Comparison Of 'Soft' and 'Wasp'

Soft is a short film lasting fourteen minutes and nine seconds, it is directed and written by Simon Ellis. The genre is drama with a sub-genre of social realism because the events that occur in this film could easily happen in real life. Due to the violence and swearing used throughout, I would classify Soft as a fifteen. The narrative revolves around two main characters which are the Father, Iain played by Jonny Phillips and his Son, Scott played by Matthew O’Shea. The short film Wasp is written and directed by Andrea Arnold and it is longer than Soft, with a running time of twenty four minutes. Just like Soft, the genre is drama and the frequent swearing means I would also classify Wasp as a fifteen. There are six main characters in this short film which are the Mother, Zoe played by Natalie Press; Dave, Zoe’s old crush played by Danny Dyer; Zoe’s Son, Kai played by Danny Daley and Zoe’s three daughters: Kelly, Sinead and Leanne played by Jodie Mitchell, Molly Griffiths and Kaitlyn Raynor.

Both short films address realistic issues using similar techniques but the main plots for each one are different. Soft is about a group of six teenagers that abuse and attack Iain and Scott at separate intervals and the way they retaliate and deal with the situation. The ring leader of the gang stands out because he is wearing a white tracksuit; this particular outfit is stereotypical of a lower class teenager so immediately portrays him in a negative light. Although on the outside this makes him seem violent and threatening, the colour white makes the audience think of someone who is angelic, possibly showing that when the teenager is not around his friends he is completely different and maybe he is just jealous of the lifestyle both Iain and Scott have. Wasp on the other hand is about a single mother with four children, they are living in poverty and she is desperate for a social life and some time to herself. However, when Zoe unexpectedly sees her childhood crush, Dave, they arrange to go on a date to the pub but she irresponsibly decides to go and bring her young children along with her without telling him. The film as a whole explores the difficulties of motherhood when you are left alone with no help or support, and how living in poverty can greatly impact the upbringing of your children. Soft and Wasp share the theme of fear which runs throughout both of the films. Soft shows fear because the Father is petrified of the gang and we know this because as he is walking away from them, he has a number of flashbacks of him being attacked. However, he does not want to admit this feeling to his Son possibly because he doesn’t want to appear small in front of him and wants to set a good example by not fighting back. Nonetheless, Scott notices this so confronts his Father by asking him the question: “are you scared?” which triggers embarrassment in Iain. Fear is also shown in Wasp when Zoe sees a wasp on the window that her young Son, Kai is staring at. This wasp may have been there to represent that something bad was about to happen and it was a warning sign. However, when Zoe lets it out of the window, it suggests that just for that one night, she wanted to be free and forget about the barriers that get in the way of her having that freedom every day. Soft does show themes other than fear. Bullying is one because the group of teenagers are taking advantage of the Father and Son by abusing and being extremely rude to them; this makes victimisation a theme because Iain and Scott are left powerless when the gang surround them. At the end of the film, bravery and courage is shown from Scott when he stands up for himself and fights back with a baseball bat to which Iain is shocked by as it was unexpected from both him and the audience. The theme of desperation is shown through Zoe and her children in Wasp. When Zoe meets Dave at the pub, she leaves her children outside and when she goes out to see them, she starts dancing with them which is a very touching scene as it portrays her as helpless because she is desperate to keep her children happy, emphasising how much she truly loves them. As the evening turns to night, the children are still outside alone and a group of older teenagers walk past and accidently drop some fast food on the floor without picking it up. The eldest daughter, Kelly notices this and brings the food over to her other siblings and they eat it off the floor, this is upsetting to watch as it shows how hungry they are due to Zoe having little money, an impact of living in poverty.

The cinematography of both Soft and Wasp is used in a very similar way. When the teenagers are being shown in Soft, the camera is handheld and is of a very poor quality with loud sound. This gives the impression that one of the gang members is filming the events on their phone which creates a realistic atmosphere. However, when the Father is being shown on the screen, still shots are used and the sound is much quieter so that you can hear peaceful noises such as birds singing. I think Simon Ellis did this to show that the teenagers have little money and their standard of living is very low, whereas the Father lives a good quality life as he is wealthy. Likewise with Wasp, the camera quality is reasonably poor to represent the poverty the family are surrounded by, as well as moments in which the camera is shaky to imply that the way they live is very unsettling and Zoe rarely has time to relax. Both short films use natural lighting and background noise to give the audience the feeling that they are actually there and to put you in the shoes of the characters. Close ups are effectively used in Soft and Wasp to show the emotions each character is feeling and in Wasp, an extreme close up is used to show the wasp flying into the baby’s mouth, making the audience feel tense as they are unsure of what is going to happen next. Wide shots are used in both to show the surroundings and to let the audience know where the characters are in that moment of time. The endings of both short films are contrasting as Soft ends with the Father turning off the car alarm, picking up the baseball bat and walking inside. The atmosphere is very silent which gives you time to reflect on what has happened. Wasp ends with Dave driving Zoe and her Children home as they are singing an upbeat song, giving the impression that everything is going to turn out just fine and their life is going to improve from there onwards.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Soft and Wasp because you feel sympathy towards a lot of the characters which makes you think about people in real life who suffer from the same problems, resulting in each film being emotional and moving. Additionally, Simon Ellis and Andrea Arnold made clever use of camera work and themes in order to tell each narrative in an effective way.

Shot Sizes And Sequences

'Get Off My Land' Review

“Get off my land” is a short film that is directed and written by Douglas Ray, with the running time being four minutes and forty two seconds. The suitable audience for this short film is people who are aged fifteen or over and this is due to the strong violence that is used which may upset or scare someone below this age. The cast is very small as there are only three main characters which are a Man, Woman and a farmer. The Man is played by Rafe Spall, the Woman by Ruth Wilson and the farmer by Robert Glenister; these actors did an excellent job and each character plays a major part in telling the story.

