The Selfish Giant Analysis

“The Selfish Giant”, a film directed by Clio Barnard in 2013 is about two young white, working class boys who risk their lives to create scrap metal to make money so that their parents can pay for rent or furniture. The film shows the hardships families go through in order to survive, which makes the genre of the film ‘social realism/drama’ as the director takes the audience to a place they would not, or would be too scared to go to, which in “The Selfish Giant” is a council estate in Bradford, Northern England. The film is also a drama, as relies mainly on realistic character development. “The Selfish Giant” explores themes of poverty, violence, trust, friendship and trauma.

Mise-en-scene in a film is very important as it shows everything in the frame and creates meaning within it.

In “The Selfish Giant” mise-en-scene is an important role as ‘weather’ is a part of this, which conveys much about the 91 minute film. Throughout majority of the film the weather was dark and gloomy, showing rarely any sun, this represented how the two protagonists in the film, ‘Arbor’ and ‘Swifty’, do not lead a life full of happiness and peace but the complete opposite as they are surrounded with negativity constantly.

When ‘Swifty’ passed away it appears that the weather got worse, Arbor is shown sitting outside of ‘Swifty’s’ house in pouring rain which may have many interpretations, such as; ‘Arbor’ never being able to have a bright or happy day again now that ‘Switfy’ has disappeared from his life which the rain symbolises Arbor’s immense sadness, reflecting on what has happened.

Another interpretation may be that as Arbor is constantly outside of Swifty’s house he is feeling guilt and blame for his death, which are two themes also explored within the film.

Another micro-feature that is important in film is cinematography, this is important as the different use of shots, all reveal different meanings and have the power to make the film more realistic.

Throughout “The Selfish Giant” it is noticed that there were many long-lasting establishing shots of the countryside’s showing sheep’s and horses. This showed a different image of safety and peace which the protagonists of this film would escape to in order to be away from the loud, urban environment they are forced to survive in. The establishing shots which would suddenly cut to shots showing the dangerous, noisy machines was a drastic contrast which re-enforced the genre of social realism, taking the audience to get an understanding or a view that what these children go through to support their families in financial deprivation was indeed very dangerous and a contrast in itself as a child whom pure and innocent being thrown into illegal work force to make money for their family definitely shows another life to what the viewer may know.

Clio Barnard makes it clear that the protagonists do not lead that of an ‘ordinary’ life, which is expected of them so keeps the narrative real throughout the film to reveal to the audience there are no ‘happy endings’ in such a danger-driven full of poverty world.

Cinematography within the film “The Selfish Giant” revealed foreshadowing by the ending with the use of the shots showing the electric wires, this may have been to inform the audience that a key event was going to happen.

Overall, I enjoyed “The Selfish Giant” as it was realistic and gripped the whole way through. The narrative was believable and strong, reaching the unexpected and dramatic climax at the end. I believe the micro-features helped create the meaningful piece of work.

Film Role: Writer, Producer and Director.. Mel Gibson

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson (Mel Gibson), born January 3^rd 1956,  is an American actor and film-maker, Gibson has written, directed and produced many films such as “Braveheart”, “The Passion of Christ” and “Apocalypto”.

Mel Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York but moved to Sydney, Australia, with his parents at the age of twelve where later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. Gibson was a part of the Australian Film Renaissance of the 1970’s and 1980’s, where his acting career began with a role in the TV series “The Sullivans” before starring in the film “Mad Max (1979)”. In the late 1980’s Gibson commenced acting in American films, such as “Lethal Weapon (1987)”, “What Women Want”.

When Gibson was established as a successful career as an actor he then made his directorial debut with the 1993 film “The Man Without a Face” which Gibson also produced.
The second film Mel Gibson produced was the 1995, Academy Award-winning “Braveheart” in 2004. Gibson also directed and produced “The Passion of the Christ” a controversial yet successful film portraying the last hours in the life of Jesus Christ in 2006. Mel Gibson directed the film Apocalypto.

