The short film “Silent Things” explores mental disabilities such as Asperger syndrome.
The opening scene is an establishing shot to show the film's setting; in this case, the beach.
There are cuts to black to show the producers, and the film's title, which is spelt with a lower case 'S', and a full stop, which is very abnormal for a film title.
The diegetic sound of seagulls, the waves and the sea breeze can be heard, creating an effect of realism. Two characters are then revealed through a medium two-shot where they are seen playing with a kite, this is usually seen as normal behaviour for a parent and child; but in this case the characters are adults, and do not act in a mature manner, for instance, the girl has her arms crossed and held up to her shoulder, and she is seen constantly fiddling with her fingers, this use of body language relates to people on the autistic spectrum as it is common for autistic people to be restless and have a need to fiddle with something.
Another example, is throughout the opening, as there is no dialogue as the characters pack up the kite, nor do they make eye-contact. This is unusual as the audience is normally connected with the characters with the use of dialogue and social interaction; however, the awkward manners of the two characters make them very intriguing to watch.
Throughout the film, scene transitions are mainly made up of fading to black, which is not normally used for every scene, this shows the abnormality and repetitive nature of the characters.
For example, the female character's costume is that of a pink jumper to show her femininity but they both look untidy, which shows a lack of personal hygiene.
This condition is an autism spectrum disorder, but is classified as “high functioning”.
Affected people have difficulty with social interactions and have few individual interests and rigid, black-and-white thinking, also known to have a singular, passionate interest that is repeated on a very regular basis.
Later on, a new female character is brought into the scene as the man is again flying the kite, this repetition symbolises his autism as people on the autistic spectrum are prone to having a specific activity that they carry out on a regular basis. The female character's costume makes her out to be hiking, or travelling, shown by her large backpack.
When a group of characters in the background start taunting the male character, the girl claims him to be her boyfriend and tells them to "fuck off."
The male character then asks why she lied, showing no gratitude, and then goes on to say he can't tell lies at all, including 'white lies'.
She describes the male character as "strange", which is unknowingly very offensive, as she was unaware of his mental condition. She is then told about his condition, and she doesn't speak, her body language perhaps showing embarrassment? She then tells him about her parents, and he shows no sympathy or compassion, nor eye-contact, saying that her situation is "strange".
This dialogue and body language show his lack of social queues, as the girl was probably expecting sympathy at that point, again symbolising his Aspergers. The camera-work and editing technique also help to represent his mental disability, with constant shot-reverse shots and cutting, rather than a standard 2-shot, this is done to alienate the characters from each other.
The girl laughs over his statement, which creates a more relaxed atmosphere.
The following shot shows the female character from the start of the film walking towards the other characters. She appears to be frustrated, shown by her body language (fiddling with her hands), and her facial expression look angry, or anxious to meet the new character. This suggests that she also has asperger syndrome, as she is hesitant to meet a stranger.
The first female character scolds the male for making a new friend, showing she is jealous, this is said with the new character present, showing her lack of social awareness.
The male character defends himself, but they rarely make eye-contact, making the situation more awkward, she then walks away without saying another word.
The newer character doesn't speak and awkwardly smiles, unsure of how to engage the situation, this represents autism in a different sense, as it is sometimes a very difficult thing to understand, and fully functional people can be left embarrassed and feeling awkward, not wanting to offend anyone.
There is then a long shot of the two characters sitting on the sand, a ferry is shown in the distance which represents luxury, the opposite of these characters' lifestyles.
The girl tells the male character that she's going on a ferry, and the man goes on to explain how the ferry moves, not picking up on the social queue, the dialogue here heavily represents his disability, as people with Aspergers can often talk about their knowledge of a subject, and not think to comment on the situation itself.
The girl suggests he should join her, and that he's funny. He explains more about ferry's and she laughs, showing she is comfortable with his disability and enjoys his company.
Later on, the two characters are on a ferry, and the male character is seen huffing with anxiety, showing he is nervous of boarding the ferry.
The sound dies out and voices can be heard, which depicts the man hearing voices inside his head, suggesting he also has bipolar disorder, or perhaps having an axiety attack due to the large number of people, the first female character is also shown in occasional shots, having a similar panic; this shows they share the same mental disability and are alike.
As a viewer, I felt sympathy towards them both, wanting to comfort them; this shows that the editing techniques are extremely effective in creating a realistic representation of their disabilites
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Near the end of the film, a long shot shows the two characters together again with their backs to the sea; they also have the kite, and do not exchange a word. Showing their mutual understanding of one another.
