The two short films – Wasp and Gasman by Andrea Arnold and
Lynne Ramsay – both share similarities and differences and both approach the
topic of childhood and display child interaction.
The most prominent factor of both short films is the
regional identities portrayed. In Gasman it is Glasgow and Wasp is set in the
east end in London, both instantly recognizable as soon as the films begin. To
reflect these regions to the audience, the characters accents are exaggerated,
purposefully done by the directors to increase the prominence of the locations.
The regional identities are also key in contributing to the representation of
the poverty line and the lives of those facing hardship. However, where Andrea
Arnold relies on the accents to translate to the audience the regions and
deprivation, Lynne Ramsay also uses the mise-en-scene. In the background of
numerous of her shots are the Glasgow towers emphasising further the location and
contributing to the theme of poverty.
However, although both of the short films set out with the
goals of representing a slice of British life, both took very different
approaches and the films strongly represent the differing styles of the two
directors. Lynne Ramsay is notorious for her unusual style and exploring
different cinematic techniques. Andrea Arnold on the other hand focuses on
realism in depicting narratives and representations. In Gasman, Lynne Ramsay uses a variety of
different techniques to put her stamp on the film. Towards the beginning of the
film she uses very stylistic shots such as extreme long shots with silhouettes,
shots with vanishing points and shots with action both in the foreground and
background all of which are displayed below. However, the most stylistic shot
that stood out to me is the one shown above which Ramsay framed with a
vignette. Although the narrative is representing a section of society and is
more than likely based upon real circumstances of those on the poverty line in
Glasgow, the stylistic editing suggests Ramsay is trying to fictionalise the
situation and thus the narrative could be based on a ‘what if’ situation and
poverty in Glasgow exaggerated as a pose to a real depiction of events.
On the other hand, Andrea Arnold expressed her style through
the concept of realism. A significant percentage of Wasp was filmed on a
handheld camera, some shots were unfocused and the majority of scenes involved
diegetic sound making the overall narrative feel more authentic than that of
Gasman. In terms of editing, the editing was simple with only cuts between
shots changing the direction of the audience’s attention, as a pose to the use
of different transitions, focus points, or filters as used in Gasman. For
mise-en-scene the sets were standard, and the locations relatable – a simple
housing estate and a pub – whereas the abandoned railway setting used both at
the beginning and end of Gasman is specific to the area of Glasgow and less
relatable for an audience especially of the era in which the film is set.
However finally, both short films come together in
separating the audience from the narrative and presenting them as out of the scene.
Andrea Arnold takes this third person approach by allowing the audience to observe
all the character arcs especially in the pub scene when the mother and children
are separated and shots switch between the action inside the pub with the
mother and outside with the children. Therefore, the audience is watching as an
outsider rather than being part of the scene contributing to the theme of
poverty as we are looking down on the characters and situations as if we are of
a higher social status.
Lynne Ramsay also achieves this 3rd person
concept; however does so by always putting the audience at a distance from the
characters. At the beginning of the film she does this by tunnelling shots to
only reveal certain things for example she shows close ups such as a child’s
hand playing with a toy car and a child’s leg.
In the following scene it is an extreme longshot portraying the idea
that we are at the bottom of the hill looking up towards the family and then we
are positioned behind the child to watch interaction. This concept that the
audience is never involved in the action contributes to the previously
mentioned ideas of fictionalising the narrative and illustrates how the
majority of people only see what living on the poverty line is really like
rather than ever experiencing it.
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