Youth

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Cubs

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Soft

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"Gasman"

Lynne Ramsey’s Gasman is her third short film, made in 1997. It went on to win 4 awards, the Cannes Jury Prize, an International Award, BAFTA Scotland Award, an Leopards of Tomorrow award and nominated for 2 other awards. Since the making of Gasman, Lynne Ramsey as gone on to make her first feature film, Rat Catcher. Gasman revolves around a father and his children of a low class, in Scotland during the highly sensitive time of Christmas. At first we see a family getting dressed, the wife getting the children ready and the husband dressing himself whilst smoking and drinking, indicating that the family follows the traditional gender roles of the films time period. Once ready the father and children leave, we see the father and daughter playing in the middle of the road but the son distant, showing tension between them. We then see them following abandoned railway tracks, where we then meet a woman with two children, who are indicated to be also the father’s children. He converses with the mother and there seems to be tension between them, he then takes all four of the children with him to the pub where there is a Christmas party. The father detaches himself from the children and sits with his friends, leaving his four children with all of the other children, their only supervisor being a man dressed up as Santa, who also is drinking alcohol. The young girl who the father brings from the railway begins seeking attention from the father, making his daughter jealous of the attention he gives her. His daughter then begins to bully the young girl about spending time with her father, the father then tells her off. When leaving we see the father and all four kids holding hands, but the daughter squeezes the other girls hand to hard and is told of. The father reunites with the woman from the train tracks and she takes the two kids back, they go their separate ways, but whilst leaving the daughter stares back at the other children and throws a stone at their direction.

Again in this short film, as well as “The most beautiful man in the world” the key representational theme is Youth and in this short film, many different issues are raised, all having different ideological positions, some of the issues raised are jealousy, non-monogamous marriage, negligence, favouritism and signs of a patriarchal society and parental apathy. We can see how these issues are formed within the short film through the four technical areas of camera, sound, mise-en-scene and editing.

The first shot is off a man polishing shoes, the lighting and temperature colour of the background of the black shoe, makes the setting even more dark, suggesting a dark and grim plot. In the following shots we only see the limbs of the characters; this is strategic, as not be able to see the characters identities, makes the audience curious and want to carry on watching the film as we want to see the characters. We do however hear dialogue we hear the kids and the mother, through their accents we can identify them as Scottish. Through the beginning shots we can see the mother struggling with getting the kids ready, especially the daughter. Whereas the son is playing with his toy car, then pours sugar over the car, which fits into the non-diegetic music of the Christmas song “White Christmas”. But the harsh sound of the car moving across the sugar contradicts the cheerful music, reflecting the son’s emotions, indicating he is not happy about leaving with his father. We then see the father drinking and smoking, showing him to be separating himself from the world, maybe nervous about leaving, this is enhanced by the sound of his breathing, indicating his inner turmoil. The fact that he is smoking and drinking, whilst the mother prepares the children, indicates that the family follows the traditional gender roles of the films time period.

The father and children leave the home, leaving the mother alone in the house. When they left the house they went through a dark corridor that looks like a tunnel, suggesting the home has a darker side. There is a shot of the mother looking through the window at her leaving family; she has a expression of concern on her face, indicating she may know of her husband’s adulterous behaviour. The light shines over the window, causing the reflection of light to cover the mothers face; this is a tactic of the directors. To mask her face, suggesting that although she may know what her husband has been up to, she may pretend to play the happy housewife.

The economically challenged setting is reinforced when we see the father and children walking in the road, indicating they have no car, due to financial reasons. We see an element of misplaced hope with the family when we see a wide shot, similar to the one in “The most beautiful man in the world” they are at the top of the hilly road and the light makes them appear as silhouettes. This misplaced hope may be the daughter’s hopes for quality time with her father, or the fathers hopes to see his mistress and her children.

We see a shot behind the father and children and then moves in front of them, whilst they walk along the railway tracks. The tracks represent a path, in which they make repeatedly as if it is their fate in which they have no control, they can only follow it. The shot is a pin hole, dark edges surrounding the shot with the father in the middle and his daughter on his back. The sun and tall buildings behind them represent their hope and a perfect father daughter moment but this is negated by the distance of the son. He is away from them whilst they have this perfect moment together showing the fathers favouritism towards the daughter and increasing the appearance of how dysfunctional the family is.

