Monday, May 23, 2022

Analysing Short Films- ECHO

SHORT FILM- ECHO (2013, ARNOLD)

Echo follows 17-year-old Caroline, as she receives a phone call delivering the tragic news that her dad has been involved in a motorbike accident. Her unexpected reaction reveals there is more to this call then first appears. Based on a real life event witness by writer James Walker.

Rarely absent on-screen throughout the film’s 18-minute duration, Arnold worked with trusted collaborator Alfie Biddle to ensure the camerawork perfectly captured Lauren Carse’s strong performance. Alternating between wide-shots of Carse looking lost in a bustling shopping precinct and close-ups of her anguished expression, Biddle’s camera orbits Caroline as we’re swept away in the whirlwind of lies surrounding her – without ever seeing the need for dizzying post-production techniques. With the foundations of Echo’s success cemented in performance and plot, Arnold and his crew are right not to overcomplicate the production. Employing long takes and carefully considered cuts, the directors approach means we are firmly placed in the mind of our protagonist and given the time necessary to digest her chaotic thought process.

representation
- shows how people can change after loss like the psychological effect of it
-we get to see her family and their responses to the change and how the family dynamic itself has  changed as a result.

narrative
- 3 act structure

micro elements
-sound- there is no non-diegetic sound which makes this film different. This aspect makes for an immersive experience that really makes you feel like you're there in the moment with her. It lets you feel like you are also a bystander.

-mise-en-scene
costumes- school uniform shows her to be young and vulnerable
props- the phone and bag are important on telling the story
location/setting- a reasonably busy town centre 
composition of shot- the girl is often the focus of the shot, whilst we are being shown the busy town centre. It shows how she could go unnoticed and emphasises her aloneness. 

-editing- The editing is quite slow in this short film and it has lots of long takes instead of short ones. It allows us to focus on one moment to the next instead of seeing the situation from all angles. This also leads back to how it feels like we are there with her, although its a dramatic situation, nothing bad is really happening.

-performance- she does a good job at convincing the people as she needs to be able to get sympathy from them. This could be how she makes herself feel better through her circumstances at home. Her body language is very distressed which makes us believe she is in a bad way.

-cinematography- close ups emphasise the emotions she's portraying, they allow for the showcase of the performance.

meanings/ messages 
- to not judge a book by its cover - in the sense of how it seemed like she needed genuine help in the moment but was later revealed she didn't 

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