"Silent Things" By Lisa Walden

‘Silent Things’ by Rob Brown

• This is an extremely powerful film that tells the story of two autistic friends and how they see things. A young girl befriends the male that causes friction between the friendships. Throughout the film the sound is muted, allowing the audience to hear what someone dealing with autism hears. It’s emotional and touching in every way. 

Representation

•        The two main characters are a male and female both suffering with autism. They are presented as very normal people who, just like anybody else, spend time together, go to the beach, fly kites and encounter realtionship problems. 
•     This film has only lightly touched on the autistic side of the characters; the audience get to see how they cope with problems, and as most of us are unaware of how they would deal with these things, it makes this film extreamly touching.  
•     From the very moment the film commences, it is evident to see what the issues that the film deals with are. Within the first few minutes, we see the issues of people shouting and essentially 'taking the mick', but then a slight humerous twist is added on, when a strange girl admits that he is her boyfriend. This shows confrontation, and is essentially something that a lot of people deal with today, so it gives a realistic insight into the problems with society and those relating to more of a personal aspect. 
•         This film deals with the issues people suffering with autism undertake. For example, the autistic girl finds it difficult to understand that her best friend has found a new friend, and due to her facial expressions the audience understand how she really feels. Although to us, we would think something as small as meeting someone new isn’t much of a deal, but with someone who suffers from autism it’s much more deeper. Watching this film has opened my eyes to the reality in how some people view things. This film perfectly revealed to us how autistic people view the world.

Narrative

•         The plot in the film is everything we see on screen, for example the characters enjoy kite flying so there are various long shots that enable us to see what their hobbies are. The two autistic characters are best friends, and this is evident from the amount of time they are spent together. Additionally, as the girl cares so much about her best friend finding a new friend, also enables us to see their close friendship. The story is everything from when they were born; it’s all the intricate detailing that is not shown on screen. For instance, when the two met would be the story. All we see is their on-screen friendship, not what happens prior to the film. 
•        This short film relates back to Todorov's theory, and that this film can be separated into five stages that Todorov suggests. This equilibrium starts off with a normal and lovely day on the beach enjoying some kite-flying, but then is disrupted by the arrival of a new friend, and also by a group of unwanted and rude youth. The confrontation is made by the autistic female characterm who simply says "who is she", "she can't be your friend". Although to us this seems like a reletively normal thing to do (make new friends), however to someone with a disability it is a lot more complicated.
•        With close-up's of expressions and clear medium-shots showing body langauge we begin to notice just how big these problems are to someone with a disability. Although it begins to go down hill, yet again, the new friend of the male character, calls for help when his attack begins and the situation is finally resolved. 
•          The last shot of the film is of the two best friends flying the kite together on the beach, just like they were at the very begining. This reveals that even though people with a disabiltiy encounter problems, but they are still able to resolve it and work it out just like us. 

 

Audience

•         I found this film on the BBC short film website, but it was also featured on youtube. Reading the comments left gave me a sharper vision as to who they audience just might be. Some people, who left comments, said that they too had siblings that suffer with autism. They wrote that the film was touching, emotional and spot on with the autistic behaviour.  

•     The film has a wide demographic, as it couldn’t just be narrowed down to a particular audience. For example, it could be screened in schools to ensure children are aware of those living with autism.

• Various people that I have talked to about this short film have reported back with only positive feedback. They said the film was touching in many ways, as well as entertaining it was deep and emotional. With 25,710 views on youtube, 954 likes and 0 dislikes, illustrates that this film is just remarkable.

Media Language

 

•        When the male character meets his new friend at the beach, his female best friend slowly comes towards them.  At first the audience see a long shot of her, and her emotions are evident in the way she is standing: worried, slightly scared and annoyed. I find this shot very interesting, as before the girl even speaks we know from her body language that she is saddened.
•         Also another fascinating feature of this film is the sound effects used. For example, the sound becomes mute when the male character begins to have a panic attack. Using these clever sound procedures allow the spectators to hear what is going on in the autistic boys mind. The impact this has on the audience is somewhat significant; we feel emotional and stirred when we are welcomed into their life.
•          Mise en scene helps the audience to connect with the characters learning more about who they really are. Such as, their straightforward attire: jeans, top and trainers. This enables us to discover the social class that they are in, and helps us to learn more about them as an individual.

 

Genre

•        ‘Silent Things’ is a drama piece which touches on the reality that some people encounter during their lives, so when defining the genre of this film, I don’t believe there is a specific bracket that it falls under. There are various things that you could say it is, but a mixture of topics and genre areas have been touched on in this film. For example, when the ‘new friend’ says “I am still here you know”, it creates slight humour to the audience.
•       It is challenging to define 'genre' especially when the issues touched on are so broad. Thrillers, comedy's and horrors are some of the most easy to identify in terms of genre, so I couldn't define the definiate definition of this genre. One of the main caterogries of this film is that of social representation, as it portrays the life of two autistic adults going about their day just like anybody else.
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