gasman notes

7/27/2019 Gasman Notes

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Gasman Notes

Gasman was written and directed by Lynne Ramsay in 1997. Gasman was a short

film which held the running time of only 15 minutes long and was shot on a 16mm,

the film also 16:9 wide screen. The short film won Cannes Jury Prize and the Scottish

BAFTA in 1998. Gasman wasnt the only short film Lynne had made. However, after

all the short films Lynne Ramsay decided to create a Future film called Rat Catcher.

The micro element of gender has been represented clearly within this short film as the

toy car is stereotypically associated with young boys. However, as the boy pours

sugar on to the car connoting the seasons of Christmas also shows that he is in a

poverty family crisis. The grating sound of the sugar being scratched across the

Grimy stained table connoting toughness of the young boys life. This also

foreshadows what is due to happen later on in the film. The colour pallet of light

pinks and yellow stereotypically associates with young girls. The little yellow

dress/frock represents a young sensible girl who is dressed up in her finest expensiveclothing for some kind of special occasion. However, when the girl taps her feet

together saying, Theres no place like home, theres no place like home is an inter-

textual reference to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. This is also too foreshadowing

whether later on the protagonist does want to get back to her normal home or be

moved to a more comfortable home life.

The colour pallet of dull urban colours of green and blue in the house show

depression and low class and status. The lighting is very low key this also connotes

the depression of the situation, and the environment they are living in. There is

unfairness on the mother as she has to stay in the house alone, while everyone leaves

her and goes to a party. The identity of the mother isnt shown very well as she isspending all her time at home working. This is stereotypically saying that women

have to stay at home and work, clean and cook. As they have nothing better to do with

their lifes. The shot of the mother looking out of the window at the family leaving her

at home has jagged branches around the windowsill, this is connoting the savage of

the outside world and how unsafe the environment is to actually live in.

The element of age has been represented within this short film as both brother and

sister are separated with different opinions of there father, this is due to their

difference in age and their understanding about life. The younger girl is about 7 years

old and has a real childhood; she is still in that innocence of being small. At the

beginning she looks up to her father and sees him as the only man in her life. There isa sudden tracking shot to where she is incarcerated and looks imprisoned behind bars,

this could connote the innocence and the fact that she doesnt look beyond what her

father says to her. She is locked in the mind set of listening to everything her dad has

to say. On the other hand, her brother is the complete opposite. The boy is much more

different than his sister as he is much more independent and would rather be alone

than near his dad. There is something stopping the relationship between the father and

son. There is a proxemics of the girl being close to her father whereas the boy would

rather stay away, in the shadows and not associating with him. Later on in the film the

prop of a stone is being used to show bad tension when the son tries to throw it at his

dad. This connotes the boy mocking his father, as he has lost authority. The shot of the

daughter and father walking along the straight train tracks connotes how straight

forward their relationship is. Whereas the boy is completely of the tracks and walking


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alone, this connotes that he hasnt got that bond and relationship with his father like

his sister does. The framing shots of when the father and daughter are close, cuts toe

son out of the shots this always backs up the broken down relationship they have.

However, the medium shot of the daughter on the fathers back shows the closeness of

their relationship also the edges are blackened around the shot this softens their

relationship.

The location in Gasman is set out in a tough Scottish working class environment. The

meeting place of where they all go to meet an unknown woman reflects on their lifes

as it is a worn down, disused rail line. This is the issue of industry decline and social

decay. In the view of the shot there is a rusty old train this connotes the industry in

decline and social poverty, the environment is run down and broken.

The micro element of editing is used when the father goes in to touch the womens

hair; slow motion is used to slow down momentorous time of how it use to have

possibly been. The extreme close up shot has worked well with the slow motion to

also show that he feels intimacy towards her but she attracts away from him, thismakes the audience feel in unease in the situation. Also, slow motion is used again in

a different way. This time there is a slight low angel on the daughter this is showing

the daughters point of view looking at the other women and her father talking. This

connotes her attitude and anxiousness of her father talking to another woman and her

misunderstanding in the situation. This slow motion shot is used twice within a short

space of time, first in the beginning when walking up to the other family and then

again when they are talking, this shows as if time has stopped for her whilst she is

trying to take everything in.

