Drama: Film Analysis - Feature and Short Film

Feature Film - Hush (2016)

‘Hush’ (2016) directed by Mike Flanagan, is a Horror/Thriller feature film about a deaf writer that lives in a small house in the woods to live a quite life and possibly write her next book. Late one night a masked killer finds his way to her house and she must survive by fighting him in silence. I personally feel that this film is must watch for 2016 as it has some great aspects which current and future filmmakers can learn from. For example, the soundscape used for this film is unique as it uses the aspect of deafness to make an interesting perspective of the main protagonist (Maddie, played by Kate Siegel). It feels like there is an extra layer to the sound of this film; obviously as filmmaker we want super crisp clean sound for our films but ‘Hush’ as this deeper world of sound, which highlights every factor of the mise-en-scene. This seems clever when placed next to the sound design used for the main protagonist’s perspective as everything seems muffled with a low-pass filter to create nothing but bass tones with a deep humming noise.

This noise in my opinion, creates this effect on my ears that in my mind makes me feel like I am in a bubble that is blocking the sounds around me. It feels like I can feel the vibrations of the sounds that my mind is trying to decode but I am not actually hearing it. This is an interesting effect that adds real sense of perspective that will integrate the audience in to the story on a much deeper level.

The use of the voice in her head gives a good way for us to not only hear the main protagonist but to help build her character profile and get a sense of her mind set. The many voices overlapping in her mind could represent the struggles she faces with sound and how she was able to hear before (hence the voice sounding like her mother) and how she now lives in a world of pure silence. This helps her further on in the film when she faces the masked killer but helping her figure out the best course of action to take; we see each possible scenarios which she conjures up in her of what might happen.

I feel this film has inspired me greatly for my own projects; the soundscape creates another level of storytelling which I feel is needed in a narrative that involves the main protagonist to be a hearing disability. I will definitely try to recreate these effects in my own work as well as adding my own twist on them. I also like the use of colour grading in ‘Hush’; the use of blue, orange and green in cold flat tones really created a natural soft look to the footage but still keeping the mood and narrative of the film in the essence of the colour tones. I will like to create the same effect within my own work.

Short Film - This Is Normal (2013)

‘This Is Normal’ (2013) directed by Justin Giddings and Ryan Welsh is a 20 minute short drama based on a young woman named Gwen (Ryann Turner). Gwen is deaf and has decided to have a medical procedure called ‘Cochlear Regeneration’ to regain her hearing. This short film follows Gwen’s journey from deafness to medical procedure to hearing again. The film also highlights the strain and benefits of her relationships with friends, family and her partner before, during and after the procedure. She then has to come to terms with the result as it isn’t what she was expecting and how she gets to hear her sister sing for the first time in her life. We see how people can be ignorant with the understanding of being deaf via her mother and an interesting twist with how her boyfriend feels about her getting the procedure. He himself is deaf and we learn he went to a deaf school, when Gwen went to a normal school. This creates a strain on their relationship as she feels along as she hasn’t had the right support with her deafness when he grew up in a school that is built around supporting him. He feels angry and cheated that she went behind his back to get tested and feels like she is leaving him behind by getting the procedure. This is interesting as we see someone with the same disability feel negative about someone he loves improving her life for the better as he feels that they are normal and do not need changing.

This film uses some good techniques to get the audience emotionally involved in the narrative and the main protagonist’s (Gwen) feelings. With heavy use of American Sign Language (ASL) at the beginning of the film, this is shown with subtitles to allow the audience to be involved in the conversations of the deaf characters. Also unique use of blurring words in the subtitles in the language the main protagonist is reading herself shows an interesting perspective. As the main protagonist is deaf and uses hearing aids to amplify her hearing ability as well as using the skill of lip reading, the blurring Subtitles on key words help us understand and learn with the main protagonist herself. As she is guessing what words mean and what is being said, we as the audience feel the same as we cannot see the word but assume due to the context what it is.

This film influenced my ideas as I love the use of subtitles within this film via speed, delivery and event the use of font to create emotion via the subtitles. Also, the way the narrative progresses is very soft and fluent with time jumps. This creates a nice flow for the audience to process the aspects and techniques used to communicate the emotions and situations. This film has a narrative relating to the narrative of our own film and will be the key inspiration to our final product as it shows a real and truthful perspective on this situation.

Bibliography

• Flanagan, M. (Director). (2016). Hush [Motion Picture].

• Giddings, J., & Welsh, R. (Directors). (2013). This Is Normal [Motion Picture].