Operator

  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 figure on the end of the phone and guides Gemma to make sure she is safe, who is worrying about her son Jamie who is upstairs by the fire.

-       Lots of repeated close-up shots, focus on Laura and her facial expressions and voice. This film utilises very slow and infrequent edits throughout, instead focussing on the performance of the main actor. It’s only right at the end that the most impactful edit hits as we jump from a close-up to a mid-shot, removing us from the tension of the scenario and returning to the reality of the office. The mise-en-scene also paints a terrifying picture of what it’s like being a phone operator for emergency services as the woman just appears to be a normal person. She wears the same uniform as everyone else in the room, suggesting that all of them experience similar calls to this every single day, and yet they still come in the day after.