Father and Son Argument

Extract

[...] Creation of suspense: the viewer wants to know the secret at the heart of this dispute . to discover that everything is coming from something idiotic: the son refuses to take out the dog. The end of the film isn't just funny. I want to show the complexity of relationships and communication: often, we can't talk to each other without arguing, and we give too much importance to unimportant things. The dog, Simon, him, says nothing, but he sees everything. [...]

[...] Technical Breakdown: Duration: 2 min 30 Location: the living room Characters : A father, his son, their dog Simon (silent witness) PLAN 1 (fixed plan - 20 sec) Cadrage : plan large of the living room, fixed. The father and the son are sitting each at one end of the room. Heavy silence. A lot of tension. The dog is standing, on the lookout, waiting for the moment to bark. Son : the sound of the television, a car noise outside Out of scope : one can hear the rustling of a newspaper, the sound of a chair being moved. [...]

[...] One hears words without seeing their author, which maintains the vagueness. Off-screen : one guesses the son's gestures by the father's gaze. One hears the dispute without understanding it. PLAN 3 (fixed plan - 40 sec) Cadrage : fixed plan on the son who answer, with anger. Out-of-band audio : the father answers loudly then sighs. The dog leaves the frame. PLAN 4 - (fixed plan - 20 sec) Cadrage : close-up of the dog lying down, silent but witness to this ridiculous situation. The dispute is becoming increasingly absurd. [...]

[...] Son : cries, then brutal silence. The father says: 'You don't even want? The son replies: 'No.' A turning point, the revelation is approaching. PLAN 6 - (plan in motion- 30 sec) Movement : travelling lateral slow to film the dog leaving the room. Out of frame : the father murmurs 'All that . just because you don't want to take Simon out?' The son doesn't answer. The dog sits in front of the door, looks at the camera. Cut. Black. [...]

[...] A father and his son are arguing. The words are flying and the reproaches are launched like machine guns. Each one wants to hurt the other a little more with each word. The scene is surprising and heavy: the spectator feels the wounds of the father and the son, and the distance that has gradually established itself between the two. The spectator, witness and prisoner of this scene, wonders about the reasons for such hatred between father and son. In the background, a third character is a witness to the scene: a dog, Simon, makes to and fro movements in the room, not losing a crumb of the cries and silences between his masters. [...]