Small Moments - Jeremy Raison

‘A Tartan Short’
‘Small moments’ is a short film about morality and the small precious moments a group of people are taking for grated; before the explosion.
After watching the film ‘Small moments’ in class we answered a couple of questions to get us thinking about structure, and how the concept of the film is conveyed through colour and narratives.

Colours

RED – Within the film the colour red is used in the form of a: napkin, nail polish and a balloon, which indicates strong visual connotation of pain, blood and passion. For instance the red napkin in the hotel bar foreshadows the danger that is prevailing. Then after the woman feels a pain in her stomach and goes to the bathroom, the spilt nail polish indicates pain and blood, suggesting that there is a problem with her pregnancy. Furthermore after the little girl goes missing a red balloon can be seen to represent danger and install tension and fear for the little girl. Red is also used to represent the passion and intimacy between the couple, also sitting in the bar.

YELLOW - At the beginning of the film we see the little girl running off, in a yellow dress, amidst a crowd of people. The brightness of the yellow dress and hair band is very visually dynamic and acts as a contrast against all the grey suits and people, so as to keep our focus on her. In addition to this yellow is representative of happiness, which acts as a point of conflict against the resounding tension we feel from the beginning, with the mum’s anxiety and the countdown of the clock.

GREY - Grey is a key colour within the narrative as most of the location shots we are shown are grey, for instance the marble and the statue of the clock are all grey. This suggests that all these places are connected and hold importance to the people connected with them, the mums grey shall and the old couples clothing. Moreover the colour grey creates a bland, drab environment that builds on the tension of the narrative.

Time

The diegetic sound of the clock ticking builds up tension as it feels as though time is passing very slowly, leaving an audience impatient. This is also reiterated through the use of close-ups of the clock face showing every second passing. Furthermore the visual reference of the famous Edinburgh clock ‘tempus fugit’ meaning ‘time flies’, which suggests that time is running out and that they should make the most of it. The coherent shots of the watch faces adds continuity between the separate story lines and suggests that they are somehow connected. The faster ticking towards the end works well with the shot montage to install a sense of dramatic tension that time has run out.

Narratives

Within the film there are three main story lines: the couple who need to catch a flight, the little girl’s birthday and the old couple enjoying some sort of tradition. However within these narratives there seem to be other sub-plots. For instance within the girl’s family dynamic we are made to wonder about the story of the mothers pregnancy and the fathers estrangement. Furthermore with the narrative of the old couple there is also an allusion to tension in their relationship and perhaps an unhappy marriage.

Interesting Shots

1. Visual match of the clock in mouth, as the man yawns the camera zooms into his mouth which takes us to the clock face. This is interesting because it connotes the idea of impatience and how that adds tension to the narrative. The man waiting to eat his sandwich, girl wanting to open her presents and the mum anxiously waiting for dad, and how people are taking these small moments for granted.

2. Crane shot of the girl in the massive chair makes the girl seem very small and vulnerable, as though we are prey looking down on her.

3. 180° degree pan of the girl, from the perspective of a skateboarder. I liked this shot as it gave a perspective of the whole scene in relation to an interesting point of view that made it really stand out in my mind and made it memorable.

4. Nail Polish, the close-up of the spilt nail polish first connotes blood, before the camera pans and we see the broken glass and nail polish bottle. This is clever as it instantly flags a warning sign that installs panic, before completely dismissing the idea as something else, giving the audience a sense of insecurity and foreboding.