The father and his children arrive to where a woman and her two children wait for them. The father greets her identifying that he knows her, he also shows signs of affection when he moves the hair out of her face slowly with his hand, further showing signs of adultery. Evidence of the challenging economy is present in the mise-en-scene as the woman and her children are wearing very dull looking cloths. The theme of adultery is enhanced when the son of the father tells his sister “she looks like you” referring to the other girl, indicating that they have genetic similarities, this may also indicate that the boy does know about the affair. We see the father and mother talking and through their body language we can see that she is asking for money, which he doesn’t have, this is why he drinks and smokes as he is under pressure to provide for two families. But also their proxemics are close which further indicate intimacy between them, reinforcing the theme adultery. As the father leaves with the four children the legitimate son falls behind them and throws stones at the father’s direction, showing his resentment for his father.

The father and the four children arrive at a dilapidated pub where a Christmas party is being held, the pub is also a sign of the economical struggle of their class. We see the father hold the door open for his children but let’s go of it as his legitimate son is about to walk through, showing their mutual resentment. We see an element of parental apathy as the father brings them to this dilapidated pub surrounded by alcohol and leaves the children to their own devices. We see the daughter’s boredom through the slow panning POV of the room; all the children are having a good time while she is a spectator. We can tell that she is in a chaotic environment as before her POV there is a blurred fast editorial pace.

Intoxication is represented in the short film when there is the handheld camera effect showing a drunken POV. This may be the POV of the Santa dressed man who happens to be the children’s only supervisor and also is drinking, which again shows negligence and parental apathy as the fathers are in one corner not bothering with their children. Also there are many jump cuts, which act as a sign of loss of consciousness, enhancing the effect of intoxication.

The two daughters become rivals as they fight for their father’s attention, the illegitimate daughter goes and sits on her father’s knee, his other daughter doesn’t like him giving attention and becomes aggressive with the other girl. The argument ends with the father telling off his daughter about her behaviour but their rivalry doesn’t end as when they leave the pub they again fight over who holds his hand, the brunette daughter squashes the other girl’s hands out of spite. The father ends the argument by picking both of them up in an attempt to comfort them both. The reunite with the fathers mistress and he gives her back her children, they don’t speak this time and they go their separate lives. The father and son begin walking home across the railway track but the daughter stares at the mistress and her children, she picks up a stone ad throws it at their direction. She also throws one at the direction of her father, showing that she us gained her brothers resentment and may know the truth about her father. She gives up by throwing her next stone at the floor and starts’ walking home, the screen fades to black.

Overall many themes are brought to the attention of the audience, some being non-monogamous marriage, the father clearly has been having affair with the women at the tracks and her two children are cleanly his as well. Parental apathy is another theme, he leaves his children in a pub their own devices, it would be alright if they had a responsible and sober supervisor, but they didn’t, due to this he put his children in danger. Similar to the theme apathy, the theme negligence is raised some may say he needs his own time with his friends at the pub, this true but is negated when his children are in a hazardous situation. Although the theme of this film revolves around youth, this particular short film highlights many parental problems. The adulterous, neglecting and apathetic father, the mother who denies the situation she’s in and the mistress who applies pressure on her married lover for money.

"The most beautiful man in the world"

This short film was written and directed by Alicia Duffy in 2002. Due to its success a year later, it won a BAFTA for best short film. The story revolves around a young girl, who is we see in the shelter of her home, but neglected by her own mother, who provides now stimulation of interaction. We then see her lying on the floor beside her dog, and we see her mother leave to answer the phone. This shows the mother and daughter were in the same room, which would in many other mother daughter relationships, bring cause for interaction. We then see the daughter’s temptation to go outside when she looks out the window; we then see her outside on her bike, riding in circles and her dog watching her. The girl begins looking towards the wild land and looks back to the house entrance, to see if anyone is there. Her mother is not supervising her so she decides to explore the wild land. We see her experiencing the sensual stimulation we gain from our five senses, showing her to feel free. She hears her dog and turns to where the sound originated and finds a man with her dog. She states that the dog is hers, the man remains silent but moves his hand to her shoulder where a bug crawls, and he picks it up and places it in her hand. This ends when the daughter looks back to her house where her mother is staring, she returns home, sits on the step staring towards the door, trapped from the liberating experience she just experienced. The minimalistic features used within a short film allow our imagination to explore the issues raised within the short film. This is important when studying short films as many characters can have ambiguous features, allowing us to explore different aspects of them. As people with different backgrounds, have radically different interpretations from the same thing. Leaving the character open for different interpretations brings fulfilment, stimulation and intrigue to a short film.

