Review in the style of little white lies Content only - Dom

last changed on March 11th 2013

It's all too easy to be trapped and devoured by an anticlimactic occupation you loathe when you first venture apprehensively away from full time education, yet you fear life without it; a classic Catch 22.  Josh Brown and Dominic Hockaday's short In Perspective explores a situation all too familiar at this stage of life for many of us, and proposes an idea for short term pain relief. An opening picturesque pan of Brighton seafront, complete with mandatory gull, promotes a sense of nostalgia changing to a pseudo-noire style; which in turn, offers an explanation to the mementos collected by the protagonist during his unorthodox morning routine. The result is a semi-triumphant attempt at representing our protagonist's view on the world and his chosen method of escaping his lousy 9 to 5 existence.The unpolished monologue makes it somewhat unclear in showing the motive behind the 'Kodak moment' images between his fingers. The abundance of Disney dazzling frames of quirky 'day-making' moments bombards the audience and ensures that we see the world from his perspective. On further inspection, it’s apparent that the editing of the idyllic image in his hands, to transform to grey scale as they part, is the work of a keen novice. Although surprisingly, at times the end result is aesthetically pleasing. It's an admirable attempt to educate us in the midst of furious key pushing, to take five, save our souls from being crushed and remind ourselves of the small wonderful things that happen every day;  a forgivable cliché.Our protagonist realises the solution hiking across the south coast on an anarchic rant, and is interrupted by the lady in red...jeans. The brief encounter is the first instance where we can identify a genre of romance possibly. Alas, once again the dwindling narration makes the encounter another code to decipher leaving the viewer with and unsettling juxtaposition of frustration and curiosity. When the protagonist is waltzing around after his Lady messiah, the lack of narration, faster paced soundtrack and editing lead to a predictable but satisfying finalé with this woman. Off the streets, we observe our protagonist in his unnatural office habitat. Close ups of mouse clicks, a post-lobotomy face and the non diegetic low droning note, brew together nicely to create an uncomfortable atmosphere; classically portraying the antithesis of all things fun.The short undeniably has an uncompleted feel to it but is still enjoyable. The young and optimistic film makers may have been overambitious on their attempt to leave a simple yet seldom practiced ideology, 'enjoy the little things, but settle for bigger' . DOM HOCKADAY

Anticipation
Avant Garte styles from fresh directors, never dull 3

Enjoyment
Pleasant plot makes flaws forgivable 2

In Retrospect
Charming with hiccups, worth the 5 minutes, 3

I discovered the font of the title for Little White Lies is called Railway Thin

Lwl reveiws have approx 400-500 words and are structured in paragraphs.

The Pink highlights represent the start of new paragraphs, if unclear.