- Alex - Sorry I'm Late
- Jerome - Skin Deep
- Katie - Slap
- Roisin - Spin
- Me - Sign Language
- Emma - Envy
- Carla - New Boy
Sign Language
This is the film that I chose. I chose this film because it was a very uplifting film and about someone's passion for their work and how it made something so boring actually very interesting. It's shot with an average camera - Canon 7D and edited in Final Cut Pro and After Effects. The film had an incredible shooting budget of £237 (not including the camera used to film and the editing software) altogether, the production budget would've come to just under £5000. The 5 minute short film is documentary style and it was short-listed by Virgin Media shorts for the best short film of 2010.
It begins with the man, called Ben, stating "Yeah. My work place is wonderful - and I wanna' share it.". He explains what his work is like and what he does for a living. We learn about him through the cutaways of him where we see him do his job. He explains that he is an "Information Static Technician - a board guy". He tells us that he's been doing his job for 15 years but he's been promoted to a higher position. He enthusiastically describes the requirements for his job and his past: the job runs in the family. He points out all of his friends "my work mates are amazing" and we see shots of them doing their job.
Ben resembles tour guide in character: he discloses information about London's past to us and tells us about the street and location he's in, in a geographical sense. We know that he adores his occupation because he says "there's so much community, so much life - but most people don't see past the neon. I'm here to point out less obvious things".
The music used is folklore music and sounds upbeat, matching in with the tone of the film. We hear the faint sound of traffic, telling us that it's another busy day in London. It's something that makes us feel at home because we're so used to hearing the sound. The only effects that are used are panning - to draw our attention to the sign posts being used (for comedic effect) and an optical effect - focus pull. The focus pull is also used to draw our attention to interesting things that we otherwise wouldn't find interesting. The visuals are very literal in meaning, like when Ben says "opportunity right under our nose" we see a cup of coffee under his colleague's nose. They've got to be literal in meaning because that's what gets his point across about things.
As the film progresses, we begin to think that Ben's fantasising about his friends because no-one seems to be acting the way that he describes them to be. Everything seems to be normal - but we know that everything's not normal because Ben seems to sound like he's holding back tears in his throat. Earlier on, he mentions that it is his last day in his current position before he gets promoted - maybe that's why his colleagues aren't acting as they should be. His alarm startles us - it communicates to us that time is up and that it is the end of his shift, not only that - it's the end of his 15 year occupation. Ben seems disappointed about his colleagues not giving him a "send off".
He's about to leave, but as he starts to proceed, he pauses. Someone whistles. We see Ben's reaction to the whistle before we actually see the whistler. Ben looks astonished: everyone's saying goodbye to him through sign posts. The signs are a visual pointer as to what the audience should be looking at. The last signs say "Before you go" and "Just talk to her". Ben walks over to the female colleague who he seems to take a particular liking to. We realise that his friends weren't just a fantasy - that they were only out of character because it was his last day. He heads over to his female colleague.
The short film uses medium close-ups and frames the man at the side, just like a documentary interview would. It also uses cutaways for the purpose of pointing out the beauty of the city, in addition to that it points out his situation: his friends and occupation. The title of the short film 'Sign Language' is very literal in meaning. It is exactly that: sign language. One of the many ways of communicating with people and the film shows us that it's an effective way. No dialogue comes from anyone else apart from Ben, but the sign posts at the end make us laugh because it's strange to be making conversation so openly in public.
The film is all about aspiration and it sums up what most feature films can't, all in under 5 minutes. There is an equilibrium (him working on the street - average day), disequilibrium (his shift ends - alarm - nobody's said goodbye?) and a resolution (everybody's holding up sign posts wishing him the best of luck and wishing him farewell). Nothing's left unexplained at the end and the best thing about this short film is that you don't get bored because you only have to watch it for 5 minutes. No gap is left unfilled.
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