1. Review
By JacobAshley
Director Megan Windmill’s new short film ‘Bus Stop’ has
an intruding form. It has a conventional structure with a
beginning, middle and end, but the shape is
unconventional, as it starts contained, minimalistic and
raw in style at the bus stop, then moves to being
expansive with pathways and foliage. The shape is also a
metaphor, as it starts with standard siblings paired
dynamic at the start then becomes complex at the end.
However, this assemblage is mixed with hints of cliché as
some of the romantic aspects of the story line might come
across as cliché, if they were not balanced with an
intriguing plot with strong themes and issues, as the
vulnerable young girl is abandoned in a spine-chilling
situation, which really highlights the underscoring
interpretation surrounding neglect and isolation.
The poetic framing of the scenery matches that of
Windmill’s previous work in her social realism film
introduction Addiction, however if there is a weakness in
her art it is the close dynamic relationships. Despite this
her directing of the young girl on her own creates a
performance, which speaks to the audience with such
intensity that our response rides on waves of empathy and
fear. Borrowing ideas from ‘The Most Beautiful Man In
The World’, Windmill took the settings of a normal
mundane place such as a bus stop, similar to the house of
‘The Most Beautiful Man In The World’. To then move on
to a natural setting of the forest, similar to ‘The Most
Beautiful Man In The World’ with its field of nature and
beauty. This creates binary opposition between the
settings as they contrast to one another as it goes from
mundane to an unusual place of nature, even though
Windmill’s forest is tense and eerie unlike the tranquil
environment in ‘The Most Beautiful Man In The World’.
Whilst we might expect the acting of the
younger girl Lilly
to be slightly lacking in realism due to the young
age of
the actor herself, the performance is distinguished and
outstanding. The facial expressions of the close up shots
capture the details of angst and dismay. This capability
seen from the actress's performance demonstrates the
admirable direction from Windmill eliciting a certain level
of performance from the protagonist in a short with such
high stakes. This allows the audience to connect with the
raw situation Lilly is left in and the deep internal conflict
allows the audience to connect through body language
and facial expressions. Lilly is seen at the bus stop with
the dilemma of whether to follow her sister or stay put.
The lack of dialogue never results in any problems of lack
of understanding fro the audience because there is a solid
internal logic running through each scene with each scene
motivating the next more as the struggle is materialized on
the girl’s face. This lack of dialogue follows the rules of
Milgrom’s theory as to have little dialect to be successful
paid off in Windmill’s short film.
Windmill is on record as having said how much she has
been influenced by Marilyn Milgrom, as demonstrated in
‘Bus Stop’. Windmill has created a character, a world and
a problem. The predicament and dilemma of the older girl
links to Milgrom’s idea that the main character should
have a want, need and obligation. The older girl wants to
meet up with the love interest, but she has the obligation
to look after her sister and then she needs to find her
sister at the end. This ensures that the character’s
problem is the heart of the film. With the representation of
age being a factor in this as the older girl neglects to show
any nurture towards the younger girl, which allows the
audience to understand the perhaps self-serving priorities.
The person texting her is her girlfriend who clearly is a
factor as to the growth of her questionably pre-eminence.
This character plays a big part in the short, however, has
a lack of screen time, which adds to the mystery of this
character and their intentions.
Overall it is evident that Windmill’s short has had a lot of
thought put into it, and well demonstrated in every aspect
of the production from mise en scene to internal emotions
of the characters is portrayed on the screen. If the work of
Windmill continues to flourish then there will be more
intriguing film being produced by this young director.
MAY 2017
SHORTS MONTHLY
United Kingdom 2017
Director: Megan Windmill
Certificate: PG
63 / Shorts Monthly / May 2017
Credits & Synopsis
Producer Production Companies
Megan Windmill Windmill Studio with 123 Production
Written by in association with Beacon Studio
Megan Windmill Cast
Photography by Emily Townsend
Megan Windmill Erin Windmill
Edited by Beth Izatt
Megan Windmill Distributed by
Director Windmill Media UK
Megan Windmill Runner
Assistant Director Jennifer Windmill
Aimee Lee
A girl in her late teens is at a bus stop. She receives messages
from someone pushing to meet up. Eventually she decides to go,
leaving her younger sister alone. Who stays at the bus stop before
following her sister into the woods. Inside the woods she gets lost
and falls over. The older girl meets her girlfriend in the woods and
they sit together until the girlfriend tries to kiss her. But the girl
doesn’t want to be kissed and starts to look at her phone. The
girlfriend snatches the phone and aggressively throws it to the floor.
The girl screams and run off. She searches for her sister until she
finds her, when reunited they embrace and the older girl says sorry.
