The short film ‘Amelia and Michael’, centres around the genre of drama, and was made in 2007. The Director and Producer, Daniel Cormack explores the relationship of a couple who seem to have everything, yet keep secrets from each other. Cormack received funds from the Cinema and Benevolent Fund and raised the rest of the money by targeting people like Judi Dench, Alan Rickman, Barbara Broccoli and many more within the film industry. As a result of his hard work, Daniel won the Tiscali Short Film Award for Best Debut.
I like this film because of its simplicity, but also because the overall presentation of the film looked really professional. The lighting was perfect, and the position of the actors in each shot complimented the narrative.
The narrative consists of a lot of twists and turns which ultimately leads to the decline of the couple’s relationship. Both characters are having affairs and are lying to each other about it, but the difference is that Amelia suspects it of her husband, and Michael doesn’t. In the end the truth brings them together, but the films ends with Michael still not knowing about Amelia’s affair which in effect means that their relationship just goes back to the way it was to start with. The narrative is linear and uses examples of cross-cutting, and is cyclical as it begins with the removal of Amelia’s wedding ring, and ends with her wearing and admiring in the final frame.
The title ‘ACTAEON FILMS’ at the beginning of the film are very professional in their appearance, and are accompanied by music which creates a sense of suspense in preparation for the film. Following this, an imprint of the title ‘ACTAEON FILMS PRESENTS’ appears over the CU shot of Amelia’s eye before reappearing on a simple black screen where it zooms in gradually. I think this is very effective because it introduces the idea of hidden truths in the narrative. The same is repeated with the title of the film ‘AMELIA AND MICHAEL’, and the last two titles including ‘IN ASSOCIATION WITH FORTUNE FILMS’ and the title of the film again, appear in between shots as the film begins. The credits at the end of the film are very simple and in the same font as those at the beginning, but they merely scroll up. I think that the credits could have been improved so that they were more like the titles at the start and that this would have made the film even better.
Cormack uses a lot of CU and MS to portray the character’s emotions and conversations. Particularly in the beginning of the film, use of CU and EXCU highlights the fact that the Amelia and Michael are not looking nor speaking to each other.
The long shot durations elongate the silence, suggesting that this couple’s relationship is experiencing some problems. Throughout the film Cormack uses LS to determine the character in a new location, and uses a fade out to black to signal a change of time and location.
By using a MCU of Michael in the office shows status, and the fact that it is clear he is in an office environment dispels the need for an establishing shot.
Cormack uses a MCU of the female in the restaurant, but the slight fade in means that the audience comes to understand that she is not Amelia, and that Michael is also having an affair.
Back in the hotel room the cuts in between shots become a lot faster to show Michael’s regret and the mirage of shots show Michael’s distress over a long period of time throughout the evening.
The next shot of Amelia is a high angle shot to show that she is slightly inferior because she is unaware of what her husband is doing, and Cormack once again uses a change of focus in this shot as Michael enters in the foreground. They both then appear in high angle to suggest a shared inferiority because they are both unaware that they are having affairs, and the focus shifts between the two characters with the dialogue to show that they are not really listening to one another.
The tilt which films Michael from his feet to his head highlights his posture to alert the audience that the mood of the situation is about to change. A MCU then shows both Michael and Amelia on both sides of the shot (one side being their reflection), which could suggest the ambiguity of the situation because Michael still does not know that Amelia is crying over loosing her lover, and not because she found out Michael has been having an affair.
A MS then shows the two characters back in the car as they were at the start of the film. This cyclical element of the film makes it very concise and ties the narrative up nicely, and the fade out to white suggests that their relationship hasn’t really improved, but that Amelia is free of her loss, and Michael is free of his guilt. This films uses a variety of different edits including fade outs to show a change of time and location, but overall uses continuity editing which is why the narrative is so easy to follow.
In terms of genre and mise-en-scene, the film uses realistic props such as mascara, cars, a wedding ring, a phone, flowers, a newspaper, a toothbrush and mugs to create a realistic narrative to fit in with the drama genre. The film also uses ordinary settings such as a house, a hotel, an office and hospital to create an authentic story which could easily take place.
Cormack also uses relatable situations like a problematic marriage, affairs, death, and feelings of regret, guilt, and grief through these characters to appeal to a mainstream audience because these are things most people experience in their own lives.
Michael’s costume which comprises of a suit and tie, and Amelia’s costume which consists of a smart skirt and cardigan, hair pinned up, heels, jewellery and a handbag suggests that the characters are wealthy and of a higher class than most. The fact that they are being driven by a chauffeur of some kind, and that Michael orders a fancy restaurant, dinner and champagne also suggests this. Though as the plot develops and the characters are faced with certain situations, their appearances change, and we see both Michael and Amelia in casual clothes, with Amelia entering the final shots with red eyes. The appearance of the prostitute who Michael has a one-night stand with is clothed in a short, low-cut blue dress with her hair down which suggests promiscuity, and she is therefore a stereotypical character. The positioning of the characters in the frame is the main way in which Cormack portrays the emotions and relationships between characters. The fact that Michael ends up sleeping on the floor in the hotel room suggests that he is feeling inadequate and guilty for cheating on his wife, and places him at the lowest possible position in the shot. When Amelia walks through the people outside the hospital, she appears vulnerable, and is surrounded by people in suits - similar to her and Michael’s appearance at the beginning of the film.
The lighting in the film shifts from dark to light to show the ups and downs in this relationship. The hospital shots are drained of colour to show the visual aspect of Amelia’s emotions so that the audience understands she is feeling numb and is filled with dread. Darkness also suggests that bad things have happened, or are about to happen.
During the office scene the setting is relatively dark, with the only light being on Michael’s face. This suggests that the phone conversation he is having isn’t ordinary but is in fact something sinister. So in contrasting the light and darkness in the shot, it conveys the idea that Michael has something to hide.
This film uses mostly examples of diegetic sound such as cars, traffic, opening and closing of doors, telephones, rustling papers, heels, footsteps, restaurant music and running water because films in a drama genre do not typically use special effects or voice-overs. The conventions of the drama genre mean that all the sounds used are expected in the settings that are used, for example papers rustling and telephones ringing are expected in an office environment. The only example of non-diegetic sound used in this film is the soundtrack, which creates the mood for the film. For example, when Amelia goes to the hospital to find that the man she has been having an affair with is dead, the music climaxes and the shots go into slow motion. This sets the tone for the specific part of the film that may show a change in the narrative, or a change in the persona.
In conclusion, I like this film because it uses all the typical conventions of the drama genre such as realistic props, authentic settings and relatable situations to create a linear, cyclical narrative which deals with real issues that target a mainstream adult audience.
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