Operator

 Operator

    Operator is short film written and directed by Caroline Bartleet released in 2015. It takes place in an emergency call centre and revolves around Laura who is a 999 call operator, responding to a distress call from Gemma, who is trapped in her home which is on fire with her son trapped upstairs. The film focuses on the call centre and how an intense atmosphere is created there even though the action is far away. Once Laura has finished this call she begins another almost immediately which shows the high-demand and high-intensity nature of her role.

    The mise-en-scene helps to create a realistic setting of a 999 call centre with each operator being seated next to multiple monitors showing addresses and locations and surrounded by many other operators.

    All of the operators also wear dark clothing and have a headpiece which again, makes the setting of the 999 call centre realistic.

    The cinematography is very simple throughout the whole short film, with the majority of shots being close-ups used to show the woman's emotional reaction to the woman on the other end of the phone.

    Performance is very important in this short film. Because only one side of the call is able to be seen by the spectator, the operators physical reactions (non-verbal performance) through facial expression and body movement is crucial to guiding viewer responses. In addition to this, verbal performance is also very important. As we cannot see the caller on the other side of the phone, their tone and pace of speaking is very important to directing viewer responses as to what is happening.

    Overall this film very successfully creates tension through performance and sound, which results in a harrowing short film that accurately highlights the position of an Operator.