NEA evaluation

1. Evaluation Tallulah Pollock 4097 Alleyn’s School 10802
The Academy defines a short film as having a ‘running time of 40 minutes or less’. Short
films are made and vary in all aspects; genre, aesthetics, narrative and so on. Some short
films are made using digital cameras, some on 65mm and some are animated; there is no
true definition of a short film. However, there is a general aim to create content which
provokes emotion or thought whilst spreading messages of filmpoetics and current or
historical knowledge. The short film, Operator by Caroline Bartleet, taps into the intensity
surrounding those working in the emergency services. Its duration of 6 minutes still
manages to create a strong spectator reaction. In contrast to this, Nick Rowland’s Slap is a
drama dealing with the struggles of gender identity, lasting 25-minutes. In this film, the
length allows the intensity to build slowly rather than being immediate. My film, Till Death
Us Do Part, also aims to build tension. As my film is not the 25-minutes that Rowland’s is,
there is less time to do this in. This made it harder to create a gradual build of suspense.
In Till Death Us Do Part, Rose and Stanley have been married for over 20 years. Throughout
the course of the film, their marriage slowly deteriorates. My filmends in an implied murder
and is a somewhat open ending. This matches, The Ellington Kid, which ends ambiguously
with the kebab shop owner sharpening his knife, whilst listening to Nathan telling Beefy the
story of the murder. I chose the title for my filmbecause of its dual meaning with relation to
the commitment of wedding vows but also, the idea that death did cause Rose and Stanley
to finally part, literally. This choice of title can be compared to the short film title, Slap; with
its connection to the action of hitting, but also, the use of makeup.
The BFI defines genres by “their narratives, or themes [and] also by their iconography,
characteristics and stylistic elements”. The Fly, involves the plot line of robbery, yet you
can’t help but be amused by the bug that causes the protagonist to mess up his role in the
crime. Till Death Us Do Part, has the essence of dark comedy too, as it involves a murder yet
there are moments of amusement as the audience is able to relate to Roses annoyance of
Stanley’s trivial behaviour, such as being unable to pick a TV channel – their relationship
issues, on the surface, appear funny, however, the speech is not explicitly comedic, this
suggests it strays from dark comedy into domestic drama. My original script, was for a
drama, but then I realised it would better fit a dark-comedy due to the relatable family
elements. For example, when Stanley and Rose are in the car and he decides to ignore his
wife by listening to loud music; the idea of this occurring in reality is funny, meaning the
dramatic effect, I had originally wanted, shifts slightly.
The aesthetic of my film is naturalistic, although, the setting changes quite a lot in the film
as most scenes are shot in different locations, such as the garden, the bedroom, the car and
the living room:

2. Evaluation Tallulah Pollock 4097 Alleyn’s School 10802
This is more similar to Nick Rowland’s, Slap, which also utilizes multiple locations. Whereas,
The Arrival, Operator, The Fly and Tight Jeans, are all filmed in one location. This suggests
it’s more common for short films to have fewer locations, possibly because it’s hard to
develop a story that way in a short duration of time. Slap, is a lot longer than the other films
I mention, which is probably why they were able to use a variety of settings to film in. This
makes me think whether the story line I used for my film, was too complex to fit into 5
minutes, and it possibly may work better as a longer piece
You are introduced to the lead characters, Stanley and Rose, and their marriage through a
montage edit of archive photos from earlier years. As I cast family members in my film, I had
the privilege of using real photographs taken throughout their marriage, giving me the
ability to establish this character set up for the audience in a short space of time.
The narrative of Till Death Us Do Part, is in flashback and mostly episodic; the opening being
a flash-forward to the ending of the film, which uses the same shot of Rose standing above
the camera:
This echoes John Threlfall’s, Over, which begins at the end of the plot line, and runs through
the sequence of events backwards. I incorporated the use of reversing the plots events in
my filmnear the ending, when Rose is suffocating Stanley, by copying and pasting the whole
film, in order, into this scene, and rewound it at high speed, as if the whole story was being
told again, but in a different mode. The purpose of this was to represent how Stanley’s
death causes both Rose and Stanley to reflect on their marriage and how it has
deteriorated, leading to murder.
Following this opening, the film has a more evident beginning with the family taking a
photograph in the garden. In this shot, I attempt to set up a balanced equilibrium showing
Stanley and Rose getting on with each other, which follows Todorov’s structuralist form of
narrative. In reference to a more complex five-part structure, such as Freytag’s Pyramid, this
second opening, is essentially, the exposition, in which the whole family is presented to the
beginning
ending

3. Evaluation Tallulah Pollock 4097 Alleyn’s School 10802
audience in order to establish the action that follows. This same shot is used again, later in
the film; to highlight a break in the original equilibrium as the family’s relationship appears
to be strained. The characters are wearing different costume here, representing the passing
of time. This use of disequilibrium is similar to the one Lewis Arnold uses in ECHO, when the
character Caroline, is shot for a second time, in the same location of the city center, crying
to a stranger about her dad being in a motorbike accident – it is here when you realise that
she is a con-artist; the fact Arnold has used the same location twice makes this realisation
more obvious. Therefore, I used the same location of the garden, to make the break-down
of Rose and Stanley’s marriage more pronounced. My filmdoes follow Todorov’s three-part
structure as a new equilibrium is restored at the ending, this being the death of Stanley, and
so a new journey for Rose now her painful marriage is over.
Editing is an important aspect which shapes the narrative of my film. Between each scene, I
use a fade to black which continues to a new setting to represent the change of space and
time, allowing the plot sequence to continue in linearity. Within each short sequence I used
traditional continuity editing. For example, in the scene in which Stanley and Rose are
arguing in the car, I use multiple shot-reverse-shots, which alternate between mid-shots of
the two of them.
This helps highlight the complex sound editing: in each shot of Rose, the music (that Stanley
is listening to) is really loud, but in the reverse shot of Stanley, it is muffled and you can
mostly hear Rose shouting. I did this in attempt to portray each shot from the point of view
of whichever character was behind the camera, in order to build suspense, highlighting the
contrast of each of their differing attitudes towards
the relationship. I also use a sound bridge of Stanley
snoring just before Rose commits the murder,
highlighting that everything he does annoys her and
is constantly on her mind. Mise-en-scene is also
used in my film to create aesthetic effects and bring
up subtle messages which contribute to the
narrative structure. For example, towards the end
of the film, Rose is reading a newspaper with the
headline “The Ultimatum” – this is used to
foreshadow the death of Stanley and the ending of
their relationship.
When I presented my film to my peers, they specifically mentioned the birthday scene, and
how they felt confused by the sound, where Stanley’s voice is placed over the footage as if
he is coming in through the door, unseen by the camera. Following this feedback, I

4. Evaluation Tallulah Pollock 4097 Alleyn’s School 10802
attempted to make this clearer, by re-recording him using different dialogue and making the
sound of his keys entering the door sharper.
Overall, you can see I have taken ideas from across the set list of short films to form the
narrative of my film. The genre, is closest to The Fly whilst Over, offered some inspiration to
the narrative, particularly the moment of rewind. The resolution implies death yet the
viewer is unable to see this. I aimed to play with gender roles here as the wife murders the
husband – if the roles were reversed, maybe it wouldn’t have been so funny and the
domestic drama would have had a different effect on the spectator.
Word Count: 1496.