The Most Beautiful Man in the World-Basic Notes

The Most Beautiful Man in the World

Dir: Alicia Duffy

Year: 2002

Location:  West Midlands

Length: 6 Minutes
Genre: Social Realism/Drama

Initial Notes

Camera:

·         Pan/Tilt up from girl’s legs to top of body, maybe suggestive, foreshadowing the sense of the girl maybe acting older than she is.

·         Medium/Wide shot of the girl and the dog, well lit room.

·         Cuts back to this shot with the mum also partly in the shot

·         It cuts to wide shot of the room; Old carpet, toys and things scattered around.

·         Girl is positioned in the middle of the frame, looking out. Maybe she wants to get out/escapes. Feels caged in?

·         Wide shot of the whole Street, massive open space, houses and fence tower over her. She feels free however may be vulnerable.

·         Over shoulder/Medium shot tracking through the field.

·         Quick cuts-fast editorial pace.

·         Tracking, Medium/Close up shot of her hand.

·         Shot from underwater is positioned high up in the frame.

·         Close up/medium of the man in the field.

·         Tracking shot whilst tilting up follows the man’s hand movement. We get sense of ambiguity and unease. Who is he?

·         Shot down the stairs to the girl-Narrow/closed off. Girl at the bottom of the stairs.

·         End shot is a close up. It shows the girl upset, maybe in a strop.

·         Camera constantly follows the movement of the girl.

·         Shots of man, wide stretching field in the background.  

Shape

·         Area’s defined by their edges within the piece.

·         In-between the pylons- the girl looks small-boxed in. This is a reoccurring representation.

·         Unfocused so it is mainly her we are drawn to.

Camera/Shape

·         At the beginning of the film we see equilibrium (In the house, small/tight shots, again emphasising this caged in lifestyle we see of the girl’s home life).

·         We the diseqilibrium outside. However at some points we see her as being more uncomfortable and maybe free when she is out of the house and she finds the man.

·         So maybe it is more disequilibrium/equilibrium/disequilibrium rather than other way round.

Camera/representation

·         Girl acts more grown up than she is the initial pan and tilt shot of the belly represents this.

·         Confined/trapped-slow and boring days at home, we again see this as she’s at the fence. Fence representing jail bars.

·         Shots inside the house emphasis, we see some light in the house, but overall they are grainy, low key shots. Maybe show the dim/ empty lifestyle. Maybe empty due to the lack of a father figure?

·         The outside shots are spacious and ongoing.

Camera/narrative/story

·         Pan/tilt shows girl as more grown up.

·         Intimate setting.

·         Caged atmosphere

·         Outside is very open, which would maybe give a sense of vulnerability, however this is contrasting due to how the home represented.

·         The man, first time we see him he is topless , shown in a close up/medium shot. This is maybe shocking due to the context.

·         Shots show intimacy –ambiguity.

·         Tracking shot of hand, maybe seems beautiful.

Notes/background

·         The film was originally a short channel commission.

·         Funded by the UK Film council and France’s main funding body: CNN.

·         The project paired up British and French film makers making two different films with a similar idea.

·         Very little/minimum dialogue in the film.

·         It had won awards and had various nominations.

·         In 1997 Duffy went to the National Film & Television school.

·         ‘With short films, you have to show quite big things with tiny gestures. But small moments collectively can add to up to something greater.’ Quote from Duffy.  

·         The film encourages us to reflect on what questions we should be asking ourselves.