Nigel - Bertie The Budgie Analysis

The genre of this is is quite unclear. It could be a comedy or just have no standing out genres at all, especially with the strange narrative. I'd place this short film into the thriller category because of there is a lot of enigma and conventions which fit into this.

It beings with a kind of sound bridge from a black screen, you can hear the alarm before you see anything. There are several jump cuts when you first see Elsie. These all change shot locations, but are of the same action. This shows that time is passing but also count suggest that she is pretty tired, either this or they just wanted it to flow quicker so the viewer didn't get bored, an attempt at making it more entertaining to watch.

There is an important scene which involves Elsie talking to the photo of her deceased Husband. Her body language tells us that she misses him but is accepting of his death, he strokes the picture gently a few times whilst talking to him (his picture). This body language suggests that he means a lot to him, even now, it is almost as if she is playing with his hair if he was still alive. The photo isn't of them too long from the present, so we don't know how long it has been since he died, it could be a a few months or even a few years, we don't know. She is wearing a colourful dress in the picture which may suggest that it was in her younger years as it is more wild and free. 

The dialogue in this film can be eerie, she refers to just herself as 'we' after looking at the picture. This could be referring to the husband as if he is still there. This adds a greater persona to the character, she has a deeper back story and perhaps she can even be classed as a developed character. She is still the person that was in the photo though, her body language in the kitchen when she is dancing suggests that she is still the fun loving person that she is suggested to be in the photo by the costume, or just perhaps happy.

There are a lot of old props used in the short film, including clocks and the very start, the alarm with the coffee also look old. The bed sheets have an old flowery pattern on them too, these are just making sure we know as viewers that the house is owned by an older person. The decor is the same, these can be pretty eerie because they aren't usual for most of the young generation. This may help make it a thriller, as there is a usually isolated and old setting such as a old building, as the house seems generally old. 

From the cinematography that I have talked about, narrative and even editing, some things can be guessed. It is a possibility she is suffering from an age related disorder, which, with everything that happens in the narrative, may just be true. Having this unsteady character means you cant guess what they will do which may coat them in enigma and make everything they are going to do mysterious, as you wouldn't know what Elisie is about to do etc, although in the end she turns out to not be the mysterious woman we thought she was at the beginning. She is highly effected by her husbands death due to the shot that she talks to him in the photo and wishes him a happy birthday. 

The bird doesn't seem to actually be the subject of the narrative, of course it has a major effect on the audience as it goes up in flames, but the subject still is Elsie. The bird is shown in a few extreme close ups, to try and perhaps show its panic, it could be really unhappy with its owner, of course, by the end its worries were actually put into perspective. The final shot of the bird is quite disturbing, I think this is meant to be like this to try and get a reaction from the audience. 

I believe this short film has a darker meaning; she refers to the husband far too much for him to not be a part of the story, perhaps the darker side is that he doesn't want her to 'replace' him with a bird and there might be a greater force. Although this speculation may be hinted, this is just me trying to find deeper meaning, it could just be about an old lady and her now deceased bird.

Elsie

Elsie