the arrival

 Short film- Arrival (2016) Directed by Daniel Montanarini (5 mins)

Representation / characterisation 

Protagonist 

We learn that she is pregnant as she talks to herself about the pregnancy and about the different elements of the pregnancy. Her character is reflected to be nervous and anxious as they are about to tell the baby's father that she is expecting. She is represented to be fragile and venerable, which can be interpret as a common stereotype for women in the media, especially pregnant women. 

Her mind set is seen to be more modern, which breaks the norm/ old stereotype of how women used to be represented as having to be dependent on men. Her mindset reflects a feminists ideology of her body her choice, of what she does to the baby as she will be the one carrying it, not the male.

 The extras 

she mentions the father of the child ( we see him at the end) she describes his eyes but we do not connect with him as he is only seen at the end of the film. 

 the unborn child( and how her mindset about the child changes) is later referred to as "she" which mirrors how she wants a baby girl 

Narrative(plot and structure) 

plot

The film is a monologue, about the protagonist thoughts as she waits for her unborn baby's father  to tell him that she is pregnant. The film takes the audience with the protagonist through every thought she goes through, reflecting her anxiety and stress that she is suffering from waiting.  

Three Act structure 

The film starts with her thinking about getting a decaf coffee(which also ends with her getting a decaf coffee) which reflects that her thinking process mirrors the three act structure. 

The first act takes the audience through her different thoughts about the pregnancy, such as abortion. This reflects the rawness of the situation and reflects the anxious thinking process she is having as the topics she talks about shift quite easily. This is also shown in her acting as she is seen looking out the window and not being attached to reality  

The thoughts she goes through  builds up to the climax , which is when she spills the coffee, which acts as a point where  her decision changes. The coffee spillage is significant as the reason she spilled her coffee was because she was distracted by the baby next to her. This reflects how the baby brought her back to reality but her action of spilling the coffee mirrors how the though of having a child shocked her. 

Third act, her thoughts changed as the train past by, this is shown as she starts questioning about what the gender would be, and if the baby would inherit her hands. Her though process has sifted completely as she refers to the baby as "she" which contrast how she referred the baby to "it" at the start, which shows how deep down she has been thinking about what it would be like to have a child. 

At the end she asks for a decaf coffee which acts as the resolution of the film as it contrast at the start where she asks for a normal coffee with sugar. This reflects that her thinking process has shifted completely from the start 

microelements (mise en scene, sound, cinematography, editing ) 

Costume

The protagonist is wearing a beige turtle neck, when taken consideration about what the people around her are wearing as well, reflects that the weather is cold. This sets the tone to the film, but also links to blue-cool tone aesthetic in the film. 

cinematography

The film has a mix of one shots, slow tracking and  zoom ins,  as we get deeper in to her thoughts. The film portrays the narrative through simple cinematography which allows us to concentrate on the topic and mirrors the idea of how she's really caught up on her thoughts and is not focusing on anything around her. 

Sound

Because of the film's narrative is heavily based on monologue, making sound one of the most important context filler to the film. The tone in her voice reflects confusion, but the quality of the sound and loudness of it mirrors how her thoughts are the only thing she hears at that moment. Which is why the background sounds are faint. 

There was a non diegetic sound of a train, which is used to mirror her change in thoughts as the train could have acted as a metaphor for her thoughts of not having the child going away/moving forward. As after the train goes by her thoughts of not having the child changes to "what gender" or "what if its twins" mirroring her consideration of having the child.

Lighting 

The film has a cold tone colour pallet which is contrasted with some red colours in the set and make up. The lighting is fairly natural looking as the main light source is coming from the big window next to her. However,  the scene where she spills coffee, her surrounding becomes dark and the light is only shining on her. This can  interoperate that she feels like she is in the spotlight to make the decision about whether or not to keep the baby . Artificial lighting is used to mimic a train going past as well, which mirror her thinking process changing 

Editing

The editing is simple and continuous. This makes it easy for the audience to follow her thinking process and not get distracted. The continues editing style can be used to reflect the protagonist mind set as she is constantly thinking 

performance

she continuously looks out the window which reflects her thinking and how she is deep in her thoughts. Her performance is minimal  and simple, but carries the narrative very well as her facial expressions and body language follows the voice over. 

 

meaning 

the film reflects how time is a key tool for reassurance.  

how the simple long shot is very effective and not over complicated story. it's a very personal story and executed very well and very informative for 5 minutes