Wasp is obviously a longer short films than the ones we have been assigned to watch. 23 minutes seems pretty daunting to me after all of these six minute films, but it didn't seem so long when I got to the end of it. The progression moves fast enough to keep interest in what would otherwise be a kind of boring story. From about 5 minutes to the end I had a little suspense looming over me, waiting for something bad to happen to the kids and for David to find out the mothers fib. While that part was predictable the use of the wasp for symbolism brought a little more intrigue to it. The shaky camera work and low quality looking picture was hard to get past at first but once I got used to it brought some character to the film. This was definitely not my favorite that we have watched so far and maybe it was because there was more narrative than I'm used to and usually I'm more of a fan of the minimal.
In Andrea Arnold's, Wasp, we are quickly introduced to a poor, single-parent family walking barefoot through the city. This story runs through a day in the life of a woman, who is too poor to feed her children more than pure sugar, yet selfish enough to go out on a date, and pay for alcohol for her and her date. It is clear that the woman is trying her best to provide for her kids, but her parenting skills are, poor to say the least. I was very interested in this film because I believe that it gave a little incite into the real lives of people living day to day, in extreme poverty all over. The story and the message behind it is very strong and captivating, and between casting, and costumes, I could really feel the emotion, and suffering of the little kids. The camera work was very shaky, and had an old film look to it which I wasn't necessarily a fan of, although it very well could have been intentional, setting the tone through different camera options. I found the title, Wasp, very ironic in many senses: for one, the wasp seems to make an appearance often, and it is always buzzing around, but until the end, I saw it as a metaphor. A mother, so self-consumed that she sees her kids almost as "wasps" or pests, stopping her from doing what she wishes to do. Again, her parenting, although it was just a film, was terrible; between the lessons she taught her daughters, like cursing and fighting, to leaving her oldest daughter (though only about 6) in charge of her three younger siblings, which really tugged at my heart strings seeing someone who is supposed to be a child's role model, doing so, so poorly. Overall, I really liked this film, because I find that I enjoy films that touch my heart, or I can emotionally invest in, and this one did it for me. It opened my mind a little bit to some of the people, and situations we don't always see or hear about, living the "first-world" lifestyle we live.
I thought the language of this film was pretty vulgar. The story mad sense but the scene where the babysitter or mom fought the other woman. I got that she was mad but why? That was something I didn't understand because they left it out. The camera angles worked well with each shot or scene. I didn't think lighting was issue even though I felt that it could of been. The parenting of these kids seemed really open when it came to the language, but the woman didn't take great responsibility with some of her choices. First she should have not gone out. Second to bring the children especially a baby to a pub was uncalled for its risking their lives. Third she should have told the guy. I did like it overall because it seemed "real" that situations lie that can and would happen. Those movies that present real life situations I can get an emotional feeling or reaction to.
This is one of those films that is great as a film, but still leaves you absolutely hating every character in it. The dialogue was phenomenal, it was very organic and wasn't just words to help move the plot forward but actual conversation. I'm not a fan of the shaky cam style that much but I did think it worked fairly well here.
The computer wasp looked fake and ridiculous and was arguably the worst move of this short film. However, I thought it spoke volumes that when the mother saw her infant with a wasp in his mouth she knew better than to reach and get stung but to hope for the best and cry while she did. It was an excellent character move, but the actual wasp was distracting. The shaky camera communicated the hectic tone of this family and the monogamous close ups communicated the overall detachment to the world around. I very much enjoyed the anti-hero mother that does what she can, but still acts like the child she was when she had four more children than she can handle. In reference to the length, most short films feel like snapshots; whereas Wasps felt more like the slow day-to-day reality of a struggling family unit. Overall, I enjoyed this short film, but the actual wasp was almost a deal breaker.
For starters, I thought this was sort of funny because of the language. A lot of unneeded words were use and it made it kind of funny because of the randomness. It wasn't quite funny due to the situation though. A poor woman who struggles to take care of her children. She shows a good but of selfishness as well. Even though this was a 23 minute short film, Andrea Arnold did a great job keeping you entertained. This reminds me of a young teen mother who isn't mature enough to take care of children. She see's her children as a strain to her everyday life. All in all, I enjoyed analyzing this short film.
