Short film deconstruction #3
‘Empty’ is an award winning short drama which follows Keira as she struggles to live her normal day to day life while suffering from the effects of an eating disorder.
Mid-shots are most commonly used through ‘Empty’ which are hand-held in order to add to the realism of the storyline. The fact that hand-held shots are used also could signify the unstable life that Keira commonly lives with having an mental health disorder. Nothing is straightforward, therefore this is shown through the camera shots. Close ups are also used to draw attention to certain areas of the storyline or objects that are used within. A close up/over the shoulder shot was used at the beginning to directly show the initial problem Kiera is facing. It shows her touching her collar bones which highlights the struggles she is facing with her eating order. I have found mid-shots are often used within dramas as this is a direct way to show realism of both the character and their surrounding. Drama is about realism, meaning these types of shots are significant to include.
Most of the sound is diegetic as it mainly includes dialogue between the three characters shown. These being Keira, Anna and the councillor who speaks to Keira near the end. The dialogue between Kiera and Anna is short and snappy to signify their relationship. As Anna is the figure for Keira’s anorexia, the dialogue is able to show this by the way she speaks. Although there is dialogue throughout the short film, it gives the impression that it's almost silent to me due to the topic the short film is on. The background is also very quiet with the occasional background noise which also adds the the realism of the scenes. It helps the audience focus on the storyline being presented. When Keira is speaking to the councillor they speak openly about the stigma of mental health and the councillor says ‘there is no need to be embarrassed’.
The lighting used is also from natural light sources which again makes the plot and scenes more real compared to if artificial lighting was used.
The mise-en-scene was simple and helped me picture the real life situations that go on. There is a cereal bar that appears both at the beginning and at the end which has huge control over Kiera. It symbols the difficulties she faces with food which is highlighted especially at the end. In the post production of this short film, voices were edited over the scene with Keira trying to eat again. They were overlaid as multiple different sentences were being repeated. As it got louder, it got more intense for the audience to watch. As Keira finally decided to open the bar, the voices stopped and no sound was played at all after that to signify the importance of her opening the bar. This also showed the audience that things can get better. By the short film ending on a positive message it has far more of an impact.
Out of all 3 deconstruction I have done, ‘Empty’ has had most significant impact on my emotions and also my own ideas for my short film. As this focuses on mental health it targets exactly what I want to do with my own piece
Mid-shots are most commonly used through ‘Empty’ which are hand-held in order to add to the realism of the storyline. The fact that hand-held shots are used also could signify the unstable life that Keira commonly lives with having an mental health disorder. Nothing is straightforward, therefore this is shown through the camera shots. Close ups are also used to draw attention to certain areas of the storyline or objects that are used within. A close up/over the shoulder shot was used at the beginning to directly show the initial problem Kiera is facing. It shows her touching her collar bones which highlights the struggles she is facing with her eating order. I have found mid-shots are often used within dramas as this is a direct way to show realism of both the character and their surrounding. Drama is about realism, meaning these types of shots are significant to include.
Most of the sound is diegetic as it mainly includes dialogue between the three characters shown. These being Keira, Anna and the councillor who speaks to Keira near the end. The dialogue between Kiera and Anna is short and snappy to signify their relationship. As Anna is the figure for Keira’s anorexia, the dialogue is able to show this by the way she speaks. Although there is dialogue throughout the short film, it gives the impression that it's almost silent to me due to the topic the short film is on. The background is also very quiet with the occasional background noise which also adds the the realism of the scenes. It helps the audience focus on the storyline being presented. When Keira is speaking to the councillor they speak openly about the stigma of mental health and the councillor says ‘there is no need to be embarrassed’.
The lighting used is also from natural light sources which again makes the plot and scenes more real compared to if artificial lighting was used.
The mise-en-scene was simple and helped me picture the real life situations that go on. There is a cereal bar that appears both at the beginning and at the end which has huge control over Kiera. It symbols the difficulties she faces with food which is highlighted especially at the end. In the post production of this short film, voices were edited over the scene with Keira trying to eat again. They were overlaid as multiple different sentences were being repeated. As it got louder, it got more intense for the audience to watch. As Keira finally decided to open the bar, the voices stopped and no sound was played at all after that to signify the importance of her opening the bar. This also showed the audience that things can get better. By the short film ending on a positive message it has far more of an impact.
Out of all 3 deconstruction I have done, ‘Empty’ has had most significant impact on my emotions and also my own ideas for my short film. As this focuses on mental health it targets exactly what I want to do with my own piece
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