Gasman (1997)

Written and Directed by Lynne Ramsay (her third and last short lm) Running Time: 15 minutes Shot on s16mm Producer: Gavin Emerson Production Companies: British Broadcasting Corporation Holy Cow Films The Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Film Production Fund Won: Cannes Jury Prize Scottish BAFTA Dingy walls-colour pallet Regional identity-working class up-North Costume: vest, bare skin/prop of cigarette = representation of a working man Woman character (mother) getting all the clothes together Pretty, yellow dress = representation of a young girl (innocence) Young girls utterances Camera not showing faces, focused on body gives a sense that they are physical beings Dirty colour pallet represents a working class environment/shoes are polished shows the economic status (poor) Prop of car represents gender of a boy-traditional north of the boarder Sound: christmas song, but a tacky image (salt as snow-poverty) Grating sound connoting toughness of life-foreshadowing of disruption to come Low-angle on suit-not used every day Smoking/tea-vices Sea like colours-world is submerged Intertextual reference to The Wizard of OZ-ironic-no place like home, but is it nice? Low-angle on all special clothing Low-key lighting-depression of their economic harshness Dirty grill pan/what theyre consuming Shutters connote bars-shes imprisoned-not seen clearly-identity not presented clearly/ protection from harsh outside life Proxemics-close father and daughter/further away from the son-in shadows/independent Surreally tall, ugly street lamps-emptiness Slow pan/tracking Father and daughter on track (straight forward relationship)/son not on track Dark edges-romanticises father/daughter relationship Industrial backdrop ruins father/daughter relationship-vulnerablitiy Framing loses the son Dialogue of mysterious woman before we see her Slow motion = momentous event Rusty train-industry and decline Proxemics change-woman is next to father Symmetry of children-how connected? Slow motion, close-up on girl-childhood innocence ruined?-she is made prominent in the shot.