looks wonderful and Anderson's unique, whimsical style slowly wins the viewer over. Look out for his films as he is one of the few director's of our time which we could term an 'auteur'.

In the Coen Brothers' 'Fargo' (1996) money is buried in a suitcase and it drives the narrative

A 'Great Whatsit?' is where the contents of a suitcase are mystically powerful. This has become a regular icon of intertextuality as films and television refrence this famous shot.

Kiss me Deadly (1955) is about nuclear paranoia and whatever is in the suitcase, all we know is that it is hot and it glows

Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) made reference to many films and part of the fun is seeing where Tarantino alludes to popular culture and previous films. Since then this shot has almost become comedic in its use. It has even been used on The Simpsons.

Here is an analysis of the significance of the suitcase in the film.

You have been challenged by Tamworth TV to come up with a one minute drama.

Mind map ideas

What does the suitcase represent?

What is the suitcase a metaphor for?

• Emotional baggage
• Transience
• Rootlessness
• Unsettled nature
• Hidden secrets
• Paranoia

Think of a story where the suitcase is the key to the narrative.

Plan it out with your group.

• Storyboard
• 
  
• Script
•  
• Film 
•  
• Edit

Lynne Ramsay Short Film 'Gasman'

 'Gasman'

Lynne Ramsay is one of our foremost directors and has a very definite style to her films.  I remember seeing her film 'Ratcatcher' for the first time and the impact that it had on me still has resonance. The shots seem to linger and what is in the frame tells the story rather than the script. In fact the broad Glaswegian accents may be quite impenetrable for some audiences but the visual language is more powerful as the audience is left to wonder at the imagery created which is full of meaning.

From 'Ratcatcher' this shot uses focus to linger on the detail and the framing foregrounds the tragedy in a more poetic way than a more graphic representation may.

Here is a clip form her feature film 'Ratcatcher'

From 'Gasman' 

 From 'We Need to talk about Kevin'

 Two shots from 'Gasman' where the detail is focused on and we don't see the whole frame.

Ramsay seems able to make the ordinary exquisitely beautiful through lighting and framing establishing the possibilities of film offering more than a representation of reality. Her films hint at what is often unsaid and the magical realms of the imagination.  We get to see where the minds of her characters go. For instance she unlocks the sense of a quietly borne burden of guilt weighing heavy on a young boys mind. The viewer is left to meditate on this in a series of images which seem to burn an imprint on the viewer's retina in this starkly beautiful close ups which say so much without words.

This analysis of the 'poetic details' in Ramsay's films will help your analysis of the short film 'Gasman'

Wider reading - Sight and Sound magazine

Discover the filmography and reda about their critical reception

Andrea Arnold Short Film 'Wasp'

WASP on Vimeo or click play for you-Tube

A starting point for A2 coursework is to research existing media texts to look for ideas and inspiration.

Andrea Arnold is a British director who won an OSCAR for her short film, 'Wasp'.

We watched and analysed the film in terms of;

Cinematography
Movement of the camera is constant giving the image a shaky feel. The effect is to provide a realist feel as if this is a fly on the wall documentary or cinema verite.  The lighting and set pieces in locations such as the pub and the estate provide a sense of realism which allows us to place ourselves in the action. Although a short film, it took us to this place due to its kinetic energy and the ability to bring the narrative to life.  There were a number of point of view shots from the child's perspective.

Acting styles
We discussed the ethics of using child actors and how a script would have been relevant but not of absolute importance. Legendary British directors such as Mike Leigh and Ken Loach have developed a very different style of film-making and acting to the conventional Hollywood film led by a script where the actor learns kines and steps up to the mark when necessary.  These British directors ask more from the actors in a collaborative approach where there is much improvisation. On a film like Vera Drake the family would not know that the mother is an abortionist until the police ring on the bell and when they find out their shock is real and their responses improvised. This is a risky method of film-making but can arguably lead to more raw and authentic performances.

Metaphor
Some critics would say that film cannot do metaphor but there are a number of symbolic signifiers in this short film. The vulnerability of the children is highlighted by signifiers of danger passing into shot as part of the mise-en-scene.  A bull terrier passes behind them, they walk across the motorway and play in a car park with the sound of traffic highlighted. Shots of a dolly in a pram are quick and sinister and lead us to think about the baby being wheeled around the car park like a plaything.  Then the threat of the Wasp itself continues this theme.

The Wasp
We discussed what the Wasp stands for and came up with differing ideas. It may be that the lead character is like a Wasp.  Wasps are good for nothing and their worth is questionable, when challenged and provoked they lash out and sting unconcerned about the consequences.  IN some ways we felt the character of the mother, Zoe, was waspish and selfish.  When Zoe lets the Wasp out of the window we felt this connection being made.

Messages
What does this film tell us about Child poverty? British society? Representation  of gender or class ?  Childhood ? Responsibility?  Parenting?

Narrative
We looked at two theorists and tried to apply their ideas.
Todorov's theory of equilibrium and Levi-Strauss' theory of binary oppositions


Wider reading about how the BBC partly funded the films of Andrea Arnold

Use Sight and Sound magazine to find out more about the filmography of Arnold.  She has recently released a new film set in America.

Look out for her amazing film 'Fish Tank' which is one of my top ten favourites of all time.