The key representational theme of this short film is youth, which links to different issues, such issues as child neglection, stimulation, innocence and boredom. We can see how these different issues link to the theme of youth through the four technical areas of camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene.

In the first shot, we see a tilt in the camera, showing us the young girl’s attire; through the mise-en-scene we can see her economical status as her clothing is old and dirty. This shows the girl is not receiving a good level of care. This is increased by the lighting of the room; the only source of light is from the television, which is artificial showing us how unnatural the setting is. The young girl yawns from the boredom of the artificial form of stimulation she receives, indicating that it is typical in her life that she is placed in front of the television for entertainment. In the next shot we see the girl lying on the floor, the room is silent, the television isn’t present and the lighting of the room is brighter but is a dull colour, this signifies her boredom. We also see the mother’s legs in the background, as we see only her legs; this indicates her minimalistic presence in her daughter’s life. Also we see her laying beside her dog, in contrast to the small appearance of her mother in the shot, the dog may be the girl’s main source of interactivity.

We can again see the shot of the girl in the dark room, lit by the television, we here a dialogue between the mother and another woman having a conversation about hair and the price for it. When the woman mentions the price, the other woman rebuttals in a surprised tone, which again shows her to be of a low economical status. The shot shows the young girl in front of the radiator, the radiator is a metaphor for the want of warmth, which she does not receive from her mother, showing the audience that she neglects her child. Also we can see that the girl’s eyes are cast down from the view of the television, showing us her lack of interest in it. In the next shot, it shows her on the floor again, the phone rings and the mother leaves the shot, leaving the girl alone. We see the girl get up and move towards the window and looks outside; this signifies her entrapment within the house desire to leave. We then again can identify them as a low economical status, as their house is run down and all of the furnishing is not of a modern style.

We see a wide shot of the girl riding her bike, the wide shot shows her how big the world is compared to her, it shows us her innocence. As she is in the big area, anyone can come and do harm to her, she is playing on a road and you can hear the sound of cars, which leaves her venerable to harm. She is also riding her bike in circles showing us her boredom, but also symbolises her daily routine being repetitive, indicating it is a cycle. This strongly highlights the issue of child neglection as no parent should leave their child left alone when outside. We also see the dog watching the girl; this shows him as her guardian. As the girl has suffered so much boredom and due to the lack of interactivity between her and her mum, she would turn towards the dog for comfort, this comfort would develop a bond between them, making the dog protective of her. This highlights the issue of child neglection even more, as the position of supervision of children is the parent’s responsibility, but the mother fails to fulfil her responsibilities and instead the dog does so instead. We then see her in a medium shot, where she is on the right side of the screen and her house door on the left. The door is open and no one is there, when the mother should be there, making sure no harm comes to her daughter. In a close-up the girl looks back to the door, her facial expression remains empty, showing us she is not surprised by her mother’s absence, but thinks it to be a typical thing. She turns back again by the sound of the birds song, luring her gaze like a siren to the wild grassland, but we see a motorway bridge in the distance, showing her vulnerability, as if she decided to go there she would most likely be harmed.

We then see the girl walk up to the fence that separates her from the wild grassland. The fence acts as a barrier, between her dull, boring cage and her freedom. The fences also have spikes on them, which indicate the danger of crossing the fence; it also highlights the fact that her mother should be there to stop her from even going near the fence. The girl stands at the fence for a while before crossing, showing her hesitation and that she has never experienced what is on the other side, that she doesn’t know anything of the world except for the limited information she gains from it from her own home. When she does decide to cross she disappears from the screen as if she ceases to exist, but when she reappears, it could be a sign of rebirth. Leaving her old world behind and entering the new one as a baby, new to everything and extremely venerable. Next we see her balancing, showing us she is new to this world and learning to walk in a new kind of life experience. A wide shot reveals her surrounded by the wild grassland and a small pond, which she could easily fall into, bringing forth the reoccurring issue of child neglection, as her mother shouldn’t let her child be playing around there, whilst all alone and with no supervision.

