RIFF - Amber Merrell

I watched Sister’s Keeper as well as the Experimental block. Sister’s Keeper, in my opinion, was an okay movie. Some of the lines were not very well written and the plot was usually quite predictable. The acting was also questionable at times. One aspect that I thought was interesting, however, was the use of close up and extreme close up shots. At first, I thought these shots were stylistic in nature. It seemed that the director was trying to emphasize emotions on the characters’ faces and create a more personal feel than would exist if the camera were looking on from the corner of the room. As the movie progressed, though, I began to suspect that the close shots were due to the low budget of the film. The set was certainly not a strong point with this film. Thus, it seems that the director may have used so many close up and extreme close up shots in order to draw attention to the people and faces rather than to the set and locations.

The experimental block was very frustrating for me. I do not have a lot of patience for unclear plot lines. For the majority of the experimental shorts, I was unable to discern a purpose for the films. Sometimes I was able to pull a topic from the film but was not sure what the plot, purpose, or lesson was. In my opinion, a film should tell some type of story and if that story cannot be determined by the majority of the audience then it was not successful. These shorts more closely resembled abstract art than film.

I did find Sunday to be an interesting short film. The switching between claymation shots and live action shots was very successful in conveying the idea that the creatures were inside the man. I was also very impressed by how well the story was told without speech. I thought it was rather thought-provoking that the “control room” inside of the man looked rather industrial with dark walls and computer screens. It seemed to contrast the “natural human” with an artificial control system. The fact that the main creature in the room was connected with the wall, presumably coming out from the brain, was the only part of the control room that seemed “natural.” This brain creature was the ultimate target of the invading stick-man. In the end, this nature-killer spouts into a blooming tree, creating a circle of life.