1. Sundown
United Kingdom 2016
Director: Lauren Oakes
4m 36s
Reviewed by Katie Sullivan
What begins as as seemingly everyday task goes
spiralling out of control with this cinematically beautiful
piece of short form filmmaking. From the Director of
‘Coming Home’ Oakes has created yet another heart
wrenching piece.
The theme of loneliness seems to be a favourite of
Oakes’s taking from her debut short and throwing into
her next piece with dramatic and successful results.
The portrayal of this runs throughout and yet again the
protagonist meets a stranger and finds hope in
humanity for an escape out of their own mind.
Keira Dulake (Jada) gives an outstanding
performance in Oakes riveting slice of life drama with
a twist in the tale. The speechless narrative highlights
her skill as an actor as there is no speech to distract
the audience with. Her expressions and actions reach
out to us with deep meaning, and the micro element
and props she works with highlight this.
What seems like a normal girl walking her dog, as we
watch further into the film we see she is fighting.
Fighting for happiness, love, friends… She wants
company. The small yet powerful flint expresses to us
and foreshadows events bringing into the equation
the thriller element.
Sound is key and Oakes yet again has pulled it out of
the bag. She is keeping her challenges high and her
standards for completing them higher! The thriller
aspect sure makes you jump with short, sharp sound
effects and the use of atmospheric weather, the
hybridity of this short works well. For a wider audience
social realism isn't the one, however with the
combination of thriller, adored by the younger
generation has allowed her to eliminate with ease the
problems with audiences likes and dislikes by killing
two birds with one stone.
As for the setting, we feel an eerie atmosphere
indicating the next events in the film. Oakes couldn't of
found a better place if she tried, unless she had the
budget of a billionaire and built it from scratch! The
abandoned Fort is a perfect location filled with sharp
edges, corners, shadowed sections and many elements
brilliantly spotted for filming.
Not only a determined producer, the challenges Oakes
has had to overcome in order to create the problem in
the film. Using the clearly untrained puppy tustve been
a huge stall in filming as many of the scenes rely on
Sadie’s actions.
Mise en scene has been amazingly executed to
portray certain aspects of the film to the audience. Even
the first opening scene with a leave falling connotes the
deflation and unsettlement in the film. The flint she runs
her thumb over… suggesting the unhappiness and
loneliness in her life and foreshadowing the cut she gets
from the broken glass.
Although fast paced, a clear and somehow rushed
ending to this short is surprisingly successful as it opens
up the characters work for the audience to see. It is as
though Oakes ran out of time as the last scene is simply
glazed over, touching on certain subjects. Although we,
as an audience understand what is happening, a little
extra mise-en scene and macro to micro elements
wouldn't have gone a miss.
It is early new year, wintery weather, a young woman Jada takes her dog Sadie for a walk over familiar grounds.
They come to a bench and Jada decides to take a sit down while Sadie sniffs around. Jada spots a pice of flint and
starts carving her name into the bench. She looks closely at the sharp edges and runs her thumb over it. then
looking up from her closed world she realises she had taken her eye off of Sadie and could see her nowhere.
In a flustered state she runs after the puppy unaware that she is running into an unfamiliar, derelict piece of land.
Naively with each step she is exposing herself to the fog that is swallowing up any way for her to get home. She
sights an old fort and decides to head towards it. With no recognition of where she is and no signal on her phone she
is stranded alone and frightened. The howling wind, rustling bushes and the intense feeling of fear inside her
overrides her sense of logic and she decides to take a rest in one of the shelters of the fort to try and escape the
eerie weather.
After a while she manages to fall asleep due to pure exhaustion. Uncomfortably dreaming she twists and turns
eventually leaning on a piece of glass waking her up. The cut is bleeding and is the final straw to her awful night.
She starts crying, wishing for this all to be over when a quiet whimpering can be heard.
Looking around her, her eyes adjust to the bright light of sunrise and she can see her dog.
Before she gets a chance to run to the puppy she sees that it is laying in the lap of an stranger. She begins to edge
away try to scream to give her the dog yet nothing comes out. He gives her a subtle smile to signal to her he means
no harm and hands the puppy over. Their hands touch slightly in the exchange and a wave of emotion fills her with
the sense of relief. He sighs as she leaves and lays down.
After her eventful night she just wants to go home. She thinks about the man she just met, smiles, and begins to run
home. Even Sadie smiles.
Produced by
Lauren Oakes
Written by
Lauren Oakes
Assistant
director
Keira Dulake
Editor
Lauren Oakes
Original
Production
Companies
174 Studio
Shot
Pin up studios
Seahorse
Studios
In association
with
Global Films
LSAO
Poison Ivy
studios
Starring
Keira Dulake
Dianne Royle
Sadie
Location
National trust
Reigate Hill
Fort
Credits and Synopsis
Immense atmosphere : Keira Dulake
