This short film begins by showing the setting of the film. It pans through the close ups of the barber's instrument and the radio that the barber spends his time listening to. (Figure 1 & 2)
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
After the intro, the barber is introduced and the use of low lighting is meant to show his feeling of sadness with his seemingly empty business. A medium close-up of the emotionless barber is used to intensify his feelings of despair. (Figure 3)
Figure 3.
In this next scene, the barber is in disbelief after the bald man has asked for a haircut. This is shown through a clever shot showing the barber's reaction in the smaller mirror while the camera is at eye level with the bald man that is patiently waiting for his haircut. (Figure 4)
Figure 4
As soon as the bald man gives the barber a compliment for starting the "haircut", the barber suddenly feels a sudden rise of happiness and confidence. This is shown through the entrance of sunlight to the setting, brightening up the previously gloomy barber shop. This is also shown through the change of pace of the music, turning into a more upbeat song. (Figure 5 & 6)
Figure 5
Figure 6
The next scene uses a traveling shot across the window showing a kid that is witnessing the imaginary haircut. The kid's smile symbolizes joy, showing that the imaginary haircut not only makes the barber happy, but also the kid that is watching the haircut taking place. (Figure 7)
Figure 7.
After the haircut has been finished, a close up of the barber's face is shown (Figure 8). The close up intensifies the doubt of the barber seeing whether the bald man liked his haircut or not. The bald man walks down the street and checks himself in a mirror. He looks and apparently likes what he has seen (Figure 9).
Figure 8.
Figure 9.
In Figure 10, as the bald man disappears, the sunlight that once filled the room leaves. Returning the barber shop back into its somber mood. In Figure 11, it replicates the shot in Figure 3 with the same medium close up of the barber. The music that the radio played also returns back into its sad mood as it controlled the mood of the barber shop.
Figure 10
Figure 11
I want to start off by saying that this is more of an analysis than a film review. The plus side of all this analysis is that it takes away from the readers confusion of the film. However, what you should do next time around on a review is give the reader your opinion on the movie. This allows the reader to decide whether or not the film is worth their time or not.. You should start off by giving a quick detailed summary of the film. You should then tell the readers what you liked about the film, what you hated, and what your overall view on the film is. After watching the video you have included in your blog I was confused because of the lack of much dialogue. What I didn’t like about the film was the scenery and detail of the video and that is because I felt as if they were dull, lacked emotion, and poorly shot. However, after reading your analysis for a second time it all made sense to me and my view somewhat changed about it. I realized that the simple shots and plot were used to show that you should enjoy the simplest of things even if it is cutting a bald man's hair.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your review. I enjoyed the storyline and thought it was an interesting topic. I liked the use of screencaps and thought they gave a lot of background information and visual to the review. I also liked the theme and quote "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" because its a very relatable topic that is interesting to watch.
ReplyDeleteI highly enjoyed this film and review. For one, I found myself giggling throughout most of the film and it indeed cheered me up a whole lot. The analysis part is well done, but I do agree with Arafat that there could have been a bit more review and opinion. I found myself a bit lacking in actually reviewing the film as well. Your screenshots are very helpful in guiding the reader as to what you are talking about. Great analysis to a great film. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI liked your choice in film. You were right to say that it's a happy film. I liked your analysis of the film. However a little more commentary would have been nice. I feel like you did the same thing as me: writing the majority of the piece as analysis and saving the last few lines for commentary. Next time, incorporate more opinion throughout your review and you should be fine. Good job!
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