Short Film Research: Tangles and Knots

Short film description:

    A sticky, intimate bond between mother and daughter becomes threatened when the mother helps her teenage daughter throw a party to impress new, popular friends.

Sound:

In the dialogue, there is no difference in how the mother and daughter speak to each other, speaking more like friends than mother and daughter. However, when the party starts, the mom begins interjecting herself into the daughter's conversations, teaching her how to take a jello shot and encouraging her to come into the pool. The added sound contributes to the setting, with dance music that helps bring the idea of it being a party altogether. This is made apparent when there is no dialogue and the daughter is just dancing, where all that can be heard is the music she's dancing to. There is no dialogue that needs to be understood or listened to, more so the viewer can focus on the daughter's awkward movements and how she feels in that moment.

Mis-en-scene:

The opening scenes work as a good introduction to what is going on in the story. The close-up shots of the mom putting ice on the daughter along with them painting their toes together show the bond between mother and daughter. The daughter on her phone shows a bit of obsession with perception and social media, and the popsicle and flies near the pool give the sense of summer and carelessness. In dancing, the daughter acts awkward and stiff without her mom around.

The lighting works to show the transition into darkness as the audience learns more about the mother and daughter dynamic. The short film starts out in bright, summer light. As the night goes on, the viewer learns more about how dependent the mother is on the daughter and how she vicariously lives through her. The darkest part of the movie goes hand in hand with the biggest fight between the mom and the daughter. As the sun comes back up and the climax of the movie begins, the daughter then untangles the mom's hair, taking the role of the mom.

Editing:

In terms of editing, there was not a lot done in editing that drastically change the view of the movie. Most of the clips were jump cuts. These would transition between what the mom and the daughter were doing individually, with eyeliner matches that helped the viewer understand both the mom and daughter's perceptions of one another.

Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of the mom character. While I feel for her, especially with what happens to her in the end, she was generally aggravating and completely overstepped many boundaries. My favorite parts were seeing the mom and daughter interact alone together because that gave me a real sense of how their relationship was without any outside societal pressure.

See you next time,

Danniella Miller