Film Analysis - Get Back

Title - Get Back
Director - Eliot Rausch
Year - 2013
Running Time - 04:04

Get Back is a short film that looks that a relationship where the man is constantly on his phone and ignores his partner because of it.

The very first shot of the film stood out to me, as I didn't properly know what the film was about before watching it. The first shot shows a lady cuddling and kisses her partner in bed as she is falling to sleep, and in the shot, we can't see the man's face. Eventually, the camera slowly tilts up revealing the man's face and his eyes are open, focused on something in front of him, which we find out is his phone, and not focusing on his partner in bed next to him.

This was a shock to me because originally I thought that the man was asleep and his partner was trying to get to sleep, but after being shown what the man was actually doing, it brings emotion to the film, which made me feel sorry for his partner. 

Throughout the entire film, there are many shots that show that the man's partner isn't happy with the way that he is on his phone all of the time and how it always distracts him from her. These shots tend to be close ups to show her emotion by getting up close and personal with her.

There is a montage in the film, showing what appears to be the man and his partner out having a good time together in various places such as the woods, at dinner or in an arcade, however, I noticed that this montage is done very cleverly. The footage is made up of videos shot on the man's phone and also footage filmed professionally, showing both of the characters. I noticed that in the majority of the shots, there is either the man in shot and he has his phone with him at all times, or the footage is shot on the man's phone, showing that he is constantly on his phone. I think this is a very well thought out technique to get the point across to the audience about how much the man cares about his phone. 

I also noticed that the majority of the sound throughout the film when you can hear the couple speaking to one another, the sound is distorted and sounds as though it is coming out of some speakers. I think that the sound has been done like this because it shows that one of the few ways that the man communicates with his partner is through technology, for example we see them talking on Skype during the film.

Finally, one shot of I thought was very good is the shot that I have included below.

I really like this shot because it shows the separation between the couple, having them both lit very differently, the lady brightly lit and the man in darkness. There is almost a centre split down the middle of the frame showing that they are separated and also the backgrounds behind each of the characters are very different. I thought it was a very good shot at showing their separation and is my favourite shot in the film.

Overall, I though that the editing in the film made it very successful, bringing a lot of emotion to the audience and also is very clever in the way that to brings across the fact that the man is always using technology, whether it be a phone or a laptop or a video game in the arcade. 

Link to film - http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/04/30/get-back/