Echo - Lewis Arnold

Echo

Echo follows the story of a 17 year old girl, Caroline, who in the beginning of the short receives a phone call that breaks the news that her dad has been involved in a motorbike accident. Her reaction to this news is followed with the passers-by coming to help calm her in this distress, however, an unexpected change occurs a few moment after Caroline leaves the stranger, revealing that there is more to this call than first appears. Her calls are shown to be fake and a re-enactment of a previous situation after finding out the death of her father. Multiple calls are shown throughout the short, showing different reaction for strangers, to those who help and those who work out the deceit. The short investigates the different reaction to death of loved one and explores the lasting effect of the death of her father had on this family. The plot shows and feeds us important information while leaving certain details empty allowing us to form our own ideas on Caroline's story, and our own opinion of her actions. The decision is left on whether we should be disgusted by her manipulation or empathetic to her cry for help, with the short also being left open-ended, allowing the viewer to make their own conclusions to the story. The short came to light from a real-life incident, witnessed by a writer, James Walker.

Mise-en-scene - Mise-en-scene is used often in this short to portray certain motifs and ideologies. The colour palette is restricted and de-saturated, with a grey wash over most shots, creating a gritty and realistic feel. But also added a sombre and 'slow' mood to the film, from the get go, the short feels sad and upsetting, reminiscent to the reaction of a certain viewer. There is also a heavy use of certain imagery and symbolism with the certain props, with Caroline often playing with a lighter. This could be seen a metaphor for her literally 'playing with fire' with what she is doing, the problems that may occur if she is caught in the lie but also the continuous upset that it causes her as she continuously re-lives an important upsetting moment in her life.

Cinematography - This is key micro-element in this film as it used in multiple different ways, to almost create multiple perspectives, it represents both an onlookers view and Caroline's mindset at the end of the short.  The opening shot of the film is a wide shot of a busy street in the city centre, with multiple people walking towards and away from the camera, cutting through the shot with Caroline walking through the shot with her phone ringing, the busy atmosphere makes us search for the main character in the short, and the camera acts a passer by watching a situation take place. As the call takes place, the shot cuts into the close up to show her reaction to the information, but continuously cuts back to wider shots showing the surroundings and strangers around. Once in the cab, the camera cuts to a mid shot, of Caroline in the seat and the back window showing the people who helped her as she drives off. Here, we see the twists of the story as her facial expressions and movement are caught by the mid shot, for instance, when she turns around to look out the back window, checking to see whether the helpful strangers are nearby so that she can get out of the taxi. Throughout this scene the camera switches between close ups of Caroline, which focus on her reaction and movement to the news, but also wide shots to act a stranger viewing the situation. The camera is stable and precise in shots, with is contrasted by the end of the short, where the shots being more fragile and handheld as if to signify this is the first and real call Caroline got about her dad. The shots at the end are often canted and shaky, reflecting Caroline's mindset and her emotions in this call. This makes me suspect that the end call of the short, is a flashback to the original phone call about her dad. Throughout this short, there is often a large use of motif shots which reoccur throughout the short, these contains, her in the cafe, the tram, Caroline's face in the reflection of the glass and more, creating the feeling of a re-occuring situation that Caroline creates to get through the loss of her father.

Sound - The sound throughout this short is often very busy, due to the shots being taken in the city centre. There is consistent background noise in those places, so when out of the places, the silence rings louder, making us reflect on the situation. The one that stands out to me, is in the beginning of the short, where Caroline gets into the cab from the first phone call, from the busy sound of people talking and walking about, the contrast between her in the cab is large. Caroline's breathing is accentuated as she calms down for the situation and all that can be heard is her breathing and the moving of the cab.