Emily by Sam Benenati

For my third piece of analysis, I choose to look at a seven minute drama called Emily by Sam Benenati. Unlike my last two pieces, it's heavily centred around verbal codes with very few technical or symbolic codes used to tell the story. The vast majority of it, maybe five minutes, is all one shot.

The title card is very similar to the one used in Semele, but is used at the start rather than at the end, which is something I think will work better for Cumha. This simple monochromatic credit style seems to be very popular among dramatic pieces. I like the handwriting style of font used, as it suits the incredibly personal and intimate feel of Emily. 

Emily was very interestingly shot, with one long close up of the main actress' face, evoking a sense of intimacy that could not be avoided. 

If we want Cumha to feel just an personal as Emily, I think that we should use a number of close ups around the face. They are incredibly effective for conveying strong emotions.

The use of script was heavy, but like in Semele, it never felt contrived or unnatural, if anything it felt totally real to me. This was helped by the actress, of course. 

After our piece last year, I was scared that a script heavy piece would always feel contrived, but Emily has shown me that that isn't the case in short movies, and that a skilful piece of language based media can still be subtle.  

Emily also worked very well as it had a twist ending; I had assumed the speaker was addressing the audience at first, but at the very end it's revealed that she's telling the whole story to someone she's out having dinner with.

Giving Cumha a twist ending is an idea being kicked around between us, so it was nice to see one in action here, and to be able to gauge the surprise for myself.

I've seen light used symbolically in the past two pieces, but in Emily it seemed to be used only practically, though this isn't a bad thing. By choosing one, strong source of light throughout the whole piece, it adds to the visual appeal and continuity of the movie. It was dramatic lighting for a dramatic performance, and the long dark shadows made the space feel smaller, and forced the viewer into bringing their full attention to the actress.

When the shot finally changes, and the audience gets to see the setting, this one source of light makes more sense, given the context of the setting. 

Emily is simple, probably the most simplistic piece I've watched so far, but also my favourite, and the most emotionally provocative. It's a key example of how less can be more when it comes to short films.