Short (DEPICT) Film review

Depict Short Films

Family Dinner (by Ashley P Saunders)

The reason I picked the film ‘Family Dinner’ first was because I felt like I could relate to the scenario. After a few seconds of watching it you could tell they were a common British family talking about normal things you would expect a family to talk about at a dinner table.

The wine glasses, plates of food, dinner table and kitchen represented a dining room setting. Furthermore, the house looked family modern which could represent the topics they were talking about. For example, the younger brother was asking his older sister what ‘gay’ meant. The sister was also on her phone messaging someone instead of talking to the family which is also common at a dinner table nowadays and she got annoyed with her brother after asking too many questions, which is also normal for siblings at that age. The Grandad was asking the mother how to do something on a tablet, suggesting that he is adapting to modern technology.

The narrative was simple. The camera would move around the dinner table and stop when there was dialog between two of the family members. It would show the family talking, playing card games and asking other family members questions. Near to the end, the younger brother reveals that his older sister had a boy round named ‘roger’ and that they were kissing on the sofa. Following this the camera changes its direction to focus on the sister. This camera movement makes it more humorous.

Overall, the narrative was very simple yet funny. The camera movement was the same until the daughter secret is revealed and it changes its course.