Producers have the role of controlling every aspect of a film’s production. They bring together and approve the whole production team. A producers main responsibility is to create an environment where the talents of the cast and film crew can flourish.

Film directors are in charge of making sure every component of a film runs smoothly, the film director’s have a say on how the scenes unfold, what props are going to be used, how the characters should look and play specific parts, directors also work with the individuals who manage lighting, scenery, writing and so on to make sure that all the elements mould together perfectly. 

Fatima- Short Film for London Film Festival

Me and my brother were involved in a short film for the London Film Festival.
Written and directed by Mariam Abou-Ouf.

The Sixth Sense Opening Scene Analysis

The Sixth Sense written and directed by M.Night Shyamalan, the genre of “The Sixth Sense” is horror-psychological thriller supernatural suspense drama, explores the themes of afterlife, ghosts, courage, trust, faith, fear, grief and loss.
I think mise-en-scene and sound are the most important micro-features within this film.

Mise-en-scene is important in film to set the tone and mood of the audience as it captures everything within the scene. In the opening seconds of the scene within the film a light-bulb is seen directly through the use of a close up shot. The light bulb gradually gets lighter suggesting hope growing stronger for a character.

Sound is important in film as it has the power to create illusions in the viewers mind, sometimes subconsciously makes the view feel feelings or thoughts to come into their minds.
Within the film “The Sixth Sense” during the opening scene a mysterious and pretentious sound begins to play. The sound is in sync with the credit titles as when a name fades away the music lowers and becomes higher when another name appears. This idea of non-diegetic sound is exposed as it is not natural with the film.

Lovely Bones Opening Scene Analysis

Lovely Bones was originally a book by Alice Sebold, and then in 2009 Peter Jackson directed a film on the story. Lovely Bones is a drama fantasy thriller as Susie, the protagonist, terribly dies within the film. The film would be classed as a fantasy as the young girl is believed to be waiting in the ‘in between space’ between life and actual death, to move on. 

The two important micro-features which make the film so amazing and grips the audience in is sound and mise-en-scene.

The non-diegetic sound that plays at the beginning when Susie is a young child is very slow, soft and peaceful which reflects the life she is living, the sound however does have a creepy feel to it which may foreshadow something that happens later in the film.
The film is narrated by Susie who tells her story of how she died, at times she says certain things which again, foreshadow what happens next, such as “He is stuck in a perfect world.” When talking about the penguin in the glass.
As the scene changes to another time period the music also changes to a faster paced tempo showing how happy life was for herself and her family before she died.
The final music change in the opening scene is as Susie says “It’s funny the memories you keep.” The music is slow and has a creepy feel to it, maybe symbolizing the locations importance.

Mise-en-scene shows the moving through time through the parents of Susie, at the beginning of the film the parents are in bed and are shown to be young through their actions and costume. The photo on their bedside table is of Susie when she is young, then the picture changes to a more recent in time photo of Susie to show time has moved on.
Photos are an important prop in “Lovely Bones” as they are being taken a lot during the film, which represents the memories Susie is narrating on, almost like the whole film is a memory to Susie.
When the family are at the farm Susie seems to be quite detached from what is going on, maybe foreshadowing to the audience that later on in the film the family will be a tight family unit again without Susie there in walking life, however watching over them. 

"Soft" vs "Wasp"

 “Soft” is a short film written and directed by Simon Ellis, which is about a father and son who are bullied by other young teenagers. “Soft” is a film with the genre of social realism as it shows many realistic aspects of contemporary London.  Crime is another genre within the short film, as youth delinquents cause great trauma and fear to a vulnerable family. The film explores many themes, such as fear, pride, role models and humility. The director uses these themes to create tension and a sense of discomfort for the viewer.

