'THE ARRIVAL' SHORT FILM

'THE ARRIVAL' SHORT FILM

'The Arrival', by Daniel Montanarini, is about a pregnant woman who sits in a café, and a voiceover of her voice presents her thoughts and debates about whether she should keep her baby, while waiting for the arrival of someone in the café.
The woman is sitting in a café, made obvious by the mise en scene (the setting and the props); the coffee cup, small jug of milk, the booths and the menu. The woman is sitting in a booth, and the background is dark and black. Her white hands stand out against the black background, making her stand out as the main subject of the shot. I also noticed a link between performance and mise en scene when an old lady in the shot talks about the time while standing under the clock - showing thoughtful blocking. The café also looks a little like a train carriage, the curved lamps on each table emphasising this atmosphere. The idea of the train insinuates the woman is on a journey - this metaphor relevant because pregnancy is an emotional journey of thoughts and decisions.
In terms of the sound of the train; the loud rattling sound of the train takes over the ambient, diegetic, parallel sound of people milling about in the café. This sound of the train symbolises the arrival of someone in the café. The non diegetic sound of the woman's voiceover is an interesting use of presenting her thoughts. She speaks in a diegetic way very rarely in the short film, we just see her body language and facial expressions as we listen to her thoughts.
Her performance (body language and facial expression) is very important and skilled as it matches the dynamics of her voice in the voiceover. She looks thoughtful at the beginning; this facial expression making us ponder on the title 'The Arrival'. Perhaps she is thinking about what she is going to say when this person arrives. Or maybe she is thinking about who is going to arrive. At the beginning, we are unsure, until the voiceover starts and we break into her personal thoughts that no one else in the café is aware of.
As for editing, the short film consists of one long shot, therefore the average shot length is very long, the visual action is lacking, therefore we, as an audience, can really focus on what the woman is saying.
In terms of cinematography, at first the shot is taken behind the door, so the picture is unclear, until the door is opened by the waiter, and shortly after the voiceover starts and the theme of the film becomes gradually clear. The camera slowly transitions from a mid shot to a close up (it zooms in/nudges in slowly), and at the moment when she makes her decision to keep the baby, the camera is at a close up. As the film ends, the camera zooms out again, symbolising the end. The lighting is low-key, creating a slightly gloomy atmosphere. At the moment when we can hear the train sound, the lighting lowers, leaving her in darkness. She is illuminated at this moment, making her stand out even more than before as she makes the vital decision. This darkness lingers after she makes the decision, symbolising the decision's impact.
An interesting way the director has symbolised the beginning and end of the film, is the order of the coffee at the start, and decaf at the end, symbolising the change in lifestyle before and after her decision to keep the baby.