The selfish giant includes two friends(Arbor and Swifty) who stick together through thick and thin, that is until Barnard included an unpredictable ending.
The opening scene of this film grabs the attention of the viewer straight away with the use of extreme close up and unusual lighting. Because it is a close up of the two friends gripping hands it also grabs out emotional side and shows us how strong their friendship is. This same shot is used at the end of the production also however the mise en scene changed slightly. The hands are dirtier(showing the struggles they've faced), the lighting darker(showing something dramatic happened) and no use of language just the muffled cries in the background.
She used cinematography numerous times in the 117 minute film however what grabbed my attention the most was when the scenes changed. I noticed that when the scene changes the division would be a quite natural landscape. The lightening would be pleasent and there would be no drama to distract us from the peaceful surrounding. These divisions also forshadow what happened/used further on in the film. For example the first division we see is a green field, with blue skies and horses. A closeup is used on with the horses telling us they may be seen later on.
The horses are used tramensly throughout and are what help the narrative proceed. Fishtank also used horses to symbolise a characters emotion. The horse in Fishtank died and it showed us how a part of nia died with it, this is similar to the horse in Selfish giant, because when it does die it change Swiftys character as he became less 'soft'. This was a beautiful moment in the film as soon as the horse died the lighting immediately got dark to show the boys emotion and anger.
This film is relatable two most of the people living in poverty however to me it makes me realise of how I take money, family and life in general for granted. When the two friends first receive their money for their work they each state what they were going to spend it on. Not thinking about fashion trends, electrical devices or thenself(like most teens would these days) they both chose to spend it on mums electricity and a new sofa. This touches us because they are only kids themself yet they are worring on how to keep the house warm and keep others happy.
When Swifty dies at the end Arbor feels guilty so he turns to the love of horses that Swift had when he was alive, this shows us the true extent of their friendship.
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