Wasp by Andrea Arnold

                Wasp is an Oscar-awarded short film created by Andrea Arnold. This film was made in 2003 and shows a single mother with four children trying to get by with little to no money. She bumps into her old friend who convinces her to go out on a date with him. The film describes the relationship between the children and mother whilst also representing British society and child poverty.

                This shot uses a handheld camera at the start of the film to depict a realistic feeling this creates the effect of a documentary. This close up of the young girl walking down the stairs describes that she is living in a rough neighbourhood, the dirty walls and cold colours also illustrate that she doesn’t belong in this kind of environment because she is vulnerable. The unsteady camera also highlights the instability of the family that is being shown. The one source of light from the window behind them creates a low-lit scene and helps to build sympathy from the audience towards this girl as it describes a situation that she shouldn’t be in.

               

                Sound is used in this short film to predominantly represent danger. This high angled shot gives the audience the realisation how small and young these children are on their own and added with the overbearing noise of the pram wheels on the pavement sets the audience on edge as they’re expecting something bad to happen. The sound of traffic as background noise also depicts how exposed these young children are to the outside world. The use of the doll in the pram is ominous and it makes us lead back to the actual baby in the pram, it describes the real baby as another toy that the children play with. The use of sound depicting danger was also used throughout the short film, earlier there was a bull terrier passing behind them which was barking, the traffic was oppressive when they were walking above the motorway and the wasp became a distinct feature during the short film.

                The wasp in this film is very symbolic. I believe that it represents Zoe, the mother of the children and the main character.  Their value to the animal kingdom is questionable and when provoked they lash out and sting, this parallels Zoe’s behaviour at the very start of the film where she has a fight with another woman. The extreme clos- up used to identify the wasp on the window is meaningful as it shows the wasp is trapped in their house and has no way of getting out, in a sense this illustrates Zoe, as she is trapped in her poverty-stricken life and isn’t able to claw herself out of the struggle she finds herself and her children in. The extreme close- up from the wasp then cuts quickly to an extreme close-up of Zoe’s eyes which people say ‘’are the windows to your soul’’. This creates a bond between the wasp and this character and shows that Zoe has empathy for the wasp, also knowing what it’s like being stuck in one place, and opening the window for it could describe a turning point for her to sort her own life out and not be ‘trapped’ anymore.