Archie Williamson's Blog

    A call operator Laura is helping a woman named Gemma, who is in a burning house with her 3 year old son. Gemma goes upstairs when she is told not to and it appears she has gone, but comes back on the phone. Laura tells her to block the door with something to stop smoke getting in, and tries to calm Gemma down as the crew is on their way. The crew arrive and save Jamie, the son, and the call ends. Laura takes a moment to calm down, then picks up another call. -         Thriller – tension is used throughout, it appears at one point that Gemma is gone, she panics and coughs heavily, fear she is going to die -         Told completely through the perspective of the call operator – the short break at the end before she moves on to the next call shows the intensity of the job – the film also takes place solely at Laura’s desk in an office -         Laura acts as the calming fi...

 

  Tight Jeans:   2008. Directed by Destiny Ekharaga. UK In this film, narrative plays an important role. The story is driven by the dialogue of the charcaters, which due to the content of the dialogue makes the narrative funny. This also allows for the narrative to move quickly and within many topics. The dialogue also explores the relationship between male friends.  

  Over uses a reverse narrative to tell it's story. It's based in sub-urban London and slowly unveils the real life story. The director tells this story through 9 static wide shots, long takes and is in reverse chronological order. As the shots progress, smaller 'bites' of information create tension as the information about the story is slowly pieced together, the audience speculates 'what happened?' until the very last title sequence explaining who the victim was, and what happened to him. The 'reduction' in the crime scene scale progresses along with the 9 long, static, wide angle shots. The narrative ultimately leads to a political message, which leaves the viewer in shock, raising awareness about the 'man's' perilous journey and tragic end, perhaps commenting on the way migrants are treated in the UK, as well as how far refugees will go to escape their countries.