Family dinner
I like the short film ‘Family Dinner’ because it has unique
shot types, narrative etc., making it interesting to watch. Instead of being still
all the time, the camera is moved in an arc around the table, briefly zooming
in on each conversation before quickly moving away. This gives a dizzying effect
on the viewer, as the camera is never still – especially when the daughter gets
in trouble, as instead of continuing its circular motion around the table it
quickly moves back and forth between each speaker. The short film is also shot
in one take instead of using cuts to edit it together. This makes it more
entertaining to watch and captures the attention of the viewer better than if
the camera was still, or had cuts.
The narrative in this film was interesting as although the
family were sitting together at the table, everyone was having different conversations.
As the camera moved from one conversation to another, the previous conversation
faded out so it can no longer be heard. This creates a confused effect, as it
makes it hard to follow what’s happening – a good representation of a family
being separate from each other’s lives.
The mise-en-scene of the film shows us its set in a kitchen
in a family home. The music playing is very light-hearted, to match the tone of
the conversations taking place, except for when the daughter is in trouble, as
then the music completely stops to focus the viewers’ attention on what’s
happening. The costumes being worn are regular clothes to match the age of the
person wearing them, e.g. one of the teenagers are wearing a hoodie, whilst the
grandfather is wearing a jumper with glasses. The lighting used is quite bright,
and stays that way, to match create the light-hearted tone.
Lighter
https://www.depict.org/2017/lighter/?category_request=2017‘Lighter’ was interesting to watch because the narrative included was very different, as it was a voice over, and the voices were echoed to reflect this. The homeless man was remembering the day before when everyone refused to help him, and the voice over gradually changed from being only a few voices to lots of voices shouting at once. This made it very overwhelming and uncomfortable to listen to, until the voice over is suddenly cut off and replaced with ambient sound. This sets an eerie, uncomfortable tone for the rest of the film.
At the beginning of the film, there is a long shot of the man
walking while the voice over plays. As the shot stays like this for several seconds,
it creates ambiguity around the man as we can’t see his face right away. The
camera slowly zooms into a medium shot, until the man crouches down and we can
no longer see him. The camera moves very quickly back around at the same time
as the voice over cuts off, which makes it seem even more abrupt and confusing.
The camera moves around from the homeless man to other people, before being interrupted
with cuts of lighters and cigarettes. The camera goes out of focus and hazy as
this happens, creating a disorientating effect and makes it harder to
understand what’s happening.
The film is set on a street at night (which is reflected by
the ambient sound), so the only lighting is motivated lighting from
streetlights. The clothes the man is wearing is completely black, which helps
create a tense atmosphere along with the lack of lighting. As the film
progresses, the ambient sounds are replaced by sirens and static sounds which
slowly get louder. This creates a creepy, uneasy atmosphere which makes the
viewer feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable.
Ideas are illegal
https://www.depict.org/2017/ideas-are-illegal/?category_request=2017
Ideas are illegal
https://www.depict.org/2017/ideas-are-illegal/?category_request=2017
The short film 'Ideas are illegal' is different to the others as it's animated, and has no form of narrative. Instead, throughout the film, there are video gaming sounds to mark what's happening, for example when the lightbulb lights up there is a ping, followed by a brief silence as the rest of the workers turn to look. This makes the viewer realise that he's done something wrong and creates tension.
The editing in this film captures the viewers' attention as the shots are interrupted by images of rivers, etc. As this happens, it slowly zooms in on the worker's face so the viewer knows they're seeing his thoughts. The images slowly appear faster until the lightbulb lights up, so the audience knows he has had an idea. There is also a close up of the workers face as he starts running, so the audience can see the fear in his expression, before switching to a close up of the hand chasing him. This creates a threatening atmosphere, as the close up makes the hand seem bigger and dangerous. The images in his mind are repeated as they were at the beginning, until they show the lightbulb shattering, symbolising his safety and the extinguish of his idea.
The film is set in a factory, and the lighting is very dark, to give a threatening, uncomfortable atmosphere, especially when the danger arrives. While the hand is chasing the worker, the video gaming sounds become louder, giving the film a video game impression. There is no colour as it's all in black and white, apart from the illuminated lightbulb, which is broken by the end of the film. The film then fades completely to black. There are no costumes as the film is animated, but the workers are wearing dark suits which fit with the dystopian theme.