“Wasp” is another short film, written and directed by producer Andrea Arnold, whom also wrote and directed the film “Fish Tank” which is very similar to “Wasp” and “Soft” in terms of genre and themes. The mutual genre between all three films is ‘Social Realism’ as all three films show how life is for different people.
“Wasp” is about a single mother who struggles to care for her four children due to poverty. An old potential lover re-enters her life, which enforces the ‘versus’ element upon the single mother, as she is torn between her old lover and caring for her children.

Both “Wasp” and “Soft” are similar in terms of cinematography, both short films were similar as they both purposefully used poor quality filming to show each of the characters’ struggle, which helped emphasise them.
Hand-held camera was used in “Wasp”, creating unsteady footage which could be perceived as the family in poverty.
In the short film “Soft” the camera work was also Hand-held, making the film more realistic to the audience and allowing the viewer to feel as though they are there with the characters.
The Hand-held camera in which moved speedily from the father to the son to the troublesome teenagers which were causing the problems, created tension for the viewer.

Another similarity between the two short films is that the parents in both films are portrayed as ‘bad’ parents, however in their own ways they are also people struggling with parenthood.

Both films were interesting to watch, I was eager to find out how each character would overcome their struggle.

"Otherwise Engaged" Analysis

The short film “Otherwise Engaged” written and directed by Alicia MacDonald is a Rom-Com of a couple who have forgotten the traditional idea of proposal and emotional intimacy. Instead the couple post photos and videos of themselves becoming engaged on to social media.
The two most important micro-features within this short film are mise-en-scene and performance.

Mise-en-scene is valued for helping set the emotion, tone and meaning of the shot as it captures everything within the frame. Of the short film “Otherwise Engaged” the set of the film is in a running-field where the couple exercise after jogging together, the outdoor and open-air set of the film may signify that marriage is a pure and innocent commitment that a couple makes, ‘breath of fresh air’ for some couples. Proposal is a very intimate action between two people, and the ring is usually what signifies this loyalty, however in this short film MacDonald has used the prop of a telephone to be seen as more important than the ring itself, during this moment of “intimacy” this may reveal to the audience that in modern day society, it is more important to share personal happenings with more than one person, such as Social Media as the woman in the film appears to do.

Performance is another important micro-feature in film, as the characters’ ability to show and make the audience feel as though the acting is flowing and believable to make them feel as though they are engaged with the film.
Within this short film, performance is important as the facial expressions and body language allows the audience to get into the mind of the character to understand what is happening on the scene and why the actors are acting in that way.
For example the facial expressions of the woman when being proposed to showed excitement, however the fact that she was looking into her phone while videoing the proposal happening showed she was more concerned with the viewings of others than the actual proposal itself, which added a sense of comedy to the film, the film was something that the audience would not expect therefore confusion was caused and the emotion that the audience tends to let off when confused is laughter.

BFI London Film Festival: New British Shorts

On the 7^th of October, the AS Film class and AS Media class of Coulsdon College were invited to the British Film Institute, also known as The London Film Festival which is the United Kingdom’s largest public film event. 

We watched a variety of short contemporary films showcased at the BFI in Southbank, London.  Within the South Bank film complex holds screenings, lectures and exhibitions, with cafe-bars and river views. There was a ‘Mediatheque’ which offered over 1000 hours of free film and TV, libraries were open to visit, along with two of Southbank’s finest restaurant and bars.

The trip was exciting to be on, the films were interesting to watch and the seats within the cinema were very comfortable, it was fun being with my AS Film Studies class and sharing these experiences of learning new things with them.

The following day on the 8th of October the same two groups of AS Film and Media went to the Cineworld Cinema in Haymarket, London, to watch a full length film called Ayanda. This film with the genres of romance and drama explored the themes of love, friendship and growth of relationships and emotional and mental well-being, by the award winning Sara Blecher. 

