Soraya Arghandawi

Analysis of a short film-Dear Mum

An over the shoulder shot is used to begin so

the audience can identify with the main
protagonist in the film and also so the focus in
the scene is the letter; indicating this letter will
be very important throughout the production
creating a disruption. Mise en scene has
been used to create an enigma at the start as
the girl is writing a letter to her mother and
leaves the audience wondering why.

An eye level medium close up shot is used

here so the audience can focus on the letter
on the floor that the protagonist was shown
writing before. To empathise on the
stereotypical perception of a teenager under
the bed is shown as messy with clothing lying
around.

From this high angle shot when the mum

finds the letter she is shown as vulnerable to
the audience as she opens the letter from her
daughter indicating the letter is negative.

In this scene the mother is shown reading

the letter and looking concerned this shown
through her facial expressions from a close
up shot mostly focusing on her face. The
director has chosen to use this shot
because it represents the mother as being
reflective and concerned with her child

Soraya Arghandawi
Through the change to a more grey
toned lighting in this scene, this can
represent a flashback scene to the
audience. The character positioning the
director has used also portrays the
mother and daughters relationship as
they are sitting together on the bed and
the mother is comforting her. There is
also no space between the 2 characters
indicating they are very close and have
a strong bond. The mother stroking the
daughters head also shows her being
maternal.

This medium shot of the 2 protagonists

show them as having a close bond and
strong relationship through character
positioning as they are sitting together
and sharing food from the same plate.

This low angle shot on the mother

shows her as dominant in the scene
and as having more control in the
situation. The character positioning
shows her by herself away from her
daughter unlike the other scenes which
could portray her as being alone
identifying another disruption in the
scene.

Soraya Arghandawi

The director has incorporated a

medium shot similar to the previous
scene showing the daughter and
mother away from each other
showing a disruption and their
relationship as being weaker than
shown in the scenes before when
they were together. This can connote
to the audience that the young girl
feels alone and isolated as she
suffers. The medium shot also
focuses on the girls emotion shows her as being distressed as she is crying and is
holding onto the head while hugging her duvet.

The last scene shows a medium

shot of the mother and daughter,
they are both shown as close again
through character positioning as
they are both hugging and it shows
their affection towards each other.
This also creates an equilibrium
again as previously both characters
were shown as separated and
emotional, so this last scene
creates balance in the film.