The first film that I have chosen to look at is Wasp (Andrea Arnold 2003) because of its social realist elements, this linking to the films I have studied, and an element I would like to incorporate into my own work.

Narrative

In terms of the narrative of this film it follows a linear, journey narrative as there are no flash-forwards or flash-backs, and there is no manipulation of the order of the sequence of the film, it just follows the journey of this family. This definitely enhances the social realist elements of the film as it is just going through time in a natural and realistic way, nothing fancy or unusual distracting from the characters or story line, simply regular people living their lives. I would say that this film does follow the three act structure, the setup being the beginning when they are all walking to the woman’s house, as you really get a feeling for the family, the audience instantly aligning with them whether its through sympathy or empathy. I would argue that the conflict is when Dave comes in and asks Zoe to go out with her as this leads to the downfall of the characters before the resolution. Finally the resolution is when Dave buys the girls chips and drives them home. Despite the ending not being entirely conclusive, the audience still gets the feeling that things are looking up for the family. In terms of theory all of this links to Propp really as he expanded on the classic three act structure which is seen in Wasp. Because this is a short film of only 25 minutes, all of the issues and narrative elements are on a much smaller scale as if they were not, it would be too complicated and would take far to long for the story to be resolved. This is key to the narrative of all short films, it cant be too complicated or it wont work. 

Cinematography

Firstly the camera work of this film is very interesting and very effective, the first scene being a prime example of this camera work. All of the shots in this scene are tracking shots following them to a destination that is not yet known to the audience. They are very clearly handheld shots as there is an obvious and purposeful shake to the camera, subconsciously establishing the shaky situation to the audience almost instantly. Its very similar to the sort of hand held shots used in horror films to build tension. I couldn’t even start to list the camera angles used as they really don’t go by the book. There are some clear canted angle shots, low shots and close up shots but it is hard to tell if that is just a result of the hand held tracking shots or a purposeful decision made by the director. There are straight cuts to each of the girls, introducing them to the audience, meanwhile the shaky hand held camera work continues. There is the occasional close up shot of their feet walking along, emphasizing the fact that they are going somewhere and even indicating a journey narrative for the rest of the film. These things together make the film very poignant and help it hold a great amount of emotion right from the very start.

Throughout the film there are lots of little montages of establishing shots showing the surrounding neighborhood, the council houses and that the area is quite run down. This helps the audience see the economic situation of the characters in the film. These montages also give the film a very nostalgic feeling as well as a feeling of normality and that nothing out of the ordinary is happening, its just an ordinary day with ordinary people. There are also montages of shot-reverse-shots and POV shots in which there is a close up shot of a characters face and then a straight cut to the thing that they are looking at. This is very helpful when establishing the surroundings and getting to know the characters as you feel close to them through the close up shots as well as seeing their personal items in their houses. You really get a sense of the little things in their lives along with every little movement on their face. Its very raw and effective, especially with conveying the social realist elements.

This goes along with the sparse dialogue to make a very emotional and striking film because the audience has lots of time to just think and absorb what they’re seeing. When the characters do speak its a very natural dialogue, there has been no build up because of the lack of speaking, its just people speaking when they have something to say, making it very realistic. There are no grand monologues or speeches and what is being said isn’t polished or an idealised version of what it is, its just real. This is probably helped by the fact that the characters only really speak when they’re talking to each other or asking a question for example, none of it seems to be rehearsed or even like it is acting. This is definitely a combination of the performance given by the actors (who did an amazing job) and the work of the screenplay writer, the way they crafted the script, most likely with lots of stage directions, being very moving.

Sound

Throughout the whole film there is no musical score or non-diegetic sound, just the sound of the surroundings and some asynchronous sounds to add to the realist feeling of the film. This is incredibly effective in making the film relatable to everyone in the audience as there is nothing separating the film from real life, everything about it is true to the situation, no CGI or elaborate special effects, just people living their lives. The lack of any sort of musical score also means that in silent moments (obviously as there is not always dialogue) you can really hear the ambient sounds of the surroundings which puts the viewer on edge, especially when it comes to the situation the children are in. Any small rustle or voice could mean approaching danger for the children and this makes the audience align with them more as they imagine themselves or their children in that scary and vulnerable situation.

Meaning and Effect

This film has so much meaning to it, not all of it is completely obvious however, but I would say the main meaning is to not judge a book by its cover. This seems cheesy but definitely fits because at the beginning the audience gets a terrible impression of Zoe, the fact that she drags her children along to watch her have a fight with another fully grown adult being the worst part. You are instantly unsure about the welfare of the children as that is just human nature. Over the course of the film you gradually see that she isn’t so bad and that she really does feel for, and care for her children, she simply doesn’t have the means to look after them properly. We see this level of care when she brings her children along to the pub with her, the fact she made them wait outside a rough pub at night not being the point, the point being that she still did bring them with her, rather than just leaving them unsupervised at home. We see this level of care once again when she hears her children screaming. She instantly jumps up and runs to help them, despite the situation she is in which is very telling. The same notion of not judging a book by its cover goes for Dave as well. At first you are worried he is going to take advantage of Zoe because of his laddish attitude when they first talk through the car window, and then again when he asks her to buy him a drink. Alarm bells are definitely ringing but even he proves that he isn’t that bad after all as in the end he buys all the girls chips and drives them home. The fact that you don’t know what happens after this is positive in many ways, shows that things are looking up for them.

How Will This Influence My Work?

This film was very inspirational for me as I already really want to incorporate themes of social realism and this is almost exactly the same theme and feeling I want to go for. This also really helped me understand how the narrative would work for a short film and that it really can’t be too complicated or it just won’t work. In saying that I also learnt that being simple doesn’t necessarily mean it has to lack emotion or an alignment with the characters, it can still be incredibly gripping and moving. I now also understand that stage directions and performance must be very important, even more so in a short film because you need to make it count as much as possible, you need it to pack in that emotion. I feel that in order for something to have an impact there has to be moments of pause and calm in which there is no speaking, so the audience has time to think about what they are seeing and absorb the information.

Overall I really loved this film and it really had an impact on me which I think is very impressive for a film that is only 25 minutes long. I felt a connection with the characters and it was genuinely very nostalgic for me as I was the same age as some of the girls when this film was made. Even the music that you could hear in the asynchronous sound was nostalgic to me which added to it even more. It reminded me of my childhood in a strange way, albeit I was much more fortunate that the characters in this film, but the general aesthetic just reminded me of when I was little. If I can achieve that impact on the people who read my screenplay I will have succeeded in what I intend to do.