In the short film "High Maintenance" there are two plot twists. The first twist occurs when the wife gets up from eating her food and turns her husband off through a switch on the back of his neck. This plot twist is unexpected as there are no prior hints to firmly say he was a robot. Even though he acts slightly robotic, little eye contact, no facial emotions, we don't actually believe that he is a robot, just an annoyed husband. The film's title also gives us no hint to its genre, leaving the audience surprised when we realise it's a robot themed film.
Arnold uses good camera shots and angles to develop social realism and Zoe's character in the film. We can see this from the very first shot, when we are greeted with Zoe and her kids feet walking down some stairs in a council flat. This right of the bat tells us that the family is living in poverty, as they do not have shoes. The shots are also handheld and shaky which makes us as the audience believe we are actually there with the family walking through this run-down estate, adding to the social realism of the scene. The shaky shots also add a sense of turbulence to the scenes, allowing the audience to feel like we're really there, as the shakiness makes the film feel chaotic. Usually in a film you might expect a family to be together holding hands throughout, showing their love for each other, however this is not the case in Wasp. The first sequence shows us Zoe walking down the stairs with a baby in one hand, and her daughter just behind her. The shot then switches to an...
A good start, Rufus.
ReplyDeleteCan you expand upon this with more reference to mise-en-scene, such as the use of music/dialogue/camera angles lighting etc?
Julian