'Lacey' is a
short film set in 1883 and follows Lacey, a thief who is forced into
being a maid and later, inadvertently, becomes a prostitute whilst
being stolen from herself. I have chosen this piece to analyse as I
feel it displays many successes within the moving medium in aspect of
composition and editing, alongside good character establishment and
development.
Camera Shots
Within 'Lacey',
I found that many typical camera shots for the Period Drama were used
like Over-the-Shoulder, close ups, establishing shots, two shots and
subtle zooms. Due to a short films length, close ups are incredibly
vital in creating a sense of character but also creating a connection
with the viewer. For example, when Lacey is being strangled, the
camera focuses on her face through the use of the composition of the
frame. This causes a viewer to feel concern but also appreciation
about her fate due to the pain. Over-the-Shoulder shots also have a
similar effect within this short film, creating a sense of intimacy
and involvement. Subtle zooms are effective as they make lengthy
shots on one thing more aesthetically pleasing and, when on a small
budget, tricks like this are useful in keeping a viewer more
interested.
Establishing
shots are also a vitality. Throughout the entire film exterior shots
of houses and locations are used to create a sense of setting. I
found in this piece that these shots are not particularly long due to
the time limit of a short film, but they are still effective as they
are used directly next to interior shots or resulting shots. I expect
due to a limited budget and equipment that many shots are either
steady due to a tripod or shaky due to being handheld. To overcome
this problem, the director has the actor move onto the shot rather
than attempting to track the actor. This is a useful tool in making a
short film look more professional as it looks intentional and steady.
Large shots are
also used effectively within this short film. To create grandeur
within the houses or costumes, I found many camera shots are
relatively far back in order to allow the viewers eyes to wonder.
This technique can make a shot more interactive but also gives a more
exaggerated sense of setting and production. The short film usually,
if always, has a small budget and some camera techniques within
'Lacey' are helpful in understanding how to overcome problems of a
small budget.
Editing
Another thing
that makes 'Lacey' effective is good editing. It uses the usual
Period Drama tendencies like eye-line matches and continuity
(invisible) editing. Eye-line matches are significant within 'Lacey'
due to objects that carry themes like the necklace and the lights.
Shots of the necklace are used quite frequently in order to show
that, eventually, it will play a vital part of the plot line. For
example, when Lacey meets a man and has a relatively light-hearted
exchange with him, it is easy for the viewer to assume an innocently
genuinely love connection. However, through the use of editing of the
man's eyes squinting alongside a close-up shot of the necklace, we
can tell the man desires the object. Furthermore, editing like this
fits into larger themes of irony within the narrative like a thief
being stolen from.
Although I may
have written a considerable amount about continuity editing in other
posts already, 'Lacey' uses this style of editing effectively. By
putting shots together in this way, the piece feels logically
coherent and smooth within it's context.
I found the use
of montage with fades as transitions an engaging choice for a Period
Drama short film. This editing choice was used at two sections but
the dominant one was during Lacey's work within the house. As a short
film is time limited, the montage is a useful device when trying to
show progression in a time-effective way. Just cutting to the next
scene can be a mistake within the short film as the viewer needs to
gain a sense of time visually whilst creating a further affiliation
with the protagonist. Feature-length Period Drama's rarely use the
montage as an editing technique because they have enough time to show
a progression of time more slowly with deeper character development
and dialogue. Therefore, the montage is a good way to overcome the
problem of time. However, it should be said that 'Lacey's montages
are only short as dialogue is a key player within the Period Drama as
it is always character driven.
