'Look Up' - Weekly Film Analysis By: Unknown No comments

PRODUCED IN: 2014

RELEASED IN: 2014

TYPE: Short Film

GENRE: Romance, Expository Drama, Spoken Word

RUNNING TIME: 4:58

FILMING LOCATION: UK

LANGUAGE: English

WRITTEN, DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY: Gary Turk

CINEMATOGRAPHY AND EDITING BY: Gary Turk

SOUND ENGINEERING BY: Daniel Cobb

MUSIC BY: New Desert Blues

KEY CAST MEMBERS: Louise Ludlam & Stuart Darnley

THEMES: Social Media, Technology, Friendship, Love, Communication

NARRATIVE:

''Look Up' is a lesson taught to us through a love story, in a world where we continue to find ways to make it easier for us to connect with one another, but always results in us spending more time alone.' 

The plot of the film is presented predominantly through the use of silent acting and uses spoken word poetry as an innovative form of narration. Furthermore, it also uses calm, non diegetic mood music.

Additionally, in one part of the film, fast forwarding is used to show the vast amount of time passing whilst the protagonist remains still in the middle of the frame, staring down at his phone, oblivious to the world around him. This is similar to an idea from my short film which is to rewind the sequence of events within the film in order to present two alternate endings to the audience.

KEY SCENES:

The key scenes within the film include the moment when the male and female protagonists meet for the first time due to the man asking for directions. This is a key scene because not only is it the beginning of the romantic plot for the two characters, it is also the beginning of Turk's metaphor for the effects of social media and technology on society today which is the overall message that the film is aiming to expose.

The second key scene within the film would be when we are shown the same scene again, however, this two characters' meeting never happens as the man is too busy looking down at his phone, and therefore doesn't ask the woman for directions. This is a key scene as it is very powerful in reinforcing the message of just how much you can miss by focusing too much on technology and social media, rather than what is actually happening in real life.

OTHER:

This film makes up much of the inspiration for my own short film 'Behind The Screens' which is of the same expository drama genre, and told through many of the same techniques such as silent acting with a spoken word poetry voiceover and non diegetic music. However, my film will follow a much darker, more dramatic plot.

Another way in which this film is similar to mine is the use of alternate endings. For there are many points within this film which are shown twice, with two different sets of consequences, one good, one bad. This is known as a juxtaposition. This is a technique I plan to use in my film in order to reinforce the message and purpose of my film to the audience in a emotive and dramatic way which will cause them to think about and consider their actions.