Ayanda tells the story of a single-minded young Afro-Hipster Ayanda (Fulu Mugovhani) who has the talent of bringing neglected pieces of furniture “back to love”. Ayanda does everything in her power to keep her late father’s prized auto-repair garage to hold on to as her legacy but in his memory.
The film was amazing; the micro-features were very delicately used in the correct places to make the film realistic for the audience, feeling as if they were a part of the film. For example the setting in mise en scene of the film showed a very contemporary South Africa. The warm saturation effect of the film showed the warmth of the environment, in terms of people and relationships formed.
The Cineworld Cinema itself was not that different to a local Vue or Odeon cinema that I would regularly visit, however the outside of the cinema screens had a strong purple theme which gave the Cinema a different and a more richer air.

Get Off My Land Analysis

“Get Off My Land” by Douglas Ray is a short film filled with suspense shown through the genre of crime.
The themes of death, ownership and pride are apparent in this film.  The theme of death is interesting as the elements such as sound help create an unsettling feel to the film, giving it a deathly feel.
The film is of a young couple who fail to follow a public footpath resulting them faced with a deadly conflict.

The entire setting in mise en scene of get off my land is that of open countryside, this is effective as the ideas of mystery and adventure are enforced.

The lack of sound in the film is very effective as it builds great tension, and allows the audience  to feel the awkward silences, for example  whilst the man and woman are walking, the tense silence when the man and woman are confronted by the landowner, and the deadly silence when the man and woman had been shot.

Nearly all sounds within the film were diegetic, such as the sound of the woman crying, the gunshots and the tuck pulling up, this creates a more real affect within the film, allowing the audience to feel as though they are with the characters, without the multiple background sounds as other short films consist of. 

60 Second Video

This was very awkward

Fish Tank Analysis

Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold, a UK director, in 2009, follows the story of a troubled teenager, protagonist, Mia (Katie Jarvis) who seems to be struggling to survive in a world where it seems that she has no one but herself. 

The title of the film came from Arnold creating and bringing to life the sense that there is often a lot of life within a fish tank despite it being such a small space. The opening scene of the film is a room that Mia breaks in to and does what she feels best doing, break dancing. The room she dances in looks to a view which may be a metaphor for Mia as she has so much potential and life that she has yet not discovered, much like a fish in a fish tank.The macro-features of Fish Tank is shown through the genre of the film which is Drama/Social Realism; Fish Tank focuses on giving its audience a true indication of what life is like for the characters within the film, it does this by exploring the different themes of crime, which is shown by a number of things such as underage drinking and smoking, underage sex, adultery and child abduction.

Cinematography is used to show the scenery, revealing reactions and emotions of characters and narrative views to piece a story together.
The shot taken from behind Mia shows she is looking towards her future and foreshadows her leaving and going to explore the world, leaving her “fish tank”.
We can also see through this shot of Mia’s body language rather slouched revealing from the very beginning that the protagonist of the film is Mia and her mood will be the mood of the film throughout. This shot also suggests to the audience that this film could be about her or based on her life.
The use of two long establishing shots also suggests her character to the audience implying that she is a big character to the film.
The movement of the pan is hand-held, giving a sense of realism to the shot and allowing the audience feel like they are there with Mia.
In all shots of the opening sequence, the angle of the camera is the same level as Mia, possibly signifying to the audience that Mia is on the same level as everybody else, and her stereotypical “Chav” attitude does not make her any higher or lower than anybody in terms of feelings.
The landscape shot taken of the surrounding is an establishing shot. This effectively shows the audience the location of which the film is set. This is an effective shot as it shows the urbanised area within which Mia lives in.
Furthermore showing the contrasting visual imagery of binary opposites by showing the natural scene in the foreground and the urban location in the background.

The shot where Mia is in the car with the diegetic sound of California Dreams plays in Connors car while driving is very effective and visually appealing as it is a close up of Mia. The entire shot is blurry which conveys the mental state of Mia effectively. The blurred shot represents Mia’s confusion as to which path she should take in life. The blurred trees behind Mia represent the distance between herself and her primal roots.

