Slap

 

Slap

    Slap (2015) directed by Nick Rowland, is a 25 minute short film that follows Connor, a young boy from the North who is a boxer and also in his free time enjoys putting on make-up and wearing dresses. The film follows him as he tries to understand himself and as he becomes more confident with his passion and how it affects those around him.

The theme of masculinity is very prevalent throughout the film. The film is set in a very gritty industrial town and the portrayals of masculinity around Connor are very powerful and stereotypical with his dad being a boxing coach. This puts a lot more pressure on him to suppress his more feminine urges as he has to appear masculine to those around him due to the culture around him.

    Mirrors are a very common visual motif present in this short film as they represent the duality of Connor's character: his masculine side with the boxing and his appearance, and then the feminine side with his enjoyment of dressing up in dresses and doing make-up. Here is an example of the mirror motif.

    Cinematography is used in this film to create a sense of realism and to show Connor's isolation. Throughout the film a handheld camera is used which creates quite loose framing and adds to the sense of realism and grittiness of the industrial town.  Connor's isolation can be seen through the cinematography mostly in the last act of the film.

    This long shot of Connor waling down the road in his dress and make-up commences the 3rd Act of the film and also shows his isolation as he is entirely alone in this shot. It starts as a long shot where Connor moves through the frame into a medium shot which then dollies backwards, tracking Connor as he walks down the road. The negative space in the shot creates a sense of isolation and the empty streets emphasise this.

    A sense of isolation is also created in the party when framing is used to show how Connor is not supported. Here in this medium-close-up of Conner, he is positioned to the left of the frame with a large amount of blank space to his left creating a sense of isolation and contrasting to the shots of the other characters where there is not as much negative space within the frame as they are alone.

    Colour and mise-en-scéne are also very important in the film. Throughout the first 2 Acts, the colours used are very simple and flat reflecting the gritty more masculine culture and location that Connor is in. The colours used are a selection of blues and greys and browns with some splashes of bright red coming through specifically in the boxing gym and in Connor's make-up. This colour may emphasise how these are the two opposing halves of Connor's life. 

    In the 3rd Act the use of colour becomes more expressionistic. Red lighting is used at the party
which symbolises anger, which Connor feels as he is ridiculed and not accepted by those that he thought loved him.

    Editing is also used to show the duality of Connor's character. Jump cuts are used to cut between shots of Connor dancing and boxing in the mirror. These two actions obviously represent the masculine and feminine sides of his character and the jump cuts between them creates juxtaposition and emphasises the contrast between them.

    One of the reasons that this short film works so well is due to the performances of the actors. Joe Cole, who plays Connor, represents the character very well. His accent and tone create a very masculine persona  which contrasts to his feminine side. In addition to this, he has a very large build which also adds to his masculinity. Throughout the film very nuanced facial expressions are used to show how Connor reacts to the characters around him and close-ups are often used to emphasise his performance which helps to create meaning.

For example, in this shot above we can see his pain at rejection, his confusion and his embarrassement, all shown through his facial expression which in and of itself is very simple.