'Silent things'- Charlotte Hudson

equilibrium as these two characters are together

Narrative

equilibrium as the two characters are together

new female presence

She feels alone & threatened

• Todorov's theory about narrative structure is relevant in this film because there is equilibrium when the two characters with disabilities are together. 
• The new female presence causes disruption as the other female feel threatens and alone.
• Confrontation is created as the male and the new female leave for the ferry as he starts to become agitated as a result of being in an un-familiar place and this then creates an issue as guards notice that he is agitated and therefore something is wrong with these two characters being at the ferry. 

  

  Confrontation- unfamiliar place

• As the male character becomes more agitated, the guards and police escort the characters away from the ferry, confrontation is created as the female says 'he wanted me to get on the ferry with him' suggesting she doesn't know the male and creating an issue. 
• As his fit/agitation wears off, resolution is then solved as the guards and police realise he has a disability and there is a reason for his behaviour. 

  

  resolution- police know what's wrong

• He's allowed to leave and as a result of this a new equilibrium is created as the film ends with him again on the beach alone making his kite and his first friend appears again. 

  

  new-equilibrium

  
  
• The film is therefore also circular as it begins and ends in the same place, on the beach with the same two characters, doing the same thing.



new-equilibrium, the two characters are back together

• The narrative would also be linear as the audience isn't jumping between changes in time, flashbacks etc. The film is just following a chain of events- starting in the morning and ending in the evening.   

Representation 

Different perspective of event

• The film shows different perspectives of events, for instance by changing the sound- when the new female and male are together, the diegetic sound from the first female is quieter and the sound of the wind has changed (helping to suggest she has a disability). Sound is very important as it links with the title 'silent things' because when the audience watch events from the disabled woman's perspective, everything is much quieter. A BCU shot of her from the side highlighting her ear helps to enhance she may not be able to fully hear etc- this helps to identify her disability. 
• Shows the divide between people with disabilities and those without, highlights what life can be like for someone with a disability (the agitation and confusion on the ferry when in an un-familiar place). The shots of the teenagers mocking the male with asperger highlights how nasty people can be to people with disabilities- therefore the film is representing what real life is like. His facial expression also shows that he is used to it and suffers from bullies often and he chooses to not listen.
  

  

  Divide between disabilities, used to being mocked

• Bordwell and Thompson's theory about plot and story is relevant in representation because the audience are only being shown the plot and the film is only set about one day. However the audience get an insight into the males story as close up camera shots are used to highlight his facial expressions and body language, then when he announces he has 'Asperger Syndrome' the audience become more understanding and therefore the story behind his character is revealed through camera work and diegetic sound.
• I don't think there is a positive or negative representation of 'Asperger Syndrome' in the film, I think the film is just giving the audience an insight into what it's like to suffer from a disability. There is no stereotyping as there is a range of characters, two suffering with autism, the film is only representing the symptoms and actions when suffering with asperger's. There isn't stereotyping because the film uses one male and one female and showing how they both react with their disability- not stereotyping that one gender suffers more than the other etc

  

  Two genders with the same disability, not stereotyping

  
   

• The only possible stereotype would be showing the male getting angry, however the audience does see the agitation in the other female suffering autism when she watches the male and female talking on the beach. Her body language and facial expression helps to highlight her anger at what she can see- she is very tense

Genre

• The genre would be 'social realism' as the film is addressing an issue experienced everyday, showing the insight to people who suffer with Asperger Syndrome. The film is mediating reality.
• Rick Altman's idea about semantic codes is used as meaning is expressed to the audience through diegetic sound as different parts are made quieter than others and the characters help to portray a disability through their body language and sound. 
• By doing this task, I have found that many short films make their genre 'social realism', I guess this may be because they want to make their film more of an insight into different people's lives. More educational? Plus re-creating genre's in such a short amount of time may be more difficult?

Ideas
From this film I have taken the idea of creating a social realism film as being quite appealing, because it would be interesting to find out all about different disabilities and how people cope. However it may be rather difficult to create this effectively and not be seen as a stereotype.