When the Day Breaks:

 

Two characters shown getting ready and making breakfast

Establishing shots used to show building characters live in

Crisis shown through chicken being run over

Pig has to deal with death of chicken: only one that cares

Death was an accident, pig learns to cope with guilt and understand

Similar to “La Jetee” as it follows two characters

Uses music to express emotion, similar to “Night Fishing”

 

La Jetee:

 

Use of nonlinear time helps us to become acquainted with the characters

Enigma around importance of established location: airport

Find out that airport is where he dies

No closure to the man’s death

Binary opposition between past and present and is able to combine the two through the nonlinear timeline

Shows a dystopian future that helps set the negative tone for the audience

Shows a sense of inevitability for the man as he cannot escape his fate of death

Similar to “Meshes of the Afternoon” as it shows a repetition in the characters actions due to a nonlinear time line in both

Different because the film acts as more of a storyboard since it is taken purely with photographs; stylistically different

 

 

 

 

 

Meshes of the Afternoon:

 

Messy nonlinear timeline

Plot and moral is initially an enigma

Confusing narrative: is it multiple women or different recreations of the same events?

Character with mirror face: reference to the grim reaper?

Binary opposition between reality and dreams

Similar to “Le Jetee” and “Night Fishing” due to nonlinear structure in timeline

Theme of death throughout all of the short films

 

Night Fishing:

 

Quick introduction to characters

Establishing shots show the scene and the river

Introduced during the light but film progresses into the dark and the night

Appears to be a ritual which brings back the fathers spirit in order to allow for some closure for the family

Soul is used to possess his daughter

We are not given full introduction so motives of characters is unclear

Soul cannot repossess woman: solid barrier between life and death

Similar to “When the Day Breaks” due to music being used to create emotion

Theme of death runs through this and all the other films