Short films notes/essays

An Analysis and Comparison of the Narrative Features in Each Film 

When the Day Breaks: 

The main two characters are in similar scenes of them getting ready for their day by making their breakfast. The pig feels responsible for the death of the chicken, which matches with the audience’s reaction to the events and allows us to reflect on how we would act in this situation. The setting is set up through the film by using establishing shots to show the building where the two characters live. We know it is early in the morning as the characters are getting ready for their day. Quick paced transitions when going through the wires of electrical equipment allows the audience to see how no one else cares about the chicken’s death apart from the pig, this allows us to see the narrative crisis and resolution. The crisis of ‘When the Day Breaks’ is the chicken being run over. This is resolved later on in the short film where the pig starts to deal with the death of the chicken, after realizing it was an accident. This narrative crisis and resolution of the short film allows the creators to explore the binary opposition of Guilty Act vs Guilty Mind. This is the key theme in ‘When the Day Breaks’ which explores how people may feel like they are guilty, despite not doing anything wrong. The film is similar to the other films in multiple ways. Like in ‘La Jetee’, the short animated film follows two primary characters, with one being developed the most. There are other characters in the films but they are not heavily involved in the story. ‘Night Fishing’ uses songs, like in ‘When the Day Breaks’, which shows the audience the emotions of the character, similar to how songs are treated in musicals on stage on Broadway or the West End in London. 

Night Fishing: 

The film sets up its characters by throwing them into the scene. Due to the limited screen time, not a lot of backstory is shown. The main guy who goes fishing is introduced to us by him simply walking to the lake. The band seen throughout is also introduced at the beginning. They are the first people we see, and they start the film by singing a song, that seems out of place. This shows them as a mysterious entity, showcasing how this film is filled with enigmas and is up to interpretation. The woman who is the voice of the man’s spirit in the second half of the film is also left with no introduction, meaning the audience have to figure out who she is. The opening of the film sets up the location by showing the audience a mid shot of the back of the man’s head as he walks along to the river. We also see him set up his equipment, showing us that this is where the action will take place. This makes the final half of the film jarring as it’s change of location to the traditional Chinese building is odd and peculiar as it is has not been previously set up. The opening shot is during dusk. The warm tones in the sky show that it is dusk, meaning we know that scenes later on in the film, would be in the dark. The enigmas of the film center around, what is going on. The audience is left in the dark about what is happening. We don’t get any introduction to the story. The woman who is said to be consumed by the man’s spirit is implied and not explicitly said, meaning that this might not be the intention to what is happening. The story seems to follow a man who dies whilst fishing at night, leading to a woman being possessed by his soul so the family can get some closure. There isn’t a crisis here, and there isn’t a resolution. These enigmas make the binary opposition impossible to understand. They somewhat show how no one is truly dead, possibly breaking that binary opposition, but he is truly dead as the soul cannot repossess the woman, meaning that there is a barrier between the two worlds, hence solidifying the binary opposition.  

La Jetee: 

The character of the woman is introduced to us through the male character. Due the male character going back and forth in time, we see his relationships with the woman, which also develops his character. They are both similar people who have similar interest due to their romantic relationship. Time is fluid in the short film, the mise–en-scene of the film allows the audience to see how the future is dark and compare it to the present and their own lives. This means the audiences will see how their present is better then it could be and then work to make sure it doesn’t become the dystopian future shown in the film. The narrative of the film follows a man being sent back in time to see a woman again that he loved., at the end of the film, he is shot when he tries to see her again. This shows how death is abrupt. explores the binary oppositions of past and present but having the narrative flicking between the two, showing actions reflect other action is the future. The man’s death at the end shows how you cannot escape these actions and they will haunt you for the rest of time. This shows the moral of the film is to be careful of your actions in a sense.  

Meshes of the Afternoon: 

The woman of the film is shown set up repeatedly as we see her explore the house and enter the house multiple times. This is too show how the mysterious the character is and the enigma of what she is doing here is developed as we see more of the house. The character exploring the house is how we see the setting developed throughout the film. It is set up with her entering the house, and then developed later through this search. The time aspect is messy due to the non-linear structure as we constantly see the woman enter the house from the point of view of the first woman the audience sees enter the house. The enigma of the film is what reality is and what is actually a dream. The audience do not know what the resolution of the story is. The narrative itself is confusing as it seems to follow a woman exploring a house as more and more people enter.This is to make the audience think about what is real and not real and to figure it out for themselves and to make their own judgement.