Short Film Inspiration

Our first research task was to watch the short film "Smashed" and analyse the setting, mise en scene, sound, characters, camerawork lighting and props, in order to get an insight into how a professional sort film goes about doing these things. I found this very useful as it helped me look into the meaning of almost every thing the film was constructed of and its significance. I recieved an A grade for this essay.

Smashed essay

“Smashed” is a short, thirteen minute film from 2009, directed by peter snelling, the film is set in an urban environment, which has a busy nightlife, and is centred around four main characters, two females and two males, the story shows one night in the lives of these people, and how alcohol affects them and gets them into different situations. The film was funded by Avon and Somerset police, which implies the film has a moral theme.

The film is set in an urban environment, near a council estate which we see in an establishing shot that shows the tops of blocks of flats and dark grey skies, the director may have chosen this setting because it is relatable to many people living in England, particularly in the working class demograph and therefore any interpreted meaning in the film will make more of an impact, he also may have chosen this setting as it could signify the working class demograph itself, and how alcohol affects today’s society. the use of dark cloudy skies may also signify that something bad is going to happen, as this is a common convention in television and films when a negative event or atmosphere is approaching. A subtle but important early sign that this film is about drinking is the fact that there is a sign on the door of the shop the man goes into, reading “buy real ale here”, this could signify that the community has alcohol easily available as it is advertised in the shop window. After buying beer from this shop the two men walk down a small street, the street has a white van in the background which again is iconic in british working class life, also a bin in the foreground is overflowing, this could signify that it is early in the morning as the binmen have not been yet.the fact that during the daytime many of the shops are closed could signify two things, either it is early in the morning, or it is a fairly run down area, which could also signify the need to drink could be about the characters tackling boredom as much as anything else.

The film revolves around four characters who are linked by there alcohol use, the first character we see is called estelle, the character is holding a crinkled brown paper bag, the fact that the bag is crinkled signifies that it is quite old and she has had it for a while, this further impies she is a nervous person, as she has not built up the courage to open the bag. After the close up of the bag we see estelle looking at herself in the mirror, this is significant as it could signify her judging herself, which again shows she is quite a nervous person, she then has a drink which signifies that this is how she deals with her problems. The second character we see is a man named corey, looking through old letters and photographs of his ex-girlfriend and reflecting, this signifies that he thinks about things and regrets them, which is later confirmed when he tries to get back together with his ex girlfriend, he also says he wants meaning in his life, and he seems to believe that a one night stand will give him that, which it does when we find out later that he will become a father because of a one night stand. After this we are introduced to Sam, straight from the start we see she is a fairly aggressive person by the way she is talking to someone on the phone who does not want to come out, the way she says she “likes getting slaughtered” signifies that she enjoys drinking for the sake of it, when the two female characters are first on screen together, one thing is instantly obvious, that Sam is a very tall charcter, this may have been to signify her personality traits, overpowering and fairly aggressive. The final character we are shown is called george, he is seen entering a shop, on the door of which reads;

“buy real ale here” which signifies he is going to buy alcohol we can assume it is early as there is a young boy laughing at him who appears to have be doing a paper round, which of course signifies that it is early in the day. And the combination of these signs signifies that george drinks at anytime in the day, as he appears to be drinking in the morning, like estelle, and keeps drinking as time progresses through the film.

The first prop in the film is the egg that is the focus of the first shot, this has some significance to the rest of the film because traditionally eggs are a sign of fertility, this signifies that the film will have something to do with this theme, and is the first clue as to what is in the crinkled paper bag that estelle holds throughout the film. The fact that this bag is crinkled signifies that she has had it for some time and not opened it, this signifies that it is fairly important as she has a reason to be nervous about opening it. Another significant prop is when Sam and Estelle are in the chip shop, she takes a cab card, with the intention of using it to get home, this is significant because it signifies the difference ina sense of responsibility before and after drinking, as after drinking she disregards the need for a licensed cab and ends up in danger. We know she is in danger because of the props in the back seat of the car, bottles of bleach and cable ties, which signify the man driving the car could cause her harm for obvious

reasons.

The establishing shot shows the tops of flats, signifying an urban environment, which further signifies that the film could be a statement about the working class demograph. Just before the scene with Sam and estelle in the chip shop there is a pan which acts as the transition into this scene, from a scene with corey and george, this pan signifies that the four characters are all in the same locality and are likely to meet. After Sam says lets get slaughtered, the camera shows the four characters when drunk, falling around and acting silly, the camera continues this theme and the movement becomes quite erratic this is to signify the fact that the characters are drunk and reinforce their actions. When the characters are in the club, and estelle and corey meet again the camera is used in close ups to show the emotion on the characters faces, and signify that this is an important event in the course of the film. Smashed uses one main technique to show the progression of time throughout the film, this is “continuity editing” this is the use of different shots show the day going on, and is used in this instance to signify how the characters drink all day.

Lighting is used in “Smashed” to signify the emotions of the characters, the most notable use of lighting is the frequent use of high contrast shots, the first being when estelle is looking in the mirror in the beginning of the film, the fact that one side of her face is dark and the other is light signifies that she is caught between two minds on how she wants the pregancy test to go. Another high contrast shot is used when george and corey are in the pub in the daytime, which may be to signify coreys choice of calling estelle or leaving it. The most significant use of lighting in the film is when corey and estelle meet in the club, the quickly strobing lights are to signify their mixed up emotions, and confusion regarding their personal situations.

Sound is used to create different moods throughout the film, the first track we hear is the non diagetic sound of an acoustic guitar being played at a slow tempo, this has a calming effect on the audience and signifies that it is the morning. Also when george steps on the egg, we see a boy laughing, however hear no sound from it, this signifies that george has his mind on other things and may not care because he is hungover. Throughout the course of the day many of the characters emphasise the point that they want to get “slaughtered” and drunk, this diagetic speech shows the theme of the film is drinking to the audience. When the film gets later into the night we hear an almost constant background diagetic track of dance music, this is to signify that it is nightime and the characters are out clubbing, after this track ends we hear another acoustic guitar playing, this is to signify that the night is over and the film has come “full circle”.

All of these seperate elements fuse to form the experience of a day in the lives of these four characters, the different aspects signify many different things including time, emotion and target audience. The film makes a moral statement about how drinking can have many different consequences from getting into danger to becoming a parent, and the director, peter snelling clearley had an eye on raising alcohol awareness with his film