Wasp and Soft comparison
Wasp (made in 2003) and Soft (made in 2006) are two short films that share many similarities and differences. Andrea Arnold directed Wasp, with a feature from a young Danny Dyer too. Soft was directed by Simon Ellis, who was nominated for a BAFTA for this film.
There is a similar feel between the two movies as both share a very dark theme. For example, the performance by the mother, Zoe (Natalie Press) in certain scenes gives the audience a feeling of uncomfortableness and shock. A strong moment where this occurs is the scene where Zoe is in a car with Dave (Danny Dyer) having a sexual moment. Meanwhile, Zoe's kids are yards away on the floor outside. The youngest child who is a baby still had leftover food (which the children picked up from the floor) around her mouth and this attracted a wasp. The wasp flew into her mouth and the children screamed to alert the mother. She ran to the scene and had worry across her face. She then began screaming to a point where her voice breaks and cursing. This tells us that she was in a very aggressive and saddened state. Also, the camera work makes the film seem 'dark' in this scene too. When the mother is screaming at her children, it cuts back from the mother to the children where their facial expressions show sadness too.
Similarly, Soft has many micro-features and indications to show the audience that the film is dark too. For example, in the scene where the son, Scott (Matthew O'Shea) tries to convince his father, Iain (Jonny Phillips) to confront the gang, we see pure emotion on Scott's face. It is the realisation for him that his dad is scared and he looks disappointed in him. The camera shows a close up of his battered, crying face as the last hope he has for his father fades. His father tells him to "stop being such a wet-head" and starts to become aggressive. Both films have the sense of facial expressions telling the story. They are both used in an aggressive manner.
A major difference between the two movies is the social class of the protagonist characters. In Wasp, Zoe and her children are from an extremely poor area with a shockingly bad flat. They seem to have very little money and very little food. Furthermore, Zoe is a single parent so she has no financial support at all. This is all fuelled by the fact that Zoe looks like a terrible person regardless so it makes us feel significantly sorry for the children. The background characters seem to be a little bit more wealthier, but evidently not any more than working class people.
On the other hand, in Soft the father and Scott look like they are a middle class family. We know this as Scott comes home from playing cricket which is a stereotypically 'middle class' game. Also, Scott's father, Iain comes home in a nice car, to a nice house, dressed in a nice suit. This works well with the narrative later as they have a confrontation with another social class(the gang).
Another similarity between the two films is that they both start off with a bad start and end on a happy note. In Wasp, the film starts off with a camera shot on the dirty clothes of the mother and her children. They are clearly worn out and cheap. This instantly tells us that the protagonist characters in Wasp are poor. After that, Zoe and her kids go to a woman's house, where Zoe fights the other woman (in a very uneducated manner). She is then shown to be a terrible parent as she guides (what looks like a well rehearsed routine) her children to show their middle fingers to woman. Likewise, Soft starts off on a sour note with Scott being beaten up by the gang of teenagers. There is a very smart reference in this scene as the same cricket bat that Scott walked home with is the one that he later attacked the gang with in revenge. The camerawork is brilliant in this particular scene as it shows the view from one of the gang member's phone camera. It shows what type of people the gang are and it gives us a clear insight on the power they hold over Scott.
Ultimately, both films end happily. In Wasp, it isn't necessarily the perfect ending. This breaks the stereotypical regime of films ending perfectly when there is a problem involved. The woman and the kids got something to eat and are in Dave's car driving away. Surprisingly, Dave seems to be a very nice person and somewhat of a hero in the film, despite the Millwall sticker on his car. In soft, Scott finally has enough and smashes his cricket bat around the head of the main gang member. It is the ultimate moment of relief for Scott and the editing shows how he sees his father. Scott tries to give his bat to his father but it falls to the ground. The final scene shows Scott's father shocked and scared whilst locked out of his own house.
