Short film anaylsis - Pudding Bowl

This short film created by Vanessa Caswill called "Pudding Bowl" establishes a very short story about Ivy a nine year old girl who in this film is the main character. This short film is set in 1950s Britain where a young girl is stuck in her ways, she wishes to escape the boring life that she is living to those of the glamorous Hollywood stars in magazines. As her and her brother disagree he puts glue over her long locks to draw attention away from himself to allow himself to play out with his friends. Therefore her mother decides to cut it very short hence the name 'Pudding Bowl'. After this her imagination takes control as she refuses to obey her mothers rules, seeing the stars in magazines makes her want to embrace her short hair and still show how she can be attractive and represent the girl she has pinned in her bedroom. By doing this she also gets revenge on her brother and his friends, and the fact that she doesn't let it bring her down and she makes the best out of the bad situation makes the film. I will be looking carefully at the short film and analyse the film looking specifically at camerawork, editing, miss en scene and sound. 

Camera work

• Low angle shot of Jack to make him look more important that Ivy and having control over her
• Worms eye view when her hair is being chopped and is falling to the flour just like how her hollywood dream is ending
• close up of the mother when making the food to show how inconsiderate she is
• Over the shoulder shot when her brother puts the glue in her hair to make it very dramatic, it also allows the audience to see what the brother is doing even if Ivy doesn't have a clue that it is happening
• Birds-eye-view of Ivy after her hair has been cut to make her look as though she is making a plan about how she is going to get revenge on her brother
• Extreme close up in the middle of the film when Ivy's mother has finished cutting her hair, this makes the audience feel sympathy for Ivy and makes them build an instant relationship with her.

Mise- en- scene

• The glue that the brother puts in her hair as this makes the rest of the short film happen. The glue makes the audience feel sympathy for her
• The paper that is squashed suggests that her mother is screwing up her dreams
• The lighting when her brother is in the shot makes him have a shadow which connotes that the character could be dangerous or evil
• The red dress that Ivy wears, the colour suggests that she is passionate about her dreams of becoming a hollywood actress
• The pudding bowl is a very significant prop as it is the title of the film and without it the film would be very odd
• The images from the magazines are really important as they signify the problems that she has when she receives the new hair cut

Editing

• The cuts are very quick to show how fast Ivy is loosing her dream along with her hair, which in her case are the two most important things in her life.
• The transitions whilst she is having her hair cut shows how the time is passing whilst she is getting it cut
• The blurred effect when she takes her glasses off makes the audience feel sorry for her as it shows her poor eyesight, however it doesn't stop her from wanting to look like her idols
• At the end there is a panning shot that shows the sky which suggests that her dreams are never ending and that she is aiming high
• Lastly the credits are edited on to show who was involved in making the short film

Sound

• There is a sound bridge over the top of when Ivy is looking her magazines to show how they are an important part of the short film
• A piano is played when Ivy goes to look at her new hair, in the oldern days the silent movies had pianists to make it dramatic and creates atmosphere.
• There is little dialogue to make the audience to focus on the story line rather than just watching it
• When Ivy gets on her bike there is upbeat music to indicate how although she is in trouble she is having fun

Conclusion

In conclusion, I found that this short film was my favourite as it mixed the sad thoughts that Ivy had when her hair was being cut to the disobedience of her when stealing a bike. It had funny moments which I would like to add in my own short film however making it in a different era would make it hard as the budget is so low. I will probably use some of the sound ideas to make the sound go with how the character is feeling, as I haven't though about my different genres of film I will have to think about putting the sound to their movement. Overall, I liked the plot and it was easy to understand unlike Slinky. I would hope I can make mine look as professional as Vanessa did as it was very sophisticated.