I watched ‘The Roof’ and ‘Embrace’. Both films draw the viewer into the narrative with engaging dialogue that does not reveal the entire story. Of the two films, I was more intrigued by ‘Embrace’.
The audio is the strong point of this short film. The film opens with a black screen and heavy breathing before cutting to the video. This sets the stage for the viewer. The breathing continues to be heavy throughout the female’s anxiety. The sound of her breathing keeps the viewer connected to the woman’s rising and falling panic.
The camera shots also effectively pull the viewer into the experience. The shots frame the faces and focus on the eyes. The eyes in both of the actors are important in conveying the sense of trust in the relationship. The smooth pan from the woman’s face to her hand moving on the mans back adds more visual interest that keeping the shot on the woman’s face.
I liked the way the relationship is balanced in the end. It starts with the traditional idea of a man comforting a woman, but once she has calmed down, it is evident that the guy is anxious as well. The dialogue gives the sense that it is a real experience between two people. I especially like how the man doesn’t finish his sentence when he says, “I’m trying really hard to…”.
It was an interesting technique at the end to have the actress look directly at the camera. This techniques challenges the viewer by pushing them from being an observer to feeling as if they are suddenly a participant in the experience.