The representation of class and status is being introduced when two other children are

being brought into the scene of an even more poor economic family. We know this by

the way that they are dressed; the camera shot of a high angle down onto both girls

feet show direct class and status and the very clear economic in the status. As the

younger girl seems to have worn out, dull, school shoes on instead of nice shiny fancy

ones. Also, later on in the film it reflects class and status when the other girl holds on

to the daughters dress and tells her that its very nice she shows that the little girl is

complimenting her but also theres a tense of jealousy there. This also shows a

friendship establishing between them when they are holding hands, laughing and the

other girl gripping on to her beautiful dress. We know the dad has something to do

with the other women as he has financial responsibility towards one of the children, if

not both, she is expecting more than he is providing.

During the film, when they are still at the train tracks there is a medium shot of all

four children together however there is symmetry between both two kids to the other

two kids. There is a log in-between them to show some sort of division, a line that is

going to be crossed, this is a visual metaphor and symbolic this also shows the first

hint of them being rivals. The way they are positioned within the scene looks like

sinister; some how like a horror movie. As they all walk off leaving the women to go

to the party the camera movement of a slow pan shows the distance between the

father and daughter, things were different now.

The micro element of sound is employed later on in Gasman when the locationchanges to the children and father being in a party. The song Chirpy Chirpy Cheap


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Cheap Middle of the road made in 1972 is employed into the background music of

the party to connote what the childrens life is like and the confusing between parents

as the song says Wheres your mummy gone? Wheres your daddy gone. Also, the

sound of a busy environment and cheerful adults and kinds playing around and having

fun shows an old tradition of a special event (Christmas). As the shot changes to the

boy in the chair, the micro element of set decoration of the Christmas tree is verytacky and undecorated; this also shows class and status. The camera shot of the boy in

a large chair that is over towering and dwarfing him shows his loneliness however he

does not look depressed or uncomfortable as he is in his natural environment.

There is a focus pull on the father of him thinking about his children and then pulls

back onto him drinking; this is the metaphor of him drinking his life away. This also

connotes that he is having trouble with looking after and satisfying his children, he

finds it hard. Is he fit enough to be a father of three possibly four? However, he is not

the only one drinking. All the men in the party are drinking pints of beer and different

alcohol whilst all the children are out of control, playing and fighting. The camera

movement changes and sways the more the father drinks this makes the audience feelthe unease and feel like youre in the father shoes.

The youngest girl is taking interest in the daughter with her father and how close they

are, she feels unhappy on her own and unloved. She is amazed and fascinated of how

strong their relationship is and she wants it. When the daughter decides to go and play

with the other children, the father drinks more. The editing of slow motion comes in

to connote how drunk the father was, stereotypically saying the more you drink the

slower you get. Also, the camera is going in and out of focus and blurring up to show

his drunkenness. The other girl thinks its her chance to jump in and find the love she

needs off the man, she wants a father daughter relationship too. As the daughter

realises the other girl is imposing on her father, she has a close up of just her self this

is her own shot. The sound fades out as the daughter sees the other girl on her dads

lap this connotes her anger and her focus on them two. The camera cuts to a close up

of her face to show her expression and then to an extreme close up to show a profile

confrontation mode coming from a jarring cut. The daughter runs over to her dad and

tries to drag the other girl off his lap, was this her father too? The father doesnt know

how to deal with the situation, he then decides to look down at his cigarettes this

connotes depression, is this the only thing he can turn too? He has no money to b-*uy

anymore. As the two girls continue to fight the other girl says hes my daddy this

ruined the daughters world, her friendship with her father was broken and would

never feel the same, it had ruined her world.

In the final part of the short film the same shot in the beginning of the short film; of

the two girls holding hands is done again in the exact same way however this time it

is out of spite, she was squeezing her hand violently. The wide shot and low key

lighting connotes the anger and also reminding us of the gloom of existence. Also, in

the next shot the low key lighting is used here to show a dark side of the family as it

shows 5 disfigured figures that arent very clear. This shows the depression and the

poor status that they are living inside. As the tables turn we are looking from the

womens perspective rather than the dads in this scene. The man is walking way

reminiscing about life and this connotes that they have a connection towards each

other about their feelings.


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The prop of a rock is used once again in the very last short of this extract, as in the

beginning the son had picked it up and thrown it as his father to show hate and anger

towards him. However, this time the daughter had picked up a rock when the other

girl was walking away with her family and was clenching on to it very tight as she

had a chance to think to herself whether to throw it. The daughter then decides to

throw it on the floor, this shows that her anger has dropped down as the rock isrepresenting her anger.

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