In the next few shots we see the girl going through a sensual revelation, as she explores the wild grassland using the senses. Senses she hasn’t has much use of, when being in the same place constantly. In the wild she is experiencing new smells, new textures of touch, new things to look at and lots of new sounds. The positivity of these shots show through the lighting as we have natural day light, on a non cloudy day, showing a contrast between the dark and dull lighting of the house and the clear, bright and positive lighting of the grassland. We see a underwater low angle shot of the young girl, the low angle shows the girl as empowered, in contrast to her old self. Water has many different connotations, such as, healing, rebirth and cleansing, which all fit into the girl’s feelings.

The girl’s attention is diverted behind her through the sound of her dog, she sees him with a stranger, but as the dog is a guardian figure and trusts this stranger, which gives the assumption that he has not bad intentions with the girl. We can identify the girl’s new found courage in life when she directly states that, the dog is hers. The man responds by stepping up from the dog, his towering height and the dark exposure on his face would lead the audience to the assumption that he is a bad person. But that assumption may be put aside by his next act, he removes the bug from the girl’s shoulder and instead of killing it, he sets a good example by placing it in her hands, showing her that it is harmless and showing her compassion, he becomes a role model to the girl. He interacts with her more in that short space of time than her mother does in the beginning. A few close-up shots of their faces show them smiling at each other, the lighting becomes a sunset shade, which is a more gentle light, showing the innocence in this scene. We see them both together in a wide shot of the wild grassland, we see a contradiction that this stranger is there to supervise a child and her mother not in sight, as this stranger may be dangerous but as there is no supervision, the girl is extremely venerable.

We then see a exchange in glances between the stranger and the mother, but through the media language, we can tell that the looks they share are familiar and indicate hate. Bringing forth the idea that he may be the girl’s father but not allowed to see her due to parental rights. The girl sees her mother staring and quickly glances back at the stranger, but we can notice a difference in her complexion, before in the house her complexion was sweaty and she looked ill, now it’s clear and bright, showing how her experience has rejuvenated her. The girl runs back to her mother, showing us she recognises her as a figure of authority and we see the stranger’s disappointment and sorrow with her leaving, indicating deep emotional feelings for the girl, father indicating him as her father. We then see the girl trapped in her home again, a door separating her; the door has glass panels on it shining light through to the girl, contrasting her experience outside with her experiences indoors. A wide shot of the stranger in the grassland is shown, showing the audience is sadness and showing the similarity between him and the girl. Her life is trapped in an small environment with her mother but feeling alone and the man living in the world free to go where he wish but feels empty without the girl. We again see a contrast in the girls experience when she is sitting on the step, with complete darkness behind her and shining light in front. The last shot shows the cycle that was mentioned earlier, she was trapped watching television offering her little stimulation, then goes outside where the boredom is slightly eased, then she enters the wild grassland where she experiences all these new things and is stimulated but then returns to her home where she again has to watch television, which is now worse now that she has experienced something much better. Her complexion also becomes ill looking again and the radiator is shown again, symbolising the warmth she desires, the warmth she experienced from the stranger.

In this short film the director shows the issues surrounding the theme of youth, using only three characters to achieve the successful portrayal of the issues. This short film would raise different ideological positions, especially in terms of the issue of child neglection. Obviously most people think that it is wrong but there are people who believe that if a child is left to entertain themselves or care for themselves, then they would develop better. But from what we see in the short film the most rational assumption of what ideological position does the mother take is, one that doesn’t care, who show little interest and show no acknowledgement in the failure to fulfil their parental obligations. Another ideological issue raised is the question of the stranger’s identity, with careful analysis; he is clearly a father, who we assume is denied rights to see his daughter due to the mother. But for people watching without the analytical perspective would just assume he is paedophiliac or a person who will bring violence to this girl. I think that his non obvious identity was created purposely by the director to shows us our instant negative preconception of other human beings, especially the preconceptions of people in regards to the current national issue of child abusers.