Research Tasks 5 {[Hollie]}

Wasp ... 2003 ... Andrea Arnold

1. Genre and Style:
The short film ‘Wasp’ is a social realism film set East London. The film is very clever in terms of its mise en scene, the film is shot in a deprived, urban area which suggests to the viewer that this family are working class and living in poverty. The baby wears no nappy and the children are dirty with messy hair. This tells the viewer that this family are very poor and the mother is really struggling to look after them. The sound of the piece is very interesting as it uses a mix of both diagetic and nondiagetic sound. This has been used in an interesting way. For example the little girl is singing in the car at the end and then the actual song is played over the top as it fades to black to introduce the end credits. 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 with both the children and the mother who is inside the pub. This helps the viewer to feel the tension between the family as they struggle to find food and also makes the viewer sympathetic towards the mother and especially the children as they cannot provide for them selves. The audience can also relate to this family as it is a real life event although, usually not as severe for most people and the way that the story is told in such an extreme fashion is very emotive for the viewer.

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 ‘Wasp’ conforms to this idea in some ways as it shows things that happen in everyday life, people in deprived areas often find it hard to support themselves and their children and the children suffer as a result of this. The film is unique as it uses a wasp throughout. For example; the wasp trapped inside the house is desperately trying to free itself. This could have been done to show how the mother desperately wants to be free from her life of poverty and feels as though she needs one night out to escape from her life and to be who she wants to be. 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 ‘Wasp’ uses this narrative structure but in a short hand format as the film is much shorter, the period of equilibrium is almost nonexistent as it starts with the children franticly running after their mother as she goes to have a fight. This is done because a short film simply cannot have the amount of time devoted to setting the scene as a feature film would and it allows the audience to get right into the action. The 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 children finally get some food to eat from Dave and are in the car on the way home. The baby has stopped crying and has fallen asleep and everyone is much calmer and quiet compared to at the beginning where they are all shouting.

4. What is interesting about the use of sound?
The use of sound, in ‘Wasp’ is very interesting as it uses a mix of diagetic and nondiagetic sounds it only uses this nondiagetic sound at the end when the little girl is singing a song. The actual song is then played over the top as the image fades to black and the end credits are introduced. This conforms to the typical social realist film. The rest of the sounds are made up of diagetic sounds such as the roar of the traffic as the children are walking and speech. I particularly like the use of diagetic sound, the roars of the traffic on the motorway for example, as it creates and intense atmosphere for the viewer. The traffic is really load and quite daunting especially when coupled with the close up of the Childs face, who is looking very nervous and scared. I would like to use a technique such as this in my own piece as the urban sounds are almost like monsters to the children and it really gives the viewer the impression that growing up in this setting is very hard and terrifying.

5. Themes, issues and representation?
The characters in ‘Wasp’ are introduced individually to begin with although as the audience we are still aware that they are a family. The mother is represented as a fairly working class woman, running along with her children in tow. This makes the film realistic and helps an audience from any social group (although mainly the working class) to relate to her.
The main themes that come across in the film are the ideas of poverty, and working class culture. Although unlike most films about the working classes it doesn’t poke fun at their situations and use them for comic relief. For example, the film ‘High Hopes’ portrays the working classes as objects to poke fun at and as second class citizens. However, the film itself is a social realist film and so unlike feature films it portrays everyday life. The audience are positioned in a very sympathetic way towards the children and to some extent the mother. They feel sorry for her situation as she cannot provide for them in the way she would like but also have doubts about her ability to raise them as she is constantly fighting and swearing around them. This is very stereotypical of the working classes; single mothers in film are often depicted in the rough way. Although, the audience are not usually made to empathise with them in the way they are in this film which is very interesting and unique.