What is a short film?
Short films usually centre on everyday situations, giving
the audience a limited insight into a character’s life. Usually short films
have a limited or incomplete narrative, so there is a greater focus on
characters and lifestyles than plot. These “slice of life” often focus on
settings that represent extreme lifestyles, hidden from
the audience’s daily life.
What is your reaction to the short films?
Generally these short films intend to almost shock their
audience with the confusing half formed narratives and unusual settings. In the
short film “Wasp” by Andrea Arnold, the audience is conflicted because despite
having some rapport with the protagonist, the treatment of her children and the
danger she poses causes them to question whether the children should be placed
in care. Likewise, one is unsure as how to react to the characters in the short
film “Gasman” by Lynne Ramsay. The unanswered questions within the narrative
gives an uneasy feeling to the situation shown and the audience is left
wondering which of the characters to sympathise with.
Which shots did you think were effective?
I found the handheld shots in “Wasp” to be highly effective
at integrating the viewer into the character’s world and situation. This
increases the likelihood of characters gaining sympathy or empathy from the
audience as they gain a more intimate view/ experience of the situations shown.
An over the shoulder shot framing the protagonist’s face next to the window as she
released the wasp from first implies the connection between the two, and
presents the idea that the wasp may be a metaphor for how dangerous the protagonist’s
actions will become for her children later on in the short film. Close up and
medium shots have been effectively used by Arnold to focus the audience’s
attention onto the children’s faces, emphasising the interpretation of them as
naive and impressionable as they witness their mother’s somewhat questionable
actions.
Lynne Ramsay effectively employs a different approach of
using multiple closer up shots of the character’s actions; thus giving the same
effect of intimacy and audience involvement as the handheld shots in “Wasp”. One
handheld shot is used by Ramsay during the party scene, giving the audience a
sense of the uneasy atmosphere and foreboding the girl’s realisation of
reality’s imperfections. An over the shoulder shot of the little girl looking
back at the other family gives the audience an impression that the character is
reflecting on the change she experiences during the film, as we can see where her
vision is directed in the shot. Some close up shots and the fact that she is
off centre in the over the shoulder shot also imply the character’s realisation
that the world doesn’t revolve around her, reflecting her innocence being
removed by the newfound complexities of her life. I found one particular medium
shot during the party scene of the film especially effective, as the other girl
was framed by the protagonist’s and Santa’s arms as they danced. This gave me
the impression of reality being interjected in between the protagonist and her
previous life of fantasy, symbolised by Father Christmas.
How is the UK represented in these short films?
“Gasman” has a similar portrayal of a poor area, using
strong local accents throughout the film, giving the audience a distinct sense
of the area the film is set in. Many of the shots contain dead space,
suggesting that the particular area shown is almost deserted or highly undesirable to
live in. The fact that the “other woman” in the short film asks for money from
the father who doesn’t have enough, also suggests that the area is very poor,
and may be the home to people with similar financial troubles to the characters
in Andrea Arnold’s short film “Wasp”.
What do the directors have to say about
childhood?
Both directors Lynne Ramsay and Andrea Arnold present
childhood as being full of innocence and hope for the world which is almost
taken from the characters in their short films as they either make realisations
on life’s imperfections or are exposed to extreme situations of poverty and
desperation. The directors may have used their own experiences of learning the
world isn’t the idyllic place they once thought when creating these short
films.
Ramsay’s work tends to focus on “grief, guilt and death”
which is often portrayed through her use of minimum dialogue and maximum
obscurity, thus creating an eerie sense of irresolvability, complemented by the
incomplete narrative form of short films.
Arnold was clearly inspired by her own early life when creating
“Wasp”. Arnold’s mother singlehandedly brought up her four children from the
early age of sixteen, making her the inspiration for the film’s
protagonist. Andrea has claimed “I grew
up in a working class family, so I guess you could say I write from what I
know”.
How is mise-en-scene used effectively
to create meaning?
The mise en scene within “Wasp” effectively implied desperation
through the protagonist’s revealing clothing when she goes on the date. This
represents how some working class women sexualise themselves in an attempt to
find someone to give them a better standard of life. The council estate setting
with sparsely decorated rooms emphasises the protagonist’s lack of money and
difficult situation. This adds to the sense the audience has of her desperation
to give her children a better life when she attempts dating again, potentially
with the hope of finding a breadwinner for her family. Small elements such as
the sticker reading “I want to be Barbie, the b**** has everything” emphasises
the dream within a majority of the UK’s working class communities for a better
quality of life, focusing on materialistic aspects that they may not have
experienced. The Wasp may be symbolic of the protagonist’s lack of use and
potential danger onto her children. The fact that the Wasp is trapped within
the council flat suggests the protagonist’s desire for freedom from the
constraints and commitments that were placed upon her from an early age through
pregnancy.
In Lynne Ramsay’s “Gasman,” mise en scene has been used to
portray a harsh and reality dominated setting which emphasises the protagonist’s
change from childhood innocence to confusion as she is taken from her naivety
by the information that her father has another family. The large amounts of
dead space and poor decorations of the hall the party is set in shows how only
people filled with the enthusiasm of a child could be excited to go there, as
the protagonist was at the beginning of the film. The fact that her older
brother has lost this enthusiasm suggests that he made the same realisations as
his sister the previous year. The two girls are shown to have the same
haircuts, with different coloured headbands and styles of dresses. These
similarities with the use of different colours and styles of costume imply how
the children are related, but have opposite lives and personalities. Shots portraying Father Christmas with a pint
of beer and without his beard on reflect the change that the young protagonist’s
view of the world undergoes once she is harshly exposed to reality.
Bibliography
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Ramsay
- http://shortfilmr.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/gas-man.html
- http://shortfilmsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/gasman.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Arnold
- https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/oct/31/andrea-arnold-wuthering-heights-interview
- https://misshazeyeyed.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/film-analysis-andrea-arnolds-working-class-aesthetic/
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