From the beginning of the film, the audience can only hear diegetic sound. The opening sequence which starts with the title ‘Fish Tank’ is accompanied with the sound of Mia’s heavy breathing and a far away background noise, of which seems to be busy roads suggesting the typical urban area. This raises the enigma code for the audience as it raises the question of why Mia is out of breath. The sound of Mia’s heavy breathing while the film title is being shown, shows to the audience that the film may be full of tension and a sense of frustration, giving the film a different edge. This is similar to film ‘Wasp’ also directed by Andrea Arnold, as the opening scene is of the diegetic sound of violent footsteps of bare feet, raising the questions to the audience of why the woman, who is shown bare foot which may signify that she is the protagonist of the film, is walking so angrily. The hand held pan creates a sense of realism and makes the audience feel as if they are walking with her. Similarly to ‘Fish Tank’ where Mia’s footsteps are heard by the audience on the balcony, again making the audience feel like they are with Mia. A diegetic sound of a man shouting “What’s going on?” in an aggressive tone is heard, just like in ‘Wasps’ where a scene of violent shouting and a fight occurs, which matches the location in both films of a busy, rough and urban area, where violence may be the norm.

Freedom Writers Eva’s Paco did it scene

Freedom Writers directed by Richard LaGravanese, which was adapted from The Freedom Writers Diary which is a true story of how one dedicated teacher changed lives of children who were seen to have no future, who nobody believed in. Freedom Writers is a crime fiction, drama based genre film. Freedom Writers teaches the audience that empowerment can change lives, I am analysing the scene of character Eva, I like to call this a scene of “courage” as that is the theme of this two minute scene. 

This scene acts as a turning point for Eva as she was inspired by the speech from Miep, Eva decided to do the right thing and tell the truth. This is an important act of courage, by telling the truth at the court hearing ultimately Eva will be considered as betraying ‘her own people’. 

The scene begins with an opening of Eva at home talking to her mother about the upcoming case, her mother looks a decent woman yet continues to push Eva on at ‘what she needs to do’. Her mother expresses that it is better to lie and protect your ‘blood’ rather than telling the truth; this clearly depicts to the audience the enormous amount of pressure Eva is under from the people she loves most.

The audience is then exposed to witnessing Eva’s level of anger confusion and frustration as she shouts at her mother “What do you want from me?” The dialogue reveals Eva is at a loss in terms of not knowing how to escape the pressures from her family but also the pressures from her own morale conscience to do ‘the right thing’ as taught by Erin. It is clear that making a choice between the two is causing Eva great distress which is shown to the audience as the camera follows Eva outside where we hear the diegetic sound of her kicking the railings. This scene portrays to the audience Eva at her most helpless moment in which she knows no other way but to handle a difficult situation with further acts of violence.

The camera is then cut to a quiet and peaceful night scene to Eva’s classmate asking to be taken back into his family home as his mother had decided the right thing to do in order to teach her son a good lesson would be to throw him out on to the streets that he so enjoyed being a part of. Whilst pleading with his mother to let him come back home, the light is shone on his mother, when she finally agrees to let him return home the light then shines on both characters, this shows he has literally come into the light and has given up the darkness of the street and gang life. The audience is then left to wonder if Eva will have the courage to do the same.

The camera is then cut into the court room which is filled with natural day light. The camera pans along the back of the heads of those sitting in the public gallery watching the case unfold, it is clear to us the audience they are mainly male and look like gang members. This reveals the pressure Eva is under, the presents of the gang members is a silent yet an intentional act of threat by the gangs in order to add further pressure for Eva to lie.

A bright light shines on Eva’s face, the spotlight is literally on her. Several view shots allow the audience to feel sympathy for Eva as she looks between her mother and the various gang members. Eva sees the boy who has been wrongly accused of murder with his family members sitting  behind him. Eva also looks at the girlfriend of the boy who was shot, it seems everywhere Eva looks people are staring at her hoping she does what they want. Eva feels caught in the middle which is shown by her facial expressions but slightly lifts her shoulders as an act of defiance for what is to come. Her frightened eyes is a clear indication of what she is about to reveal will forever destroy all relations between her family, community and ultimately the gangs that control their existence.