This short was very realistic in my opinion. It reminds me a bit of Blue Valentine in how it shows a completely understandable story line in a truthful way, there is nothing that detracts from how authentic it is.Things like the shaky camera helped to contribute my understanding of how chaotic the lives of this family are. There were some parts that were hard for me to watch as a human being, such as seeing the mom dolling herself up to go on a date while leaving her children pretty much unattended outside of a bar, but at the same time anything else from this mother would have been uncharacteristic of the woman Andrea Arnold wanted us to see her as. It's a very good "short" overall, but I agree with Hallie in saying the computer wasp looked ridiculous. However, I can appreciate the fact that the Director decided that the importance of having the wasp there outweighed the downside of using a terrible looking CGI wasp. It was important to the story and he trusted that his method of storytelling would make the audience forgive the egregious CGI. And it worked for me.
The Wasp really made me think, and I believe that is exactly what Andrea Arnold wanted to do when she made this short film. Two things are clear to the audience when they see this mother. She loves her children very much, and she does not make very good decisions, as displayed by her fighting in her neighbor's yard and leaving her young children outside of a pub for an extended amount of time. I'm inclined to dislike the mother and be angry at her for neglecting her daughters and son, but throughout the film I felt more sympathetic towards her as I watched her try to juggle being a woman who wants to be loved and a mother who wants to do what's right for her children. In this situation she made a series of bad choices, but when the time came for her to really act like a mother she did it without hesitation. I really enjoyed this film and how they created the "home video" look using the shaky camera movement and the rough rounded edges.
The Wasp was a great short film because it provokes so many emotions. I got so mad at the mom for her horrible decision making. I felt horrible for all of her kids that they were not only malnourished and starving but they were exposed to violence, drinking, and sex at such a young age. The whole film might as well have been the oldest daughter telling a therapist her childhood memories years later. The whole time I thought about how she was mentally damaging these kids with every choice she made. I understand being a young, single, and poor mother comes with great difficulties, but it seems like a lot of her problems were caused by her inappropriate behavior. The CGI wasp was kind of hilarious but other than that the story was really well told and very entertaining.
I had such a difficult time watching this one all the way through. Not because it was bad, though. The story is incredibly sad, and frustrating, and infuriating. On the one hand you hate the mom, because she is being a terrible parent, and on the other you feel crazy sympathy for her, because it is clear that she is struggling to keep things together. Everything about this short worked to make you understand the stress and desperation that the mother is feeling...except for the fake looking wasp... However, the dialog, camera style, and pregression of the plot all worked really well, in my opinion.
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ReplyDeleteWasp is obviously a longer short films than the ones we have been assigned to watch. 23 minutes seems pretty daunting to me after all of these six minute films, but it didn't seem so long when I got to the end of it. The progression moves fast enough to keep interest in what would otherwise be a kind of boring story. From about 5 minutes to the end I had a little suspense looming over me, waiting for something bad to happen to the kids and for David to find out the mothers fib. While that part was predictable the use of the wasp for symbolism brought a little more intrigue to it. The shaky camera work and low quality looking picture was hard to get past at first but once I got used to it brought some character to the film. This was definitely not my favorite that we have watched so far and maybe it was because there was more narrative than I'm used to and usually I'm more of a fan of the minimal.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn Andrea Arnold's, Wasp, we are quickly introduced to a poor, single-parent family walking barefoot through the city. This story runs through a day in the life of a woman, who is too poor to feed her children more than pure sugar, yet selfish enough to go out on a date, and pay for alcohol for her and her date. It is clear that the woman is trying her best to provide for her kids, but her parenting skills are, poor to say the least. I was very interested in this film because I believe that it gave a little incite into the real lives of people living day to day, in extreme poverty all over. The story and the message behind it is very strong and captivating, and between casting, and costumes, I could really feel the emotion, and suffering of the little kids. The camera work was very shaky, and had an old film look to it which I wasn't necessarily a fan of, although it very well could have been intentional, setting the tone through different camera options. I found the title, Wasp, very ironic in many senses: for one, the wasp seems to make an appearance often, and it is always buzzing around, but until the end, I saw it as a metaphor. A mother, so self-consumed that she sees her kids almost as "wasps" or pests, stopping her from doing what she wishes to do. Again, her parenting, although it was just a film, was terrible; between the lessons she taught her daughters, like cursing and fighting, to leaving her oldest daughter (though only about 6) in charge of her three younger siblings, which really tugged at my heart strings seeing someone who is supposed to be a child's role model, doing so, so poorly. Overall, I really liked this film, because I find that I enjoy films that touch my heart, or I can emotionally invest in, and this one did it for me. It opened my mind a little bit to some of the people, and situations we don't always see or hear about, living the "first-world" lifestyle we live.
