Short Film Research: The Subject

"The Subject" is a ten minute long short film encapsulating freedom and sorrow. It is a very touching short film, in which a man dissects his own body and extracts his memories, emotions, and fears. As he is cutting into his skin with a scalpel, many symbolic objects from his past are seen. However, the man is unable to reach his heart. No matter the amount of tools he uses, he is not able to take hold of his heart, possibly alluding that he does not have one. Eventually, the man decides to try and pry his skin open with his hands. As he does this, the skin on his chest begins to rip apart. In the place where one would usually find a heart rest an anvil. He tosses the anvil to the side which results in the man tumbling over and falling, meeting face to face with his unconscious body. 

A very frequent shot used in this film was a cutaway. The camera would show the man trying to fix something with tools or his hands. It would then switch to show what the man is trying to fix or get into. Then, it would show the man again. This affects the meaning of what the man is trying to fix and shows the audience his intentions. The whole film was a two shot as it constantly showed the man and his body in almost every shot. There were also plenty of shot reverse shots detailing the man dissecting his own body. The film ends with the man toppling over and landing face to face with his dissected body. There is an extreme close up of each of the two man's eyes; the alive man's eyes open and the unconscious man's eyes closed.

The lighting remained dimly lit most of the time, except for in one scene. In this scene, there is a camera switching through the man's memories. Each memory has its own lighting, color, and an individually unique sound motif to represent it. As each memory gets more vivid, the sound gets louder, the lighting gets brighter, and the camera rolls faster.

Something I liked about this short film was when the man pried open his chest with his own hands trying to get to his heart but it turned out to be an anvil instead. He attempted to toss the anvil off his body, but this resulted in him losing balance and landing on top of his dissected body. The film then ended with an extreme close up of each of the men's eyes. I really liked this detail because after the man reflects his own memories, he is now reflecting on his own body. He is coming face to face with his actions. Something else I really liked was the fact that this film was in claymation. It added a sense of uncertainty to the plot.