SILENT THINGS-FRANCES

Silent things:

The film opens with an establishing shot of a sandy beach. We can only hear background sound and there is no dialogue as we are introduced to our two characters which are male and female. There is irony because the title of the short film is silent things and the two characters are standing there in complete silence while they fiddle with  a kite, this is shown through a an eye level medium shot.

Next the scene cuts to the male character on the beach flying the kite they were fiddling with and we are shown this through a point of view shot of the kite. There is diegetic sound of the waves crashing, then another female character is introduced where she walks over to the male character and the camera shoots from behind with a long two shot. As the two characters begin to exchange dialogue there is no obvious sign of disability straight away from either characters, it is only made clear to the audience when the male character says he is asperges syndrome. This displays this social group in a non-stereotypical way as there is no obvious difference between the two characters in the way that they look or behave. This scene then cuts to the first female character we met, approaching the two characters with an angry and sad facial expression.

Her disability is represented through the use of sound, and she walks over the two characters voices are hardly audible which makes it clear she is deaf. Her disability is more obvious than the character with asberges syndrome as you can notice her disabilty not only through sound but by her body language and facial expression.

The scene then cuts to the deaf character and shows through her body language she acts differently to the other two characters. There is then a cut and the setting changes to the male character and the second female we are introduced to are standing on a ferry. Through his facial expression his disability is shown and he looks uncomfortable and uneasy, this is shown through a close up of his face from a side angle.

The female character turns to him to see that he is struggling and a concerned look is shown by her facial expression, this is shown through a shallow depth of field. The male character pushes the female away as she

tries to comfort him and sound becomes distorted and quiet. He flinches when people try to touch him and comfort him, this represents his disability and shows he is not completely able as the audience once thought.

There is then a cut where we are shown the deaf female character, her disability is represented by her closing her eyes and talking to herself and it is clear to the audience that she is is also struggling. When she sees the police talking to the male character she tries to approach them but they don't let her. Non-diegetic music is played which creates a gloomy dark atmosphere which reflects her disability and mood. The image is desaturated and the sound is very muffled. It then cuts back to the male character who is crying into his hands. This shows disability that he isn't mentally stable enough to cope.

We are then shown an eye line match between the deaf character and the male character and shot reverse shot sequence as they both fail to handle the situation. The female character doesn't take her eyes off him as he walks away. She turns her head to follow him and there is an eyeline match and a shot reverse shot sequence as he looks back at her before he walks away. It then cuts to the other female character leaving the hospital walking toward the camera, we are shown this through a medium close up where we see a point of view shot of the deaf female character standing outside on her own looking down at the floor sadly. It cuts back to the other female where her facial expression looks shocked and sympathetic. The deaf character walks away and there is a fade to black.

The next scene is of the male character on the beach from previous shots which is shown through a long shot. There is diegetic sound of the waves crashing and the deaf female character walks into the frame. It cuts as she crouches down next to him which is shown through a medium shot as she helps him build his kite. There is no dialogue again. There is a cut to a side view shown through a close up of them and an eyeline match towards the sky where a bird is flying and cuts to a close up of the male characters face who is smiling whilst watching the bird, and then to her. There is non-diegetic music playing which is calm. It cuts to an extreme long shot overlooking the beach and then white titles appear in the centre of the screen.