This short film is about a Man and Woman, who are most likely a couple, that are taking a walk across the countryside. They come across a farmer who claims the land to be his own and tells the couple that they cannot walk across it, to which they are not convinced. The story then continues and ends unexpectedly as Douglas Ray made clever use of a plot twist which leaves the viewer in shock and confusion.  “Get off my land” addresses many key themes and ideas throughout the film. At the very beginning, the couple are walking along a muddy footpath in which the Woman is leading the way with the Man carefully trailing behind. He is wearing jeans and bright white trainers that are now completely covered in mud, showing that he came unprepared for the walk which implies that he was forced into going by his partner. The main themes of this short film are possession and vigilante. Possession because the film is about a farmer who believes he has ownership of the land and uses this idea against the couple who are clearly causing no harm, and vigilante because the farmer unofficially tries to prevent a ‘crime’ and carries out his own form of justice to the oblivious Man and Woman. The genre of “get off my land” is dark comedy which is when serious issues, which are cruel and morbid, are treated in a humorous way.

In general, the shot sizes do not show much of a variation, there are many close ups that are used to convey the characters emotions as well as medium shots which are mostly used when the characters are having a conversation. This helps the viewers to engage more with what is going on, so they feel as if they are either a part of the conversation or listening in. Long shots are used to show the surroundings, and a panoramic shot is used at the beginning which displays the land that the couple are walking across. The majority of the camerawork is handheld which made the environment more realistic for the viewers and it makes you feel as if you are actually there. Very few cuts were used throughout the film and the editing was very basic. This again makes the film much more realistic and helps the viewers to focus only on the story as they were drawn in more and more as it progressed. Natural lighting was used because the film is set outside so it is more believable to watch and it helps to keep the film simple rather than overdone.

Overall, I believe this short film was very effective because it is easy to understand the basic meaning but it goes deeper which enables the audience to explore various issues which concern each individual character and the story as a whole. 

'Friday Night Dinner' Review

Friday night dinner is a British television sitcom about a Jewish family of four who have dinner together every Friday night, which never goes to plan and almost always ends in a disaster. The events that occur during each episode are unexpected yet hilarious and mirror family life well. It is not your typical sitcom because it has a sense of realism to it and it addresses issues that could well happen to an ordinary family, making Friday night dinner an original and refreshing show. This entertaining show takes situations of little value or importance and turns them into priceless ‘laugh out loud’ moments with the strong cast helping to enhance this humour.

Normally, each episode is different and does not usually follow on from the previous one. This generally makes the episodes more exciting and intriguing as you are uncertain of what is going to happen next, therefore you are left feeling curious and wanting more.  Each individual plot is fresh with new jokes constantly on the go as well as old, consistent jokes which help to make the show unique and engaging.

 The Mother, Jackie is played by Tamsin Greig and can be described as immature yet easily wound up by the behaviour of her sons and husband. Paul Ritter plays the role of the peculiar Father who has a very low attention span and many odd habits leaving him socially inept. Adam is the elder son and is played by Simon Bird, an actor well known from shows such as the inbetweeners. He is a failed musician who makes a living by creating jingles, and quite often is the victim of mishap. The younger son, Jonny, played by Tom Rosenthal, is always trying to play practical jokes on Adam and start fights with him as he knows he will retaliate. Jonny works as an estate agent for ‘Garvins’.

The Families neighbour, Jim often makes a few appearances during the course of each episode. He is extremely awkward and is always leaving gaps in conversation, as well as being terrified of his own dog. His character is rather ironic as the audience want to see more of him whilst the family do not want to see him at all. Jim is played by Mark Heap. Bonus characters that appear in some episodes include the Gran who is Jackie’s Mother, her boyfriend Mr Morris and Val who is Jackie’s best friend.

The overall appearance of the characters is very similar to how a traditional family would look; this makes them more relatable to the viewers because it is much easier to connect with them and their way of life, also many similarities can then be found between the viewers and certain characters.

In my opinion, Friday Night Dinner creates the feel of family life very well and the chemistry between the cast is flawless. Each individual character is hilarious in their own way, meaning that everyone will find something to relate to. The writing of this show is impeccable, providing us with excellent dialogue as well as fantastic humour.

Friday night dinner is created and written by Robert Popper, and directed by Steve Bendelack and Martin Dennis. There are three series and nineteen episodes in total with a running time of approximately twenty five minutes per episode. This programme is intended for teenagers and above due to the adult humour which is frequently used. It can be found on channel 4 and is definitely worth watching, it will have you laughing in moments.

'About Me' Evaluation

I filmed my short video using the Nikon D7000 and set it up on a tripod so there was no movement. I decided to use this camera because it is of a high quality so it made my video look more professional.

What went well?

Overall, I believe that my video was very successful because I covered a wide range of topics in a short space of time. I spoke clearly and the sound was not too quite or too loud, making it easy to take in the information without struggling to hear what was being said. Throughout the video, I made good eye contact helping me to come across as more confident in front of a camera. Also, I thought carefully about my background as I wanted to make it personal to me. For that reason, I put my Penny Skateboard on the shelves behind me as it is something I use frequently, as well as the books because I enjoy reading. I used a Nikon D7000 instead of a phone to emphasise my passion for cameras and to show that photography is one of my main hobbies.

What would I improve?

If I had the opportunity to film this video again, there are a few changes I would make. Firstly I would try to talk a bit slower as I feel as if I rushed a few parts of the video, resulting in it being slightly shorter in length. I would also add background music to make it more creative and personalised. This way, the video would be more interesting to watch because there would be more to it rather than me just talking to a camera  with no background noise.

About Me!