Short Film Analysis 1 - ‘Empty’
The short film that I am going to analyse is called ‘Empty’ and it was directed by a man called Tom Smith and written by a lady called Katie Louise Turner who also stars as the main protagonist, called Keira. In the film she suffers from Anorexia which is turning into Bulimia, and shows her struggle with her eating disorder and living her day to day life throughout the short film. This short film has won three awards, they are in the Texas Ultimate Shorts Film Festival in 2017 for the Best Drama Short, in the Silver Dollar Film Festival in 2016 for the Best Series.
Using the four main elements of mise-en-scene I can easily apply them to different points in this short film. Mise-en-scene is a French-worded term that describes the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in short films and stage plays. Mise-en-scene refers to everything in front of the camera which includes: the set design, the props used in the video, the lighting, the costumes, the actor blocking and where they are placed in the video and also shot composition meaning how the actors are placed in the camera's view. Mise-en-scene also, when translated from French to English translates to ‘setting the stage’ referring to the elements that Mise-en-scene has.
In regards to the setting, the film has a variety of outside and inside shots. The indoor shots are in Keira, the main protagonists, room which has a Beatles poster in, house interior, and in Keira’s local general practitioners (GP’s) room. The outdoor shots include a shot of her walking down the street she lives on and on a roof cafe in her local area. These are all very realistic locations and make the whole short film look natural and like everyday life for a teenage girl Keira’s age and for every teenage girl.
Furthermore, with regard to the props, they all seemed very routine to what a normal teenage girl would use, making the film even more like life itself. The props used were as follows: a towel, a hair brush, a bag and a protein bar. In my opinion, the less props there is in a short film the less complicated the film would be. I think this because the more props there are the more the main protagonists attention gets diminished and put onto the props. Also, I think it would be a lot of responsibility for the actor/actress to remember lots of props that they need to use.
When it comes to the lighting, the lighting, I thought, was very natural as a whole and didn’t look artificial or unrealistic and the lighting made the whole video more seamless. In regards with lighting, there is one scene where the main protagonist, Keira, is sitting in the darkness eating her food with only the light of the window in the shot. The denotation of this is that Keira is sitting in the dark and the connotation is interestingly the same as what the story itself is telling us, the connotation is that the darkness itself symbolises evil, mystery or fear. In this case it is fear, this connotation tells us that Keira is fearful of the negative thoughts, portrayed by the other actress, playing the antagonist Anna, and eats the food worried about her eating disorder getting the best of her.
In addition to this, the costumes that the actors wear in this short film are quite natural looking and I picked up some colours that the actors was wearing that could match their places in the short film. For example, Anna, the main antagonist wears the colour red in her outfit and red can symbolise the danger, anger and even the devil which is what I think Anna is in this short film, the devil in Keira’s head telling her negative thoughts.
In my opinion, this short film had a very strong and unique perspective, some of which the audience might not experience. Also, I think its hidden message it has is very empowering and driven. I think the hidden message in this short film is to be happy with who you are, we are are different in our own way and we all have a place on this world. Overall, I would highly recommend this short film for anyone to watch.
Feedback:
ReplyDelete-Reword some of it (e.g. you could say directed by Tom Smith and written and starred in by Kate Louise)
-I like the fact that you referred to the use of the colour red and the meaning behind it.
-Include more analysis to expand further upon your points
-Rather than writing the definition of mis-en-scene, explain how it is displayed in the film and the effect this has.
-Remember to expand upon the story (conflict, goal/desire, obstacle etc) for this unit.
-I like that you have pointed out that 'Ana' represents the main character's eating disorder.
Well done.