Genre: Drama, Crime
Themes: Courage; bravery; confidence; trust/distrust; growing up; keeping up appearances; relationships; family; status; respect/disrespect; pain; cruelty; persecution; violence
Near the beginning of the film we can hear loud, diegetic music from son’s room which shows him shutting himself away/blocking out the world and the bullies. This audial barrier also shows his broken/stilted relationship between him and his father.
Later on in the film we also hear the non diegetic sound of a heartbeat when the father is walking away from the crowd of youths. This is successful as it shows the characters nervous emotion and builds tension for the audience.
At the end of the film we then hear the piercing car alarm which is extremely unpleasant, therefore creating tense and unsettling atmosphere to sit through; much like the subject matter of the film. It also symbolises the pain and violence of the film as it is a harsh, piercing sound. (Something which could also be related to a police siren which links to the crime genre and the seriousness of the situation.)
Furthermore, this alarm sound only comes to an end when the father uses his car keys to silence it, giving him a small sort of power and status which he didn’t have before. This could be seen as a metaphor for the power that he and his son gained/stole from the act of defeating the oppressors.
The film begins with a from above/crane establishing shot which introduces the audience to the setting. The same shot is shown again at the end of the film, giving it a circular structure.
Hand - held camera shots are used in ‘Soft’ to show movement and make watching the film even more intense as it makes the audience feel like they’re experiencing the action first hand.
The film includes a range of shots and angles to engage the audience and follow the fast moving pace of the film.
In the kitchen scene, the son is only shot from one angle of his face so we can’t see the bruises. This is effective as this withheld information creates suspense for the audience.
The film has moderately high-key lighting throughout, however the handheld footage, has a darker, more grainy filter.
The film is interjected with raw footage throughout which enhances the experience as it conveys the unsettling, disturbing mood of the film.
Likewise, this mood is also reflected by the high-speed editing in the most tense parts of the film as this mood is then portrayed successfully to the audience, creating further suspense and tension.
The performance in ‘Soft’ is extremely successful as the characters are realistic and believable, for example; the father and son’s relationship seems real which can’t necessarily be said for a lot of similar relationships in TV dramas today.
Through the use of their facial expression, body language, voice, movement, and paralinguistic devices, the characters convey a range of emotions such as anger, fear and bemusement.
An example of this would be when the bullies are outside their house, sitting on their car and shouting abuse through the door. Here we can sense the sons fear as the conversation between him and his father gets more and more tense, with the son constantly repeating “Do something dad!” after every line of abuse and the father holding him back. We can also see the father’s fear in this scene as his eye focus grows more shifty and uneasy and he continues to swallow more and more often, both of which are clear signs of nervousness which show that he too is just as, if not more, afraid than his son.
The father then continues to shout and curse at his son, even going as far as to push him back inside the room, which also clearly conveys his heightened anger and fear.
The evident differentiation between the “good” characters and the “bad” characters is shown through their contrasting behaviour. For example, the audience are made to feel sympathetic towards the father and son as their more timid, innocent body language and behaviour towards the beginning of the film and the fact that they are being ridiculed and abused so cruelly by the oppressors, evokes sympathy in the audience, who therefore label them as the ‘victims’ or ‘the good guys’.
On the other hand, they are made to feel hatred towards the bullies because of their crude, offensive behaviour which go against the expected norms and values of today’s society.
This contrast is also shown through other visual elements such as the difference in physical appearance, costume and props. For example; the bully’s informal hat and tracksuit set which are stereotypically associated with lower class, delinquent youths, compared to the father’s formal shirt and tie attire which are usually associated with well respected, well - off gentlemen.
Props are also very important in ‘Soft’. An effective example being at the end of the film when the boy uses the baseball bat to fight back to the bullies.
The setting simply ranges from in and around the house and shops.
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