short film review bus stop

1. MAY 2017
SHORTS WEEKLY
BUS STOP
United Kingdom 2017
Director: Megan Windmill
Certificate: PG
(ENTER CAPTION HERE)
Review
by Jacob Ashley
Director Megan Windmill’s short ​Bus Stop
supports and adheres to conventions of a
short, whilst her story lacks imagination. It is a
cliche plot of an innocent young child being
abandoned with the overused issues of
neglect, isolation and relationships. Whilst the
narrative may be unoriginal the technical
elements make it stand out as the camera
work and framing hold their own unique style.
The high quality of framing and camera work
matches that of Windmill’s previous work in
her social realism film introduction ​Addiction​ ,
however this piece of work also lacked a
narrative which suggest that this is not
Windmill’s strength. 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 scary unlike
the tranquil environment in​ The Most Beautiful
Man In The World.
Whilst the acting of the younger girl Lilly is
slightly lacking in realism due to the young age
of the actor herself. The performance of the
older girl Kate holds the realistic raw emotion
that one would seek for when casting for a
short with such high stakes. This allows the
audience to really feel the deep internal
conflict that is being portrayed through body
language and facial expressions. The lack of
dialogue could have impaired the
understanding of this conflict but as the acting
was a such a high standard from this older
character. It meant that by following the rules
of Milgrom’s theory as to have little dialect to
be successful paid off in Windmill’s short film.
Milgrom’s theory appears to be closely
followed by Windmill as she has created a
character, world and problem. The
predicament and dilemma of the older
character 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 person texting her, but has an
obligation to look after her sister, and then she
needs to find her sister at the end. This
ensures that the characters 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 corrupt priorities. The person
texting her is assumingly a boyfriend who
clearly is a factor as to the growth of her
wrongly assigned priorities. This character
plays a big part in the short however doesn’t
play a part on the screen, instead only through
the text messages and the older girls actions.
This leaves the audience in suspense as to who
this mysterious person is.
Overall Windmill’s short is technically well
produced, if lacking in originality. It is evident
that there has been a lot of thought into the
characterisation and how each aspect from the
mise en scene to the internal emotions of the
characters is portrayed on the screen. If the
work of Windmill continues to flourish then
there will be more excellent quality film being
produced by this young director.
Credits & Synopsis
​ ​Production
Producer​ ​Companies
Megan Windmill Windmill Studio
Written by​ with 123
Megan Windmill Production in
Photography by​ association with
Megan Windmill Beacon Studio
Edited by​ ​Cast
Megan Windmill (ENTER NAME)
Production Designer​ (ENTER NAME)
Megan Windmill (ENTER NAME)
Music by​ ​Distributed by
Megan Windmill Windmill Media Uk
A quiet bus stop on a narrow road opposite a dark
woods. A girl in her late teens is leaning against the
bus stop. Her phone buzzes as a message appears
stating to meet her at the bench. She sighs and
replies that she can't. Her phone buzzes again with
the message telling her to meet at the bench if she
still wants this. She rolls her eyes as she responds
that she can't she is with her sister. Her breathing
increases as she reads the next message stating
that it is her choice. Her face screws up and it
reddens and her eyes become watery. The girl
starts to huff and puff. Shuffling next to her is a
younger girl with a comforter in her hand; she
quietly glances up at the older girl. The older girl
starts stomping her foot on the floor and then
starts pacing back and forth muttering under her
breath. She stops in her tracks at the gentle touch
of the younger girl tapping her arm. She shoots a
glare at the younger girl and walks back over to
lean against the bus stop as she starts to stare at
her phone in thought. The younger girl walks over
and cuddles up to the older girl's arm. The older girl
jumps up from leaning and grunts as she moves the
girl and places her in the bus stop and tells her not
to move. The older girl then turns and walks away
from the bus stop and down the road. The younger
girl looks around with a shot of fear in her eyes and
quickly scurrying after the older girl. The older girl is
pacing down the road and glances over her
shoulder smirking to herself. It's dark outside and
there are cars zooming past, with their lights
shining brightly, and a man with a dog pounding
down the road. The older girl approaches a dark
mysterious wood and walks straight in, followed by
the child. The older girl hurries in the woods at a
pace the young girl cannot match, causing the
younger girl to fall further and further away from
the older girl. The younger girl looks around in
circles, her breathing increasing. Her fast walking
pace turns into a run as she begins to call after the
older girl. The younger girl's run becomes unsteady
as she staggers along. She trips on a root and falls
to the floor. She stares up at the night sky peering
through the treetops, and starts to cry. She
whispers the older girl's name before curling up
into a ball as the night grows darker. In another
section of the woods the older girl approaches the
bench and takes a seat looking around. A surprised
and worried expression appears on her face and
she starts muttering worried regrets. The concern
in her face grows until an expression of panic rests
on her face. She looks down at her phone but there
is no signal. Her actions demonstrate conflict as she
goes to leave before turning back to take the seat
whilst her eyes search the woods. She takes a deep
breath and gets up and starts to pace which builds
up into a sprint back into the direction she came
from. The sweat starts to appear on her forehead
and tears form in her eyes. She stops as the tears
start to pour, she repeats the same regrets under
her breath and she holds her head in her hands.
She screams into the night before beginning to
sprint again calling the girl's name. She spots the
young girl on the floor and runs up and tightly hugs
her. The child clings onto the girl as she picks her up
and as they start to walk home the older girl gently
whispers sorry in the child's ear.
63 / ​Shorts Weekly ​/ May 2017