film reviews

Christmas with dad

The shorts main focal point and energy is directed towards the main subject, the father. A lot of close ups are used showing him dealing with everyday life. This produces a feeling of warmth and connection with him as we see him sacrifice his life to bring up his family. His honesty is felt throughout as we see him struggle. The continuation of this builds when we discover he had a poor upbringing, possibly explaining why he's immersed himself in such a large family at such a young age. He is the only character to have a 'one to one' with the camera which builds our favour of him; as does the location of these interviews(back garden etc.)which make us feel like a neighbour or friend listening to his woes and worries.

The fly on the wall style of production works perfectly, allowing us a quick glimpse into the lives of the family involved. The blinking of montage from light to dark gives us the idea of the day in day out routine of the family with slow blurred shots relating to the young fathers life.

The blurred focus of the initial shots coming in to focus almost relates to our feeling about the family. From first sight it is easy to judge the family(and the dad) however as the short progresses we become much more in focus to the reality and likeability of them. We become much more aware,with a greater clarity, of the situation of those involved.

The interview style with the dad creating a one on one atmosphere is used perfectly about three quarters of the way in. This means we have enough knowledge about the family to understand the context which he puts it into.

Sound is used to very good effect throughout this short. The immediate 'jingle' heard at the start tells us a lot, by informing the viewer it isn't a traditional christmas documentary; It's almost remixed, delayed style reaffirms this alternative look at christmas, from a less than traditional viewpoint. The lack of background music throughout the majority of the short reinforces the realism and fly on the wall feel...allowing us to become fully submerged and interested in the family. The foley track backs this up. The original 'jingle' is then re-introduced halfway through, giving the viewer the pondering time to reflect and review upon the footage just seen. After this much needed thinking time the viewer is re-submerged in the documentary.

Terminal Bar

Terminal bar is a short documentary describing the life of a once thriving Bar in

the background music used relates very closely to the bar its trying to immitate. You don't have to imagine very hard to picture the bar in its golden era; similar music playing a background beat. This absorbs us with the distinctly New York voiceover backing up the feel of an american bar.

The films form mirrors its content quite closely. The on screen image is constantly changing with new faces and stories constantly circulating; As people and stories would have actually circulated in the bar. The narration and foley track changes with new stories with the mood never staying at one place for too long. Even the most serious of stories are presented with an air of humour, as things are presented in real life bars. The constant flicking from story to story keeps the viewer hooked untill the end, replicating the feeling,emotions and memories this bar once hosted.. The interview style combined with the actual pictures of what life was like in the golden era combine superbly, perfectly painting a picture of life in a New York bar. Overall this production works extremely well to create the feel of a new york bar, full of action and life whilst also creating the contradictory feeling of the now destitute and failing establishment which is sadly finally coming to a close.