ReplyDeleteRyan Rusch TCF 201 2015 "Wasp"
ReplyDeleteI thought the language of this film was pretty vulgar. The story mad sense but the scene where the babysitter or mom fought the other woman. I got that she was mad but why? That was something I didn't understand because they left it out. The camera angles worked well with each shot or scene. I didn't think lighting was issue even though I felt that it could of been. The parenting of these kids seemed really open when it came to the language, but the woman didn't take great responsibility with some of her choices. First she should have not gone out. Second to bring the children especially a baby to a pub was uncalled for its risking their lives. Third she should have told the guy. I did like it overall because it seemed "real" that situations lie that can and would happen. Those movies that present real life situations I can get an emotional feeling or reaction to.
This is one of those films that is great as a film, but still leaves you absolutely hating every character in it. The dialogue was phenomenal, it was very organic and wasn't just words to help move the plot forward but actual conversation. I'm not a fan of the shaky cam style that much but I did think it worked fairly well here.
ReplyDeleteThe computer wasp looked fake and ridiculous and was arguably the worst move of this short film. However, I thought it spoke volumes that when the mother saw her infant with a wasp in his mouth she knew better than to reach and get stung but to hope for the best and cry while she did. It was an excellent character move, but the actual wasp was distracting. The shaky camera communicated the hectic tone of this family and the monogamous close ups communicated the overall detachment to the world around. I very much enjoyed the anti-hero mother that does what she can, but still acts like the child she was when she had four more children than she can handle. In reference to the length, most short films feel like snapshots; whereas Wasps felt more like the slow day-to-day reality of a struggling family unit. Overall, I enjoyed this short film, but the actual wasp was almost a deal breaker.
ReplyDeleteFor starters, I thought this was sort of funny because of the language. A lot of unneeded words were use and it made it kind of funny because of the randomness. It wasn't quite funny due to the situation though. A poor woman who struggles to take care of her children. She shows a good but of selfishness as well. Even though this was a 23 minute short film, Andrea Arnold did a great job keeping you entertained. This reminds me of a young teen mother who isn't mature enough to take care of children. She see's her children as a strain to her everyday life. All in all, I enjoyed analyzing this short film.
ReplyDeleteThis short was very realistic in my opinion. It reminds me a bit of Blue Valentine in how it shows a completely understandable story line in a truthful way, there is nothing that detracts from how authentic it is.Things like the shaky camera helped to contribute my understanding of how chaotic the lives of this family are. There were some parts that were hard for me to watch as a human being, such as seeing the mom dolling herself up to go on a date while leaving her children pretty much unattended outside of a bar, but at the same time anything else from this mother would have been uncharacteristic of the woman Andrea Arnold wanted us to see her as. It's a very good "short" overall, but I agree with Hallie in saying the computer wasp looked ridiculous. However, I can appreciate the fact that the Director decided that the importance of having the wasp there outweighed the downside of using a terrible looking CGI wasp. It was important to the story and he trusted that his method of storytelling would make the audience forgive the egregious CGI. And it worked for me.
ReplyDeleteThe Wasp really made me think, and I believe that is exactly what Andrea Arnold wanted to do when she made this short film. Two things are clear to the audience when they see this mother. She loves her children very much, and she does not make very good decisions, as displayed by her fighting in her neighbor's yard and leaving her young children outside of a pub for an extended amount of time. I'm inclined to dislike the mother and be angry at her for neglecting her daughters and son, but throughout the film I felt more sympathetic towards her as I watched her try to juggle being a woman who wants to be loved and a mother who wants to do what's right for her children. In this situation she made a series of bad choices, but when the time came for her to really act like a mother she did it without hesitation. I really enjoyed this film and how they created the "home video" look using the shaky camera movement and the rough rounded edges.
ReplyDeleteThe Wasp was a great short film because it provokes so many emotions. I got so mad at the mom for her horrible decision making. I felt horrible for all of her kids that they were not only malnourished and starving but they were exposed to violence, drinking, and sex at such a young age. The whole film might as well have been the oldest daughter telling a therapist her childhood memories years later. The whole time I thought about how she was mentally damaging these kids with every choice she made. I understand being a young, single, and poor mother comes with great difficulties, but it seems like a lot of her problems were caused by her inappropriate behavior. The CGI wasp was kind of hilarious but other than that the story was really well told and very entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI had such a difficult time watching this one all the way through. Not because it was bad, though. The story is incredibly sad, and frustrating, and infuriating. On the one hand you hate the mom, because she is being a terrible parent, and on the other you feel crazy sympathy for her, because it is clear that she is struggling to keep things together. Everything about this short worked to make you understand the stress and desperation that the mother is feeling...except for the fake looking wasp... However, the dialog, camera style, and pregression of the plot all worked really well, in my opinion.
ReplyDelete