Analyses of "Wasp" By Andrea Arnold

Wasp is a 26 minute short film written and directed by Andrea Arnold. Released in 2003 it stars Nathalie Press as a struggling single mother determined not to let her four young children prove an obstacle in the persuit of rekindling a relationship with an old ex boyfriend (Danny Dyre).

Mise-en-scene
The film is set in Dartford which is infact the director Andrea Arnolds hometown. In the first half of the short where you are beginning to find out about the family they are shown in and around the area they live in. Although you can tell she lives on some kind of housing estate the area in which they are living looks nice and decent. I think this enphasises the fact that she is a single mother who is struggling but she isn't looking everything. However, when you then see in the house its a whole other story and is very different to the nice sunny outside we see at the beginning.
The lighting througout is quite grainy although it is bright outside it still gives a very grainy effect. The yellowy lighting is clearly not natural. The use of lighting is extremely effective when the chuldren are sitting outside of the pub as it really enphasises how dirty the children actually are and the grainy effect is stronger that ever.
The childrens clothing is grubby and dirty and she way she brings her baby out without a nappy gives the audience the sense she has no idea, also the fact she goes out in her night dress but then you see a dramatic change when she goes out and the way she dresses gives us a real sense as to what kind of person she is.

Sound
Throughout the film the majority of the sound is diegetic. The baby crying and the music which plays through the pub is the most obvious use of non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound coming from the pub playing out to the children who are forced to wait outside really gives a sense of neglect and how seperated the children are from their mother.


REFERENCING http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp_(film)