This film review is done on the short film "This Way Up" directed by Adam Foulkes and Alan Smith.
The short is a story about two caretakers that need to deliver an old ladies body to her final resting place. Uniquely about this film is that the two caretakers find themselves in a predicament where their car is smashed by a giant boulder. The short consists of this plot while accompanied by a series of comedic obstacles that that aim to prevent the caretakers from reaching their delivery deadline.
The two caretakers are headed towards an unknown destination.
1) To my knowledge, this film is not adapted from another work but an original idea from directors Adam Foulkes and Alan Smith. It's an animated film and revolves around two main characters (the caretakers) and some minor characters. At the beginning of the plot, we notice two englishmen with their top hats as they drive away in their car. As an audience we have no idea what to expect from the characters being introduced. As a result, we rely on "mis en scene" so that we can further understand our characters. For example, at the beginning of the short, there is an englishman in a funeral car waiting for his coworker. During this time, we can notice a sign on the building that says "funeral homes". As a result, we know they are involved with funerals. Also, gloomy gray colors and crooked trees already bring an eery tone to the plot. In addition, when a shot finally reveals the faces of the englishmen we notice the wrinkles on their faces and a very pale and gray facade. Finally, their black outfit suggests mourning. Overall, with this "mis en scene" the audiences understands a melancholic atmosphere and attempts to adjust their emotions to interpret more expected "sadness" throughout the short.
The minor characters in the short film help to characterize our caretakers. When the caretakers finally arrive at their destination to pick up a corpse and coffin we can see a picture of an old lady. Needless to say, this implies that there is a dead old lady in the coffin. It is the moment that the two caretakers pick up the coffin and begin to bring it away that we understand the true nature of their existence in the short. From here on out, the audience understands that the plot will revolve around the caretakers and delivering the coffin to the cemetery.
The caretakers have arrived to pick up the coffin with a dead old lady inside it.
2) The key to animated films (especially short ones) is to make the characters not talk. With today's technology not everyone has access to "Avatar" style animations where every movement in the muscle is believable. For low budget shorts the key factor is to prevent your animations from talking. "This Way Up" utilizes other methods for making the characters seem believable to the audience. For example, the caretakers in the film uses sounds like humming for simple approvals and grunts for disprovals. Also, by simple actions such as shutting off the radio can quickly send a message to the audience that the older caretaker is annoyed with the younger caretaker and his shenanigans (e.g. rolling the window up and down). Another example is when the two caretakers find themselves in a seesaw position on the edge of a cliff. The younger caretaker is on the cliff side while the old man caretaker is on the edge side. So far throughout this short, the old man has been characterized as serious and poker-faced. For me at least, I was astonished to see an actual feeling of worry expressed on the old man's facade. Overall, even though a character does not use complex or simple dialogue in film, it does not hinder the directors ability to instruct his actors to convey meaning through their body language.
3) Actors in this short are definitely appropriately cast because it is an animation. When it comes to animations, the sky is the limit in creating characters that match a directors specific quota. As mentioned before, the characters are designed in a way to symbolize what death is. Death is gray (saddening), wrinkly (old and ugly/not wanted), and clothed in black (black being a representation of evil and all that is dark and evil). Our two main characters, the caretakers, fit the exact description of this quota, and because of this, there is no confusion as to what an audience should be feeling or experiencing with this short.
The end shot of the short when the two caretakers finally deliver the coffin.
4) Although the animated short film is overall comedic, there is an important theme that shouldn't be ignored. The caretakers have a job delivering coffins to cemeteries and they need to meet the deadlines for it. The message that the director is trying to relay to the audience, through the journey that the two caretakers undergo, is that one must stay true to their responsibilities. We see this message through the acting of the characters: the old man continually waiting for the younger caretaker to ready himself up to continue the job (this occurred when they first picked up the coffin and the younger caretaker hit the vase and almost knocked it over). We also see this them occur when the audience is first introduced to this skeleton with a red coat on that is supposed to be a different version of Hades (Hades representing hell). Hades' job was to fairy souls across to the after life via the styx river. In "This Way Up" we noticed an archetypal scene from Hades' mission where the grandma is in her coffin floating down the stream that ultimately leads to a waterfall. Overall, after experiencing the journey with the caretakers, the theme of staying true to your responsibilities shows reward in the end: where the younger caretaker earns a hug from the more stern and older caretaker.
The caretakers travers the mountains in their car in order to get to their destination.
5) The setting for each scene is appropriate to the overall plot that occurs in the story. Not very complicated. The caretakers are driving on a gloomy day to whatever destination. Naturally, that scene would take place in a car. And throughout the movie, the caretakers traverse terrain that is appropriate to the actual mountain setting. However the setting in each scene is important in order to maintain the mood of the plot going. What is different about this short film is that it blends together the comedic aspect of the characters behaviors while at the same time achieving a depressing setting. This combo makes it interesting to watch the short film. I believe what this allows is for the possibility to change the atmosphere in the movie smoothly without disturbing the flow of the sequence.
6) The Cinematography, just like any other aspect in this short film is dull and boring. What this means is that the same standards shots are used repetativly: long shot, medium shots etc. What these shots also have in common is that they are all stationary meaning that there isn't even a single tracking shot. In relation to color, everything is similar in relation to the mood it provides. The background, objects in middle ground, and foreground all revolve around dark shade of color. For example, the trees were dark green, the gray's were shaded darker than usual, and burgundy was used instead of natural red. Overall, what this short animated film has been able to do was create a comedic interest (thanks to the acting) in a very somber environment.
7) The soundtrack is effective because it uses the same style throughout the entire animated short film. The sound of the violin is predominant throughout the sequence and is generally the only thing that plays during the short. Even though the violin is repeated several times, it works because we rely on the sound to foreshadow what comes next. In "This Way Up" the violin is a sound that represents suspicion or a build up to something that should not necessarily happen. If the sound of the violin plays constantly and the audience interprets it as a build up then the audience will be curious to see what will happen next. This overpowering use of the sound of the violin helps the director in attracting the attention of his audience. The director wants his audience to watch every frame of his short.
The younger caretaker executes a plan to hitch a ride after their mode of transportation got smashed by a large boulder.
8) The camera angles in the film are used effectively. It is overall a simplistic plot that does not require nurturing. What is meant by nurturing is that in order to get the message across from the original story, a director does not need to rely on fancy camera work nor special effects. Overall, the camera angles are used effectively because the audience can follow the story and the "mis en scene" without loosing track of the story line.
9) No special effects.
10) Symbols are mentioned throughout the entire post.
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