The Filipino short film, Microwaveable, seems very simple. It presents the audience with a microwave from a medium close-up with a short depth of field. The rest of the film is then a medium shot of various seemingly random objects being placed into the microwave. Objects placed into the microwave include towels, a photograph of a boy and a dog. This is, of course, extremely confusing and bizarre as a spectator and certainly creates ideas of the unconscious with its random seemingly unrelated image in an odd, while everyday environment. The camerawork and editing is extremely minimal, making it rather unconventional and perhaps adding to the spectator's confusion. The sound is mostly silent, except from various sound effects in the background (I believe there's a chicken making a noise at some points when items are put in). The microwave is positioned slightly off to the left of the screen, again perhaps adding to the discomfort. It is not positioned in the center of the shot, and the spectator's attention is primarily drawn to the timer permanently flickering on 1:58. The spectator perhaps expects something else to occur and when it doesn't, it is certainly disconcerting. The items being placed in also seem to increase in absurdity as the film goes on, as they put items such as a brush and the aforementioned dog in. The slow increase of the surreal in the film helps to increase discomfort towards its climax. There is no obvious set aesthetic or style being appealed to either - the shot is very simple and minimalist. The spectator is almost an outsider to the foreign situation occurring which is extremely confusing. I wouldn't argue that this film is necessarily a 'great' surrealist film: it does feel like a selection of completely dissociated objects rather than a group with some connected theme. However, what the short does do a good job of is creating discomfort in the spectator. It is is set in real environment but yet is incredibly foreign and this is perhaps more confusing than a completely foreign environment. I like the idea of getting these foreign events and putting it into a everyday action, and adopting that for my own Surrealist film would be interesting.
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InfoBlog for A Level Film Studies. Consists of critical analysis of films from different time periods and genres. Archives
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