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Analysis of a short dystopian movie - Coggle Diagram
Analysis of a short dystopian movie
Characters
Mother
The mother seems effected by the lie she has to continuously tell her daughter. She tries her hardest to make her daughter feel comfortable and loved. However, it can be inferred that she loves her daughter so much that she rather keep her a secret than let her live her life to the fullest. The mother makes a mistake by making false promises to the girl that she can go outside after she is old enough, because she wants to please her daughter
Dad
The dad is the first character seen after the girl. One can infer that he is used to his daughter asking many questions and has memorized the perfect answer. The task of getting on his hazmat suit seems like a part of his routine. The father's face after he sees his daughter on the porch of the house goes pale and he looks very fearful of the consequences shown next.
Brother
The brother is shown as a supporting character, one that helps build up the story and diverts the audience's attention from the truth. The brother is shown as distant and annoyed with his sister, but that though is diminished after the look of devastation after she is taken away. He had to lie to his sister for his entire life and also had to hide her from everyone else. This scenario is not normal neither perfect, one's family is seen as their identity and not hidden inside a bunker
Young Girl
The young girl is shown as an inquirer and risk-taker. The book she flips through looks worn out displaying that it has been read multiple times. She grows up on stories and uses her imaginations to practice for the day she can go outside. One can infer that she has never been outside because when she opens up the second door after the bunker, her eyes took some time to adjust to the bright sunlight. The pain she feels after she is betrayed showcases how much hope she had built inside her and how it all shattered in front of her. She did not have enough time to process the fresh information because she was taken away.
Neighbours
The people walking by the house seem confused by the hazmat mask the girl is wearing, revealing that the air is not toxic as the audience had been made to believe. The group of people outside the house when the girl is taken away, do not look disturbed by the appalling action supporting the claim that this short movie is dystopia.
Federal Agents
The agents that take away the girl are suited in some kind of uniform that hides any identifiable characteristics. It can be inferred that they do not want to be exposed to society because the external environment is not harmful. They might fear criticism and hate after work hours.
Children in the van
The reason why the children in the van are shown is to display how the action is normalised in society. The children are not crying or screaming but are sitting peacefully in their specific seats. This would mean that the children are also grown up to be expecting such behaviour and do not question it, unlike the young girl.
Sound
The sound builds up tension in the movie. Whenever the 'monsters' are mentioned, the background sound becomes more intense and creates a terrifying atmosphere.
Colour
Colour is used as an aspect to clearly differentiate between the 'good' and 'bad'. The bunker is covered with blacks, greys, and other dull colours, whereas the house contains bright whites, royal blues, and more.
Camera Angles
The camera stays primarily focused on the girl, however, sometimes diverts and zooms into particular things. Some being artwork she made signifying that she dreams about going to the house, the belt of the jacket, and the mask to signify the amount of protection she has to wear to step out into the external environment. The focus on her face when she cries dramatizes her tears and makes the audience empathize with her situation. The last clip with the focus on the children in the van displays how normal the extraction of a child from a family is in society.
Props
The bunker is designed to look very realistic as the main function is to make the girl believe in the parent's stories. The book that the girl is flipping through adds the aspect of time as it looks very old and dirty. The masks and hazmat suits for protections create expectations for a toxic external environment.
The family portrait is the first point of realisation that the family has been living another life while hiding the existence of their daughter. It acts as an important symbol.
Lights
When the girl steps out of the bunker and then the staircase, the spotlight on her face prolongs the suspense and creates tension for the audience. The audience starts to anticipate for the worst based on the information about the 'monsters' described by her brother.
The blinding light after she opens her eyes contradicts what it should represent as a symbol of entering heaven. The light is used to confuse the audience further as their expectations are raised, but it ends up to be a normal house.
Conflict
The conflict is of Man VS Society. The family hides the girl to protect her from the controlling body's laws that state that a family can not have more than one child.