The relationship between the characters perfectly represents a person's life with a mental disorder, and shows their need for a friend, as they struggle socially.
Using close ups and shot reverse shots can really help the audience understand and empathise with the characters and allow them to develop a personal connection with the characters, regardless of the lack of eye-contact, dialogue, and ordinary body language.
Short Film “Lovefield” – Narrative
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the theorists and terms that were covered in class.
The opening to Lovefield starts with a fade in to an establishing shot of a large wheat field, shortly followed by the film's title fading in, and then out.
The camera is then lowered slowly, while the diegetic sound of the wind is heard, along with some unsettling music to build suspense.
There is a dissolve to the next shot, which is a pan across the field as the music becomes even more haunting.
The narrative is very restricted throughout this entire scene, as we don't know what is going to happen, nor who is in the scene.
The next shot is also dissolved to, where there is the non-diegetic sound of a boom, followed by the diegetic sound of metal squeaking. The source is off-screen, until the camera pans across to reveal a sign, showing the film's location. The camera is then raised to reveal a crow sitting upon the sign.
There is a cut to a close-up on the crow, as it begins to caw, this is evidently a foley sound.
The use of the crow is a powerful foreshadow for the film, as crows are carrion birds and are normally seen near dead bodies, hinting towards a possible death?
A few scenes later, there is the diegetic sound of a frantic beeping, it is quiet at first, but gets louder and louder as the scene transitions with constant dissolves.
Eventually a phone is revealed, followed by some money, a bag, and the sound of a woman in pain.
She is not revealed, leaving the narrative extremely restricted, as we do not know what is going on.
A bloody rag is revealed, along with a hand clutching the ground desperately, the woman also cries out in pain. By now, the audience has been led to believe she is being murdered, due to the haunting music and the crow beforehand.
A foot is then revealed, along with the sound of the woman struggling; the music grows louder to build tension as the foot wriggles frantically, before suddenly going limp, and the music stops.
Again, the audience are led to believe she is dead.
Without warning, a bloody tool is savagely stuck into the ground next to the foot as some thrilling music is heard, followed by a cut to the crow, suggesting there is now a corpse in the scene.
There is then a cut to medium close-up of a man standing up, only his lower section can be seen, this builds tension as the camera slowly raises up and reveals a skull tattoo, symbolising death and danger; as the camera reaches the man's head, he looks away towards the crow, so his face is again hidden.
A few shots later, he is seen running away from a low angle, a few cuts to the crow also being showed to increase pace as the music increases.
The narration is leading the audience to believe he is now fleeing the scene, or perhaps searching for a tool to bury the body with, but nothing is entirely revealed, leaving a complete sense of enigma.
The quickened pace, and the close-up fondling of his car keys all contribute to the tension that has suddenly built up over the short space of time, leaving the audience in a bewildered state of wondering what will happen next.
The man frantically searches in the car boot, when there is a sudden pause, the man looks up and stares at the crow, which stares back at him, this is the first time we can properly see the man's face; he is grubby and unclean, making him appear to be a bad, careless or nasty character.
There is then a shot-reverse-shot between the man and the crow before the crow pecks the roof of the car, the man then continues searching; this builds greater tension.
He eventually finds a large pink blanket and leaves the car, the crow continues cawing and the music grows louder, creating further suspense.
The music becomes high pitched as the man is seen approaching two feet, before another cut to the crow to keep the fast pace.
He is then seen on his knees, and is looking down towards the POV camera, holding the blanket, he begins to lean in, and there is a cut to the crow with its beak agape, before another cut to the man leaning further in, placing the blanket over the camera in the same POV shot, and the scene reaches the pinnacle of its tension as there is a cut to the crow, silently staring with its beak still wide open.
The next scene shows the man from a side-on medium shot, looking worn out, before a newborn baby is slowly brought into the scene, and he smiles, along with the woman smiling as well.
The tension is entirely broken as the audience realise the narrative has completely misled them into thinking there was a murder, when it was in fact a childbirth.
The man happily states "it's a boy", and continues laughing while looking at the woman.
There is a close-up on her face as she nuzzles the baby with a large smile, before looking at the man in disbelief, and then back to the baby, showing she's completely overwhelmed with emotion.
The man is now properly understood as a simple farmer, rather than the nasty character he previously depicted, making him a binary opposition of, well, himself!
There is a cut to the crow, looking away and cawing, before another long shot takes its place and slowly tilts up, revealing a tractor, and the couple in the field, along with some calm, harmonious music.
A police car then arrives, which the man signals, showing there is no longer anything hidden, and the film is ended with complete closure and calmness...
