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Short Films - Connections

Saturday, 14 September 2013 01:06
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The selection of the short film Connections was mainly down to the admiration I had for the execution of the film being in the form of Comedy as the genre, I see it as very fitting due to the fact that humour or simply being able to make the other people around you comfortable and happy, is essential in most friendships. There's also the combination of the friend-seeking man attempting to socialise during UNsociable hours of 3am to 6am, when the majority is pretty much sleeping, that with his physical and mental state throughout the film, all creates a profile of desperation, crave and loneliness in terms of character.

Simplicity - Ideas and Setups

Strictly-speaking, the setup that the film generates is a man who wants to make friends and goes to lengths in his recent attempt. Having mentioned "recent attempt", there's the connotation that the friend-seeker has attempted to establish friendships before as he quotes: 

"I'm leaving another bar"

it's also possible that the friend-seeker reached similar limits with other people to the limits he went to with the married man, perhaps his friend-searching has become part of a daily routine of his. Moreover, the general idea that you would be able to detract from Connections about the narrative or storyline is that it's centered on a man who is seeking to make a new friend and follows another man home, who the friend-seeker saw at a bar and then later on fantasises himself having a good friendship with the man. In addition, it can also be said that the friend-seeker's demeanour extends beyond the fantasy and becomes an illusion he's under: making himself feel comfortable in the man's house he sneaked into via eating food from his fridge, watching DVDs and falling asleep on the man's sofa in the living room.

Mise-en-scene Elements - Costumes, Props, Lighting, Position In The Frame

What I was really impressed with when it came down to picking out the subtleties like the mise-en-scene elements, that are probably unknown to many in the audience, is the approach taken to the way the friend-seeker's costume is shaped during the film: how the tie is presented with the shirt collar is disorganised and slightly lacerated, coupled with the jacket being unzipped, all of the above points to the impression that he's out of sync with reality in the sense that he's mentally overwhelmed by the need to have friends: with not enough attention paid to other aspects of his life, such as this example in the form of appearance. It's worth noting that the same costume the friend-seeker wears in reality is the same costume that appears in his fantasy, this illustrates how little knowledge the friend-seeker has of the man he's attempting to befriend and the implausibility that exists in his fantasy, the implausibility that points to a false "connection".

Furthermore, when speaking of the props, there is a high-angle total shot of food being scattered around the man's kitchen that was initially dropped by the friend-seeker when making himself feel comfortable, this actually depicts how "low" the friend-seeker is going and the extremes he's exploring to find that elusive friend given that he's having to be dependent on the food to help himself: the food's position in the frame being the dominant object is a sound statement reflecting his displacement and the physical and psychological mess he's in, this mess is further emphasised by him also holding food in his other hand whilst organising the doritos into a smiley face on the kitchen table.

Low-key lighting is prominent throughout the majority of the film, which connotes the friend-seeker's susceptibility to reality and a lack of awareness of the position he is in relative to the man as well as himself. Metaphorically-speaking, the friend-seeker is in the dark. However, there is high-key lighting in the form of the lamp being shone on DVDs in the close-up of the friend-seeker looking through the DVDs, the lighting and the close-up are reflections of the DVDs being a source for socialising (e.g. a hobby or a conversational topic), which is what the friend-seeker is trying to achieve with the man he followed. They can also possess a 2nd meaning: possibly serving as a pathway for him to sleep and subsequently fantasise about having a friendship with the man. High-key lighting is also evident when the man's wife wakes up to the astonishment of a stranger breaking into her home theoretically, this demonstrates reality hitting the friend-seeker and hopefully hit him with the need to check himself and his actions.

Camera - Shots, Types, Angles, Movement

In regards to the types of camera shots, there wasn't much in the variation department, with the majority of camera shots being total shots and long shots/takes, although that's just the downside, the upside for me is the flexibility that was involved with the camera shots, which had a variety of camera angles at the start and middle of most camera shots. 




A primary example of this was the dutch-angle total shot when the friend-seeker was walking out of the bar and proceeding to follow the man, the dutch-angle is strongly implying the lack of stability and security or completion in the friend-seeker's life, almost certainly feeling empty somewhere, there's also the medium-long shot of the happy face full of doritos, which proves insightful into the friend-seeker's illusion and how he's expressing the illusion in reality. The friend-seeker's messy psychological and physical state is heightened by a low-angle medium close-up of the friend-seeker again organising the doritos, which holds a side-effect in the form of illustrating his confusion to the audience.

Sound and Editing


I found the narration of the friend-seeker's actions with the non-diegetic soundtrack in the background and how it flows with his story very intriguing, particularly at the point where there's a shift from present tense to past tense; "It's a connection" at the beginning and middle to "It was a connection" at the end, the shift connotes the friend-seeker's attempt to befriend the man being unsuccessful and that in the present day, he's very distant from the man, more so after the events of the film. Additionally, the extent of his fantasy and the influence it's had on his already-false illusion is emphasised by the lines of dialogue: 

"A Connection That Was Good"

and "I get the feeling that there's no longer a connection", the latter revealing how hard reality has squashed his illusion and subsequently imagination: the man who had a good friendship with the friend-seeker doesn't know him in reality and the friend-seeker has broken into a house in the eyes of the man and his wife.

As far as Editing goes, there was very little to meet my eye other than the grayscale video effect, along with the narration, powerfully indicating to the audience that the events of a film are a flashback and is merely storytelling.

The Wrap-Up - Messages and Values

There were a few thoughts I had that serve as messages to the audience when thinking of Connections after watching it. First message takes the form of the renowned metaphor: there's plenty of fish in the sea, hence why the friend-seeker, if had been testing the limits of other people when trying to make friends, kept on going and pursuing the friend he craved for, because he maybe acknowledged that there are many other people to befriend and that there's always someone for everyone. Second message is the key to a friendship is having "a connection that is good" and knowing the person very well, it is very possible that this was the short film's purpose: friendships not being just about "common ground" and "support", there has to be that bond and understanding typical of a companionship, which is a core element of friendships. Finally, there's the limits and boundaries that are naturally imposed on all friendships to say the least: an example of the limits being crossed is one breaking into a house without invitation!
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