Research Tasks 4 {[Hollie]}

Conversation Piece ... 2009 ... Joe Tunmer

1. Genre and Style:
The short film ‘Conversation piece’ is a silent short film set inside a couple’s home. The film is very clever in terms of its mise en scene, the film is shot in a home setting which suggests to the viewer that this couple are quite middle class and also that perhaps their children have grown and left home as they are alone in the house. The sound of the piece is very interesting as it uses a nondiagetic soundtrack and no dialogue, this is interesting because the couple are arguing about a chip in the wife’s vase and although the viewer cannot actually hear what they say the music tells the story and in some parts the music resembles words such as ‘sorry’ and ‘I love you’ which means that they story is obvious to the viewer without actually having to hear spoken words. The narrative of the film is unrestricted, there is no need for restricted narration as all the characters are together at the same time and there is no need for the story to use such narration. As the audience we can see everything that is going on in both the kitchen and in the living room of the property. This helps the viewer to feel the tension between the couple as they argue and also the emotion as they resolve it. An audience will find this easy to relate to as all couples have petty arguments and then make up and it is quite enjoyable for the viewer to see these real life event s portrayed in such a unique way.

2. How does this film use genre and style conventions uniquely?
Social Realism is an artistic movement, expressed in film, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles. It often depicts working class activities as heroic and celebrates the mundane aspects of life. The film ‘Conversation Piece’ conforms to this idea in some ways as it shows things that happen in everyday life, couples do have arguments such as these and then resolve them but the film is not truly a social realism film as it uses nondiagetic sounds throughout. This is something that most social realist films do not do as life does not have a soundtrack and so films such as this usually only use diagetic sounds such as a radio for music. The film uses conventions of a typical social realist film much like other social realism films such as ‘Happy Go Lucky’ which involve people just going about their daily business and trying to deal with obstacles in life.

3. How does the film use the short film format?
All films have a basic structure. They begin with equilibrium, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause a period of unsettlement. This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end. This is the simplest form of narrative and is sometimes referred to as ‘Classic’ or ‘Hollywood’ narrative. The film ‘Conversation Piece uses this narrative structure but in a short hand format as the film is much shorter, the period of equilibrium is much briefer and is only there to introduce the characters and the setting. This is done because a short film simply cannot have the amount of time devoted to setting the scene as a feature film would. For example, in this film the equilibrium consists of the couple in their home, wife in the kitchen cooking and the husband watching television in the lounge. The film quickly gets quickly into the disequilibrium, when the husband puts on the music and the wife leaves the kitchen and then notices the chipped vase. This state of disequilibrium makes up the bulk of the film. Another key point to this short film is that the new equilibrium at the end is briefer too. Again this is due to the lack of time to tell the story in a full and entertaining way. The new equilibrium is set as the husband once more puts on the music after the argument has been resolved and the vase is fixed. The last shot shows the wife smiling and it is clear to the viewer that their argument is over and everything has been resolved for now.

4. What is interesting about the use of sound?
The use of sound, in ‘Conversation Piece’ is very interesting as it uses one song throughout the film to tell the story. It only uses this nondiagetic sound and there is no dialogue which is very unique, especially for a social realist style film.
For example, as the couple talk a high pitched instrument makes up the wife’s speech and a lower pitched instrument is used for the husband’s. The music can be used to tell the audience what the characters’ are saying to each other and the audience can almost hear the words in the music. Words such as ‘sorry’ and ‘I love you’ are the most obvious and the characters mouth these syllables which also makes it easier for the audience to grasp. I particularly like the use of nondiagetic sound as it creates and intense atmosphere for the argument, yet the music reduces the tension and makes it more enjoyable to the viewer. I would like to use a technique such as this in my own piece although I do think that it may be difficult to use this effect for any other type of film other than a short, social realism film.

5. Themes, issues and representation?
The characters in ‘Conversation Piece’ are introduced individually to begin with although as the audience we are still aware that they are a couple. The husband is represented as a fairly average man, which makes the film more realistic and helps an audience from any social group to relate to him. The idea of masculinity is also addressed in the film as the main character is a male and it is very stereotypical as the male is the one being nagged by his wife who has been cooking in the home while he relaxes. To begin with he appears to be a very stereotypical male in the fact that he appears strong and in control. He appears to be the breadwinner for his family but is not working at the moment as it is possibly a weekend. The character appears to be in control (another traditionally masculine attribute) as the instrument used for his voice is very over powering compared to the wives and she is in the kitchen while he relaxes. However, when the woman argues about the chipped vase it becomes clear that he is not as in control as the audience may have first thought. He becomes very submissive and is quick to apologise and this helps the viewer, whether male or female, to be able to relate to him and to empathize with his situation. This positions the viewer to be very sympathetic towards the man as he has the argument but the audience are also sympathetic towards the wife who is busy doing household chores and is upset to find her vase chipped. the viewer is sympathetic to both him and his wife and it also makes them easy to relate to as this would often happen in any marriage and most people can relate to the high emotions involved in a ‘lovers tiff’.