When You Find Me Review
Behind The Scenes : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1okOV4Q_ZYA&feature=relmfu
The enjoyed watching this short film and I found it to relay a very good plot story and theme as well as the film aspect and the perspective of a film maker was also interesting in terms of shots, character, setting, relationship, and the other elements used in “Project Imagination”. Ron Howard incorporated eight photographs from eight different users that submitted random photos in hope of getting chosen in this online film festival. Ron Howard uses many special effects and cinematic techniques in this film which has all the different themes which help convey the overall meaning of the story. Throughout the film, we can see the use of many symbols such as the spaceship to show innocence and helplessness, large gates to represent fear and courage, the mysterious and enlightening tree which represents afterlife and hopes and dreams. In the movie, they also used high-end equipment as well as a prototype Canon C3000 which worked extremely well and was easy to use in comparison with full-production Hollywood cameras. In relation to the plot, the events occurred in complete unity and it flowed while the film technique just enhanced the way the viewer saw the emotional and thought-provoking short film.
The
first theme portrayed in the film I will talk about is time. In this
original picture submitted by a random person, two girls are shown
looking in the direction of the camera or viewer. They are running away
from something terrifying and they are holding a lantern which can
represent that there is darkness where they are headed and this sense of
adventure captivates the person watching the film. The use of innocent
young girls as the characters adds suspense to whatever poses a threat
to them. The lighting in this shot is dark and it creates danger and
mystery and the fact that the image was produced sometime near dusk
before complete nightfall. There is a shallow focus and the center of
the picture is the two girls. Due to the older sister in the picture is
wearing pajamas and looks as if she just woke up, we can convey how
Howard used this element in his film because the scene occurs when the
younger sister has a dream and wakes up and runs off and the older one
chases her.
The
next element Howard chose to incorporate is mood. In this picture, we
can see two different aspects of color which is interesting in my
opinion. It shows the point of view of the main character which is the
elder sister in the short film “When You Find Me”. We see a shot with
many things going on at the same time as well. The background is a large
city with blurred lights and we can see clear street pathways and
buildings with represents a vast landscape of an urban area. The
character in the shot is a young girl. Telling by her facial expression,
she looks extremely sad and in a deep thought and this is also conveyed
through the lighting and shadows on her face and the use of black and
white coloring in this portion of the picture.
The
next theme of storytelling depicted in the film is setting. The picture
is of an abandoned plane cockpit and there is a lot of vegetation and
plants that have grown inside of it after it crashed in the middle of
the wilderness. This is a very colorful image as it has a wide variety
of colors and ruggedness shown by the broken interior of the cockpit. It
is clear that it doesn’t function anymore but Howard uses this
particular image and scene to show the imagination of a young girl in
his film when she believes she can just go ahead in a rocket ship into
outer space and heaven to see her mother who just passed away. We can
see many blues and greens in the picture which highlight that no one has
been in this isolated area for a long amount of time. The angle of the
shot allows us to see throughout the windows of the plane into the
wilderness which is overpowering and adds adventure because we can not
see too far into the distance due to the dense vegetation.
The
next element that was portrayed in the film which was submitted through
the film festival is character. In this shot, which most likely
inspired the main character of the “When You Find Me” short film, the
character is a very young girl sitting on a swing in a park of some sort
but it seems to be empty because we can see nothing or no one in the
foreground and background. This action shot shows the girl swinging back
and forth and the girl seems very sad and overwhelmed by helplessness
and isolation. The use of the black and white effects add even more
sadness and blankness in the photograph. The shadow of the swing and
tree and her hair made the photograph more effective in describing the
negative aspects of the picture. The shallow focus allows us to focus
all our attention of the thoughts and ideas and the position of the
character and her surroundings as well.
Another
element used in the film was the relationship between characters. In
this picture we can see the relationship between two people, or
characters, that is very emotional and significant in the understanding
of the plot. The two people are crying and faced with many hardships and
we can assume this based on their facial expressions and the way they
held each other in their arms. The blurred foreground of the picture is
medical equipment which relays the topic of the obstacle to a hospital
and a serious, perhaps life-threatening situation in which they are in.
The use of black and white adds a sense of sadness and depression as
well. We can also notice how the couple is clearly in focus shows their
despair through the way the shot is composed.
A
next element would be the theme of a goal. In this photograph it
depicts an older woman who longs to meet her mom that died when she was a
young girl. When she was young and her mom was about to die while in
the hospital, the girl got in a fight with her dying mother and felt so
bad about herself when she died because she didn’t get a chance to say
goodbye to her. The arm of the woman shows the longing for her mother
through the transport of a spaceship. The relates essentially to her
dream and her goal which she desperately strives for which is meeting
her mother. The visual effects of adding space-like aspects of the moon
and other planets and the diversity of this ship adds to the sense that
she is isolated and desperate to reach this goal. The black and white
without any color adds to the sense of sadness once again.
The
next element of storytelling is obstacle. The obstacle in this picture
is obviously the large, intimidating gates and castle-like brick wall
surrounding them. This adds a sense of danger and fear to the picture.
The rural area of the grass and worn out looking area looks like it has
been abandoned. This gives a scary feel to the picture and isolation and
sadness because the girl in the movie finds a way to climb over and she
overcomes this obstacle to reach her goal. I found the clouds to be
very interesting in this picture. The effect of them adds darkness and
the edges of the picture get darker and adds darkness to the overall
picture. The side view of the angle of the gates make it more
interesting compared to a shot directly straight looking at the same
object. The shape of the clouds also shows the vastness of the landscape
and the rural area of the setting.
This
picture in the “When You Find Me” short film was symbolic in terms of
the dream land in which both sisters visit their dead mother when they
say goodbye to her a final time. The color of this is very interesting
because it adds a surreal feeling to the picture and the effect has a
large role in this scene because it differs from every other scene and
makes it a special setting for a dream-like state. The angle and type of
shot portrayed is also crucial because it is a wide angle fisheye lens.
The center of the picture is the tree as well. The photo is extremely
unique and I enjoyed the dream-like state and it added a really good
feel to the overall film.
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