In conclusion, both films follow a similar context and theme, but Wasp is the darker of the two. Soft also pays more attention to the cinematography and the small aspects which improve the film's visual quality. On the contrary, Wasp focuses more on the storyline and the bigger picture of the film as a whole.
There is a similar feel between the two movies as both share a very dark theme. For example, the performance by the mother, Zoe (Natalie Press) in certain scenes gives the audience a feeling of uncomfortableness and shock. A strong moment where this occurs is the scene where Zoe is in a car with Dave (Danny Dyer) having a sexual moment. Meanwhile, Zoe's kids are yards away on the floor outside. The youngest child who is a baby still had leftover food (which the children picked up from the floor) around her mouth and this attracted a wasp. The wasp flew into her mouth and the children screamed to alert the mother. She ran to the scene and had worry across her face. She then began screaming to a point where her voice breaks and cursing. This tells us that she was in a very aggressive and saddened state. Also, the camera work makes the film seem 'dark' in this scene too. When the mother is screaming at her children, it cuts back from the mother to the children where their facial expressions show sadness too.
Similarly, Soft has many micro-features and indications to show the audience that the film is dark too. For example, in the scene where the son, Scott (Matthew O'Shea) tries to convince his father, Iain (Jonny Phillips) to confront the gang, we see pure emotion on Scott's face. It is the realisation for him that his dad is scared and he looks disappointed in him. The camera shows a close up of his battered, crying face as the last hope he has for his father fades. His father tells him to "stop being such a wet-head" and starts to become aggressive. Both films have the sense of facial expressions telling the story. They are both used in an aggressive manner.
A major difference between the two movies is the social class of the protagonist characters. In Wasp, Zoe and her children are from an extremely poor area with a shockingly bad flat. They seem to have very little money and very little food. Furthermore, Zoe is a single parent so she has no financial support at all. This is all fuelled by the fact that Zoe looks like a terrible person regardless so it makes us feel significantly sorry for the children. The background characters seem to be a little bit more wealthier, but evidently not any more than working class people.
On the other hand, in Soft the father and Scott look like they are a middle class family. We know this as Scott comes home from playing cricket which is a stereotypically 'middle class' game. Also, Scott's father, Iain comes home in a nice car, to a nice house, dressed in a nice suit. This works well with the narrative later as they have a confrontation with another social class(the gang).
Another similarity between the two films is that they both start off with a bad start and end on a happy note. In Wasp, the film starts off with a camera shot on the dirty clothes of the mother and her children. They are clearly worn out and cheap. This instantly tells us that the protagonist characters in Wasp are poor. After that, Zoe and her kids go to a woman's house, where Zoe fights the other woman (in a very uneducated manner). She is then shown to be a terrible parent as she guides (what looks like a well rehearsed routine) her children to show their middle fingers to woman. Likewise, Soft starts off on a sour note with Scott being beaten up by the gang of teenagers. There is a very smart reference in this scene as the same cricket bat that Scott walked home with is the one that he later attacked the gang with in revenge. The camerawork is brilliant in this particular scene as it shows the view from one of the gang member's phone camera. It shows what type of people the gang are and it gives us a clear insight on the power they hold over Scott.
Ultimately, both films end happily. In Wasp, it isn't necessarily the perfect ending. This breaks the stereotypical regime of films ending perfectly when there is a problem involved. The woman and the kids got something to eat and are in Dave's car driving away. Surprisingly, Dave seems to be a very nice person and somewhat of a hero in the film, despite the Millwall sticker on his car. In soft, Scott finally has enough and smashes his cricket bat around the head of the main gang member. It is the ultimate moment of relief for Scott and the editing shows how he sees his father. Scott tries to give his bat to his father but it falls to the ground. The final scene shows Scott's father shocked and scared whilst locked out of his own house.
In conclusion, both films follow a similar context and theme, but Wasp is the darker of the two. Soft also pays more attention to the cinematography and the small aspects which improve the film's visual quality. On the contrary, Wasp focuses more on the storyline and the bigger picture of the film as a whole.
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