Research Tasks - "Wasp" - Matt Bull

"WASP" (click to view)

1. This short film uses the social realism genre to make the film realistic and of real life situations. Situations that the audience could relate to because of the difficulties they face.
2. This really is an extraordinary and exceptional film. Gritty, real, touching and also incredibly tense and full of suspense. The free flowing nature of the camera-work adds to the already vivid realism, almost docudrama style. As a viewer you are drawn into this impoverished and deprived world, you feel immediate empathy for the central character in her desperate situation. She shows warmth, love and humanity to her children side by side with an appalling judgement about their well-being and safety. She is contrasting yet totally believable and genuine.
3. What makes "Wasp" so unique is its almost seamless fusion of the two documentary styles. Writer/director Andrea Arnold scripts a fictional story intended to look so authentic that it can pass as direct cinema. This is done so effectively that not only is a casual viewer unable to tell whether it is fact or fact-based fiction, but in most cases actually assumes the story is authentic and the characters real. The acting (particularly by the children) is so well directed and edited that you feel certain that these are real people.
4. With this film set in a real life situation, the sounds the audience hear is of the natural surroundings of where they live. In a what seems to be a run-down area on the outskirts of a city, the sounds of traffic and the hustle and bustle of the area is normal to them. As this film is a social realism, they don't use sound to emphasise any major events, but try to make it as real as possible.
5. This film puts the audience in the position of the main character (Zoe) within the daily routine of her life with her kids. Living in bad conditions, things don't get any better when the other people living near have a negative approach towards her. She thinks things could change on meeting an old friend who takes her out, but doesn't realise that she has her 4 kids.

Matt Bull