Slap by Nick Rowland


SLAP by Nick Rowland is a 25 minute short film focusing on the topic of gender-complexities within a stereotypically masculine character. This BAFTA nominated film shows the audience the struggles of a young male-boxer as he hides his most comfortable identity from his friends and family. This is until he decides to reveal this side of him in unexpected turn of events at a fancy dress party.
The film showcases a very British style with very British surroundings and culture, the personality and lifestyle of the characters is also somewhat relatable. The issue in focus of this film is very current and through watching this, one can gain a lot of perspective on real challenges that people like Connor face. However, as noted by Rowland himself; this film is not so much about sexuality but more about expression and removing labels and categories. For example, when Archie labels Connor as gay, he is mistaken; just as many people are in reality.



In this shot, we see Connor's secret, of the makeup, contrasted against his public portrayal of the erotic images. This shot highlights his double life and his determination to not have anyone find out about his secret - it shows how he may feel embarrassed, this allows the audience to feel sympathy for him.



These two shots come one after the other. The first one, an establishing shot of the dynamics of each character's relationship; clearly Lola and Connor are together and Archie is a friend of them both. The light colours of the first one add a sense of calm as Connor lives his reality. However, in the second one we see all 3 characters silhouetted by the light. It is during this moment when Lola is asking Connor to come to "Nina's". The audience are aware that Connor may be happier staying at home and dressing up, but Lola does not - the change of light and addition of darkness over them all highlights this secret and the darkness that Connor must be feeling.


This shot of Connor dressed in his most favourable attire, whilst boxing, again is a mixture of his two ways of expression. The simple mise-en-scene of the boxing poster is a constant reminder to Connor of how the world sees him, this gives insight into how he must feel having to constantly live up to public expectation. This scene also tells us that Connor is not aiming to be stereotypically feminine as he is choosing to practice his more masculine boxing stance whilst dressed in female attire. This highlights that the topic is not about sexuality but about expression.


This particular shot is interesting, as just before this, Lola was telling Connor how she is so proud of him for protecting Archie. However, the delivery and writing of this conversation may have been confusing to the audience, as well as Connor. This is because what Lola said could have inferred 2 different things; one being that she is proud of his bravery for protecting Archie, or possibly his bravery for expressing himself - it's easy to suspect that Lola might know about Connor's secret. Knowing this, this shot of Lola split into two, due to the cracks on a mirror, may be a reference to the multiple inferences you could make from what she said and the confusion that Connor feels, the confusion that may have led him to go to Nina's dressed in female clothing.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ellington Kid by Dan Sully

Image
The Ellington Kid by Dan Sully is a 5 minute short film about the current issue of knife crime in London. Although this is a dark topic, the narrators, who sit in the very kebab shop of the knife crime, bring a sense of comedy to the plot. The film is made up of a series of flashbacks to the stabbing, whilst Nathan portrays this to Beefy, who is freaked out by the story and questions it truth, all the while they trivially eat their meal. Eye level, symmetrical shot. Establishes the pairs' role together as a narrative. Natural daylight distinguishing the time difference between the flashbacks and the present day. Mise-en-scene of kebab shop in focus and clear to audience to create a somewhat relatable, realistic aesthetic. Depth of field - to reveal all that is in front of the lens; the worker and the emergent situation of the victim. Highlights the shock of worker as he stands still, away from the guy who has been stabbed. Colder lighting that that of the warm scen...
Read more

Operator by Caroline Bartleet

Image
Operator is a 6 minute short film, based upon a true event of an emergency call. The film aims to promote the work of the operators and how they manage to remain so calm in such frightening moments. The film relies heavily on the use of sound to create the image of what is happening on the other side of the phone; a mother and her child stuck in a fire at home.  This clip is from the very beginning of the film. It begins with a black screen with a layover of sound from to scene to come, in which you can hear typing. As the shot becomes clear and the viewer grasps a greater idea of the setting of the scene; a computer room, then voices start to enter. In this little snippet there is a mixture of lots of different sounds that are clearly all coming from the same room. This creates a busy atmosphere, highlighting how the operators are under a constant sate of busyness. The voice of the actor in the forefront of this shot is heightened to match her distance to the camera and...
Read more

Pitch & Narrative/Plot Sequence

HUSBAND AND WIFE STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP, LITERALLY. A short film, aimed to exaggerate the common circumstances in life-long relationships. Rose and Stanley have been married for over 20 years now. Together, they have 2 daughters and a difficult relationship. Throughout the course of the film, their relationship slowly deteriorates until they are unable to communicate properly. Rose is clearly on edge around Stanley, and a little bit fake. She tries to put in a lot of effort but Stanley is more laidback about the relationship and goes unbothered. This, amongst discoveries of Stanley's unfaithfulness, bothers Rose and drives her to murder.
Read more