Sound
In terms of
keeping to genre conventions, 'Lacey' features a contextually
relevant orchestral musical score during most scenes. This involves a
heavily piano based sound, with undertones of violins and harps. To
create a sense of continuation throughout the scenes, the same piece
of background music is used. This not only makes the short film more
professional but also results in the viewer relating this music to
the character of Lacey. This kind of technique is used in
feature-length films like 'Pride and Prejudice' (2005) and for it to
be executed in a short film is very significant as it has the same
result of character association. It is also a somewhat easy device to
recreate as it involves only editing one piece of music. Also like
the feature film, the musical accompaniment stops during certain
conversations. This is to allow the viewer to focus on the content
and to keep up with the narrative but also in order to allow digetic
sound that, otherwise, would be unheard. For example, during the
scene of being strangled, the sound of Lacey choking has been
purposely made louder in order to make the scene more uncomfortable
and more attention grabbing.
Notably, I found
accents to be very important in terms of dialogue. Not only did the
piece have strong dialogue that helped the narrative move along, it
had strong pronunciation on the part of the actors. For me, the
reason Lacey was the most liked and relatable character on-screen is
because of her 'common' accent in comparison to the other characters.
There is a distinctive moment in the short film when Lacey tries
varies greetings, said in different ways, before entering a pub. The
reason this is distinctive is because of the range of attempts,
showing that this character is adaptable to her surroundings but also
desperate to fit in. This, once again, makes Lacey a more liked
character. To compare this less-perfected pronunciation to that of
the upper-middle-class male that steals from her, the dialogue seems
to gain more weight of authentication due to the variation of
dialects and how these dialects seem to denote a large sense of
character.
Mise-en-Scene
The lighting of
many shots within this short film cannot go unmentioned. I found it
very important, due to the time period that has early domesticated
electrical lights, that many scenes were shot using daylight only.
During the montage of Lacey's working day, the use of natural light
was quite striking. By placing her masters in front of windows, they
lose much of their definition and, essentially, become silhouettes
which denotes a sinister image of power in comparison to Lacey well
light on the floor scrubbing. A maiden scrubbing on the floor has
very traditional implications of being trapped and misunderstood in a
context where she is dominated by a male. This kind of lighting
differs to that of the evening scenes. At the scene in the pub, the
director uses exaggerated candle light to light the actors, with some
help of lights that are off-camera. This is when lighting seems to
denote poor surroundings and people.
Costumes also do
a lot of the work when it comes to character understanding. In order
to imply separation due to status, Lacey is dressed in rags with a
dirty face at the beginning of the piece. When this is then in direct
comparison to the master, who is in a suit and very clean, the viewer
can very quickly get to grips with the social context and character
context. Finally, proxemics of characters is still a necessity when
it comes to filming a Period Drama, even when it is a short film. For
example, when Lacey is talking to her Mistress (who is about to free
her), they whisper and lean into one another. This shows a sense of
alliance between the females to the viewer whilst implying a sense of
secrecy and scandal.
Plot
This is the
basic plot of 'Lacey' :
- Lacey breaks into a manor house to steal items
- Lacey is caught by the Master and enforced into being a Maid
- A male friend expresses interest in Lacey to the Mistress, stating it would be worth her time to pair them together
- The Mistress dismisses Lacey
- Lacey runs into the male friend in a 'public house' and ends up spending the night with him
- The morning after, Lacey takes money from the man. Once he has gone she realises her necklace is missing
- Later, Lacey reads a newspaper that has an article about a long-lost necklace that has been found and finds out it was worth a fortune.
Upon reflection,
this is perhaps quite a complex plot for a short film bearing in mind
that my piece will be half the length. Therefore, I will have to
think about what qualities of the narrative I like and how simple my
plot should be in comparison.
Things I have learned from this
short film:
- The protagonist should be relatable and likeable quickly in order to make the film more engaging. It is also the tendency of Period Drama's to have the protagonist female.
- Themes of violence and dominance over women can be very heavy for a short film.
- Accents can be very effective when executed properly.
- Dates on screen can be a further help to establish an instant sense of time and place.
- Charisma within the script allows for a more watch-able and exciting scene.
- A twist or irony within a Period Drama short film doesn't always work because the viewer has very little time to properly understand and process such themes, considering there is already a lot going on within the Period Drama as a genre anyway.
- Costumes should instantly imply things about class, status and type of character.
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