Unwind is a dystopian short film which consists of mostly SRS's between three characters, and even though there is an uncertainty to why the main character, a girl, must be 'unwinded', a brief introduction and mentioning of her 'saving lives' helps explain it. The doctors are slowly removing her organs and her body stops functioning as she stays conscious.
The first shot in is an introduction and context to the short film, and adds mystery and tension and is very quick and used to get straight to an important part of the story, therefore it dives straight in media res to an individual story of a young girl.
In these first moments, SRS's and establishing shots are mixed, and the first shot in is of an eye, believed to be a girl because of the mascara and her voice, and heavily connoted shots away from the enigma inducing close ups as little information is given which adds mystery, there are blue surgeon clothes, a table of equipment laid out, white surroundings, medical gowns on and devices stuck to her fingers - all in POV shots, so we feel vulnerable like her. This helps connote the dystopian feeling and also that even though hospitals are good places, this is seemed to be more eerie and strange. The beeping and immediate casual talking of the doctors is supposed to make it sound much calmer, but also like it's a spineless, uncared for community and that the doctor and nurse are very emotionally detached from patients which makes it seem cold, and the usually normal beeping of a machine sounds ominous.
The SRS's then encompass the distress seen in the woman as she closes her eyes, and then switches to shots of a woman in POV, standing over her and wearing the heavily connoted blue scrubs and mask, and also shows a syringe and later a mask. The uses of also a manual focus and shakey handheld camera also enriches the audience in her fear as she cannot focus as the fear is overwhelming. The bright light behind her and seemingly alien surroundings also plays on the dystopian feel of the short film very well, and makes the genre seem emphasised as so much is left out such as the whole surrounding, the narrative lets us physically see as much as the character does.
The sound lets us hear the woman nurse talk in an almost patronising tone, as she tries to falsely comfort the girl being operated on, and the general panning of the nurse to the male doctor, who looks more looming and evil as his eyes look hard and he is barely seen yet heard in the background drilling. He is to be an eviler, background character that looms around and is linked to the off screen (heard but not seen) sounds, and is like a presence. The drip is also seen, alomg with the surgery tabke again which really enforces the dystopian genre. There is also a lot of communication from her speech and her eyes that she is young, vulnerable and scared of the procedure - a heroine for her brave act but also a victim to the system.
The conversion between the nurse and patient is seen to be friendly, yet the tone of voice seems slow and repetitive - like she does this all day and it is a mantra, as she seems to be on autopilot with her words and not actually connecting or feeling real emotions comapared to the young girl, seen as the question answer 'session' shows the status of the woman with all knowledge and chosen sugar frosting of it along with her towering above the young girl add to the powerlessness of her and represent them very strongly as polar opposites.
The cuts back in the SRS's to the sinister doctor in the background add to the repeated alienation that the girl feels in this sequence as he is so far away and yet has control over her as he manipulates and controls her body. The repetition of the hospital gown, scalpel seen and heard digging into an unknown part of her as she is blocked from seeing where exactly in the shot, and the whole POV perspective keep the audience in the narrative that they know as much as the young girl. The vigorous sawing movements also add to the inhumane treatment of the girl that make the audience see her represented as innocent and the doctor as evil.
As the audience are only given close up's of her face, there is not really much that can be seen in terms of body language or facial expression, therefore her eyes and her speech hold all the fear that we can know. Her eyes and eyebrows crease in sacredness and her tone of voice is small, shakey and clearly upset which indicate she has no choice in the matter and her questioning tell us she wasn't prepared or informed of what her procedure would actually entail.
The film begins to draw to an end when the nurse tells her once again that her vision will now go, which feels like her previous words were a lie, and the screen cuts to black, yet the speaking continues until it all fades out. The title end is then cut to and it leaves a lasting impression as the title states what happens, and the audience have a chance to thin about the dystopian they have just watched. It cuts to black as it is a sense lost, therefore the audience lose it too, and is left with echoed diegetic, and technically off screen, dialogue.
MEDIA LANGUAGE:
- SRS used throughout with POV shots and low angled shots
- blue costumes, surgical masks, scalpels, other medical equipment, drips and syringes used to connote a cold and hostile environment
- beeping of monitor or machine make the atmosphere seem unwelcoming and not friendly
- false warm tone from nurse makes her sound disconnected as doesn't change, whereas young girl's voice rises with panic
- manual focus and bright lights connote unstableness and heaven
- sound such as diegetic speech is used throughout and also beeping of heart monitors to keep interesting
REPRESENTATION:
- girl is seen only through close ups, facial expressions and tone of voice represent her panic and fear
- girl is patient, seen through what she wears and has attached to her, seems vulnerable
- asks many questions; seems to not know what is in surgery for or what is happening to her, makes her innocent
- wears mascara, could be seen as previously a typical, innocent girl
- doctor and nurse chat in colloquial chat at the beginning, seem very flippant of what is happening
- nurse carries false tone of voice throughout, is seen in a low angle above girl, has more power and status over her
- seems disconnected as has slow replies which begin to sound patronising
- doctor is seen in background with tools, seen as sinister and evil as he drills and movements into body are harsh and uncared for
- he also has a dead, hard expression behind his eyes
NARRATIVE:
- narrative has some description and context at beginning of film as paragraph is written to inform viewers- film is seen completely in POV shots from young girl, audience experience what she does
- when effects on body start to take place, happens also to shots - effects senses portrayed over media language
- very personal experience to young girl but informative paragraph tells ordeal happens to many
- audience learn narrative as girl is fed information from the nurse, the audience are decepeted with the girl, and thrown into shocking events with her
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