'sign language' (c.2010) D. Oscar Sharp
'sign language' seemed approached in a documentary style, whilst it's substance falling within the category of drama, or a film of fabricated truths. I had a few issues with its style, the focussing was irritating and the performance didn't quite convince me, there was a grey wash tone, which whilst perhaps matched the urban location lacked visual aesthetic, with odd digital splashes of unfocused colour. However, having said that the art direction was well executed, with a great use of colour. I did struggle with the format, you wanted it to be real but it wasn't, which would be fine except for the fact that I wasn't drawn into the story, it lacked believability. Another issue that fed into this was the narrative and use of time; there was no sense of time passing, so his sign shift lasted all of 7 minutes, feeding into the lack of story and believability, though the format would work as a documentary. The shallow DOF, guessing around f/2, means the face is on the edge dipping in and out focus, making it hard for the viewer to concentrate on the character, further compounded by the fast cutting, which whilst not drawing attention to itself, made more of an assault on the viewers concentration. The cgi sky writing within the credit sequence, whilst humorous, seemed to be a rather large important element of the narrative that was haphazardly stuck on at the end. I feel I've been a little harsh in my critique they are minor niggles, it is a perfectly good film with a warming story and nice ending, character is everything with this and he is certainly captivating.
'I do air' (2009) D. Martina Amati
'I do air' is a great film that holds interesting form, utilising semantic motifs of repression, control and freedom. The pivotal moment of this film in my opinion is when she actively choses to dip her socks into the puddle, something that we all avoid, but it shows her control and choice. I found personally that they didn't over dramatise the height of the diving board, which could be done with a vertigo technique or using reference points to better portray the depth, the fact that they haven't chosen this route shows to me that we as the audience is witnessing a characters psychological development through time, rather than being of her perspective. Time and sound are both effectively used, for example the suspension within the locker room slows down everything cutting out the sound, as the women talk noisily without paying any attention to her, moreover there is a definite sense of time passing as everyone leaves the pool. We are effectively immersed into this girls own little bubble, experiencing a story that would normally go unnoticed within the real world.
'Rite' (2010) D. Michael Pearce
Rite follows a fairly typical relationship between a removed father and his estranged son who turns out to be gay, the mistrusted father figure tries to prove to his son that he has changed and wants to be a part of his life once again. This could be perceived as contrived, though there are subtleties throughout showing signs of genuine acceptance of his sons individuality. It's not an overly interesting film in substance though there is some solid camera work. The father figure was also a strong performance throughout, portraying a convincing character, though there is a slight sense of misdirection in terms of the characters mind set. The son plays a perfectly awkward character, though he doesn't do a lot, or say much, nonetheless this is probably representative of the situation in real life. The title 'Rite' speaks unspoken words of an individual's passage in life, holding religious connotations, nicely adding to the theme.
'About a girl' (2001) D. Brian Percival
'About a girl' is a curious film, they have certainly created a talkative character that is both likeable and captivating, so congratulations are due to the young female actor, who I'm sure played a vital role in portraying the essence of the film. Coming from deprived background and upbringing she uses her music as a way to escape from the world she lives, whilst this isn't a new ideology, her very direct way of speaking for such a young girl certainly grabs your attention. The twist at the very end to me was very unexpected mainly because all the way through we are shown a strong open character who talks about all the dis privileges of her life, making the end even more shocking because she didn't whisper a word of it despite her openness to the audience. It's very good film throughout but leaves you with a saddening un rectified ending which plays with your sympathetic connection established with the character throughout.
'Audio tour' (2010) D. Stephane Kass
'Audio tour' is a greatly comedic short film following the footsteps of a single woman, giving insight into a whole range of characters thoughts and backstories as we travel from reality into a surreal world where the audio tour narrator just won't stop. It's a new take on voyeuristic expression, my only qualm is that now its been done you couldn't do it again without duplicating the idea. I found there was a flatness to it, but better that than no feeling at all.
'LE MIROIR' (2010) D. Ramon & Pedro
'le miroir' is a creative expression of a single character as he goes through the journey that is life. There's intrigue as an audience member as to how they are filming a reflection without the camera in between, though the behind the scenes reveals their illusionist trickery. Whilst I like the fact that the mirror remains a solid throughout his life, making you pay more attention to the character, you do question how realistic is it that he would stay in the same house with the same bathroom all his life, although not an impossibility, this would also be more costly rather than a single set setup. It's clever and interesting but it's fairly one dimensional, despite being placed in the characters perspective, I still felt as an observer looking through a window on a mans life rather than being involved.
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