SHORT FILM RESEARCH: HIGH MAINTENANCE

Title: High Maintenance
Dir: Phillip Van
Accessed by 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYhGO8WHqz0
Plot Summary:  a dark comedy/ science fiction film about a couple having dinner, before later revealing that both are androids.
Mis en scene : Setting and location- The entire short takes place within a middle class apartment. It uses the location to make it seem more "normal" for the audience and for them relate to it in a strange sort of way, despite its unusual story. The short takes place sometime in the near future. Again, it's much like our own society but with one major advancement, in this case that being androids are common place.
Mis en scene: iconography and props- Most of the props that are used within the film are general household items such as the use of cutlery like knifes and forks.A prop that is somewhat significant is the plastic bag that reveals the new android, almost seeming like the woman is unveiling her future .

Mis en scene: colour and lighting-  the lighting is generally quite important as whilst most of it is naturalistic, it does use this to its advantage. An example of this is how the entire dinner scene is primarily lighted by the lamps and the candles on their table. This shows that they're trying to create a romantic atmosphere  but they can't possibly due to the reveal of who both the characters are.

Mis en scene- makeup and costume- the makeup is fairly limited with most of the actors using fairly basic foundations. The three "robots" generally wear normal clothing with the woman wearing a dress and the two men we. The two employees from "Prometheus Robotics" do wear overalls to distinguish that they're different from the other characters.

Editing: sound and vision- For the sound, there is a large emphasis on the "eating" sounds that the couple are making. This is extremely effective as it makes the audience feel uncomfortable and even perhaps alluding to the fact that neither character is what that we think they are. For visual, it uses quick edits in order to show the uncomfortable nature as we can see that they are unsure of how to talk to each other in a coherent manner.

Cinematography: There are a lot of close up shots of the couple eating created an uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere. Both actors are seen looking uncomfortable. A closeup that is particularly important is when you see the man overtly sweating, perhaps revealing the fact that he is not what he seems.  The camera also uses wide shots in order to establish distance between the two main characters, despite their fairly close proximity only being on the other side of their dinner table. Another shot that is effective is when there is a wide shot of her at the laptop, perhaps signifying the fact that she is truly alone as she is not with someone real. She is using "fake people" as that's who she feels more comfortable around.

Title and Credits: The only title in the opening is the name of the movie. It uses two types of colour font with the word "Maintenance" being in a much bolder white and font than the word "High".The end credits are very typical of most films in general with them crawling from top to bottom.