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Elephant


The elephant essay/notes



One interesting thing about this film is the lack of dialogue within in it, relying of other sound effects, as well other aspects of film form. A benefit of choosing to leave most of the dialogue out of the short film is that it forces the audience to pay attention to the other aspects of the film, as well as making the other, no dialect sound, be portrayed as louder and more jarring. This is particularly useful within this short film to make the many gun shots heard throughout the film, making every one of the shots stand out in the audience’s mind. Another way that the film focuses the audience attention on the violence of the film is through the repetition of long lingering shots on the victims’ bodies. The use of these shots forces the audience’s attention to the violence of the acts being committed, there is nothing to distract from the bodies, your attention is focused solely on the victim, the lack of sound ensures that there is nothing to distract the audience from the victim.

Use of narrative is effective in this film as it subverts the typical narrative story line, we aren’t introduced to any characters within the beginning of the film, we don’t get a story of why they are shooting people, we are just left guessing as to what is happening, and there is no explanation of the story line, or the motives behind the shooting. There is also no narrative conflict resolution, we don’t get a “happy ending” or an explanation of the ending of the film, instead we are left with ten minuets of men walking that ends with a man getting shot in the head. This leaves the audience unsatisfied and almost annoyed with the ending, I definitely felt annoyed by the ending, as the repetition of the film I expected something to change, and yet nothing did, it was the same consistent patten over and over again. The single scene with dialogue in it made me keep watching, as I expected the pattern to change, but instead it just remained the same, repeating over and over again, and yet the audience continues to watch, not quite convinced that it would not be different this time.

 The film shows the violence in Northern Ireland as pointless and unchanging. This battle is never clearly stated, but this film is a representation of the troubles and the other issues that affect Ireland. There is not a happy ending, much like the troubles, at the time the people of Ireland couldn’t see an end to the troubles and all the other issues that the people of Ireland were facing, and there are still underlying issues within the country due to these issues today. The film also shows the true nature of the war, with the character at the end of the film going willing to his death, like how the soldiers in the war go willing to their death, truly believing it was for the greater good.

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