With less time and budget than feature films, shorts need a
more creative use of film form elements to incite response in viewers in the
short time they have. Wasp does this permanently to present one of its main
themes, internal conflict. The main character has a large internal conflict
throughout the film between her pride and need to be a good mother and her
anxieties about not being able to protect or provide for her children. This is
shown from the very beginning when the film starts in media res as we follow the
main character Zoe down the stairs of her block of flats and down the road of
an English street. The mis-en-scene immediately establishes the setting and type
of people the characters are as the film is shot in a poorer area and the characters
are dressed down to the point that Zoe is carrying her baby half naked down the
road, this is a perfect example of how short films establish narrative elements
in the limited time they have with creative use of film form. The two opening
shots establish the type of characters we have and what situation they are in,
this skips the need for any establishing dialogue and helps tell more of the story
in less time. Zoe continues to storm down the street and knocks on a door to fight
another mother for hitting one of her children, this establishes her proud
mother side as she is evidently determined to protect her children. Some dialogue
from the other mother after winning the fight reveals that Zoe is not doing a
good job looking after her kids and social services may intervene. This establishes
tension in the relationship between Zoe and her kids and reveals more to Zoe’s character.
This uncertainty is played on heavily with film form in the form of the cinematography
used in shots of the kids, the shots are always full of jump cuts and shaky blurry
camerawork, the creates a sense of anxiety in the viewers especially when used
with the context of the children’s current situation, most likely echoing Zoe’s
own worries about her ability to look after the children. This worry for the
wellbeing of the children is escalated when Zoe agrees to go on a date with her ex and cannot find a
babysitter, this shows her more neglectful side as she brings the kids with her
leaving them outside the pub. The mis-en-scene and sound design show the extend
of the neglect here, with the scenes turning from day to nigh, the grungy environment
that looks unsafe for children to be in create further empathy for the children
as we see the dire situation their mother put them in as well as the contrast
between loud clear music heard by Zoe and the muffled distorted music the kids
hear from outside representing how Zoe is sacrificing the children’s situation
for herself, despite constantly being shown as on edge inside the pub enforcing
her internal conflict. The short ends with showing Zoe’s conflict be resolved as
a wasp crawls into her young babies’ mouth. The cinematography keeps us aligned
with her as we hear one of her kids cry for help and she bolts from the car she was in with her
date, the use of shaky cam to build tension again used as we follow her to her
kids, where the child ends up fine. The family are then all placed in frame together,
huddled up on the floor as her date stands nearby signifying the choice Zoe
made for her family and putting a resolve to the internal conflict.