There is very little noise in the court room which intensifies the pressure on Eva as everybody listens intently to what she will say as key witness.
Eva is dressed in dark clothes with the cross hanging around her neck is symbolic to that of somebody seeking guidance in a very dark situation.

The camera does a close up shot of Eva’s face and finally she says “It was Paco. Paco did it.” Her firm facial expression along with the tears in her eyes is evidently the proof of the trauma she has lived in the run up to the court hearing. Eva is a brave and honest character and reveals she is the product of a good teacher... Erin. The camera then turns and closely focuses on her crying mother and a furious looking Paco, Eva is fully aware of the consequence of her brave decision.

The court room scene is followed by further drama as Eva is chased by her own gang members eager for revenge and the sound of a gunshot being fired can be heard, Eva’s facial expression shows she was expecting this. The diegetic sound reveals the level of violence and harshness of the situation.

The scene of violence and fear cuts into one of peace and trust. Eva is in the classroom talking to Erin, this is the first time we see Eva engaging with Erin and this becomes the turning point for both characters in the film as Erin places her hand on-top of Eva’s.

Eva’s classmate and former rival, April, comes in and allows Eva to borrow her makeup. The makeup is a prop which reminds the audience that despite all of the chaos in their lives they are still normal young girls.

This scene is then cut to a montage and upbeat non-diegetic sound. The background music says “Stand for truth, stand for peace” This reveals the now optimistic mood of the film as the audience can see the positive changes the pupils are beginning to make.

Ralph, Short Film Review

This short film begins with a young boy of late teenage years coming off a train accompanied by his big black suitcase in Paris. Dressed very casually in trainers, baggy tracksuit bottoms and a red Burberry polo shirt with his collar buttoned up and a thick silver chain wrapped around the neck of his shirt displays the air of somebody confident and streetwise. Yet, when the camera focuses on him from a distance as he stands alone on the platform with his suitcase in close reach, he looks almost lost and vulnerable. It is clear by just standing and waiting he was expecting to be met by somebody which we later find out to be a girl by the name of Claire.

Pulling at his suitcase he finds a phone booth and calls Claire to confirm his arrival but to his dismay the number he was given by Claire is incorrect, when the camera does a close shot of his face at that moment, we see a confused boy who becomes desperate to find a solution to an unexpected situation. He plays  with the numbers on his piece of paper hoping that one of these numbers will connect him to Claire but all his attempts connect him to French speaking strangers... when his phone card eventually runs out of credit he leaves the Metro to buy another phone card to continue calling all the tens of numbers he has desperately created from the incorrect telephone number he was given.

As he enters the graffiti washed streets of Paris and into the natural sunny day light away from the depressive underground lighting, the Director allows the audience to feel a glimmer of hope with the effective change of light which also becomes evident on the boys sudden confidence boost as we witness him have very little difficulty communicating with the people of Paris.

Having had to buy a plate of chips in order for the devious Cafe manager to sell him a phone card, we are also introduced to the temperamental waitress whom takes an instant dislike to the cockney speaking southern English boy as his suitcase becomes an obstacle for her to work around.

Once again as he hopelessly attempts to call Claire but fails to reach her, anger takes the better of him, frustrated and lost for ideas he resorts to punching and kicking the phone booth of the outdoor Cafe, noticing his frustration the temperamental waitress is instantly drawn to him, in him she feels the build up of her own unhappiness and frustration and decides to show him a kinder side of herself. As the camera zooms in we see an instant connection between boy and waitress, the call he so desperately tried to make had finally reached its receiver, the waitress. A boy in his late teenage years, vulnerable and alien to his surroundings desperately seeking refuge in Claire’s life suddenly finds himself captured by a waitress that has just lost her job for conversing with him whilst on duty by the mean manager. The big black suitcase that had been pulled and pushed around all day which can also be interpreted as a sign of new beginnings had finally reached its purpose.