Slap (2014)

Slap, directed by Nick Rowland, is a 25 minute short film that follows a boy called Connor's journey through self discovery and acceptance. On the outside, Connor is a boxer who is very masculine and tough; however, at home he is a boy who secretly loves to do his makeup and wear dresses. The film follows how Connor becomes more confident in his love for makeup and dressing up, and when he eventually leaves the house for the first time dressing how he wants, it shows how this affects his life and the people around him.

There is a major theme of masculinity and femininity in the film, and how it is represented and perceived to people. He is surrounded by people who fit into their gender roles and norms - his dad is a boxing coach, and his girlfriend can be seen as very feminine, and there is the cliché 'gay best friend' who is feminine in his movements, however still dresses and looks masculine - this contributes to his urge to hide his feminine side and be perceived as masculine, as there are no role models or people in his life that would understand the extent of his passion. It is also in the culture, as he lives in an industrial town where everyone is closed-minded. This is shown clearly when Archie is chased and beaten up by a group of guys for being gay. 

In the first shot of the film, we see him do his makeup in a precise and gentle way, which shows how he treasures it and enjoys every second of it. We also see the posters of women posing half-naked in the background of his bedroom, showing that he presents himself as a heterosexual man - possibly excessively as he is too terrified of being found out. 

There is a repeat motif of mirrors in this short film - traditionally in symbolism, mirrors have been used to express identity, represent the concept of duality, truth and the depth of someone's soul and mind. They reflect not only our appearance, but who we are on a deeper level. Rowland uses this mirror motif for these exact reasons. When Connor is doing his makeup in his room, we observe him through the reflection of his mirror. When his dad is coming to his room, he obstructs the view of his face by covering it with a shirt. When Archie discovers Connor's makeup and dress, and his girlfriend comes to talk to him after about a different topic, Connor was scared and conflicted after this encounter, and this is shown by observing Connor through a shattered mirror. In the bathroom after he is ridiculed at a party for dressing up, he is pressed against a mirror. 

The cinematography in Slap is used to create a sense of realism, as well as represent both Connor's isolation and mental state. The film mostly uses a hand-held and shaky camera, which contributes to the realism, as well as reflecting his own instability and uncertainty. The use of shadow is also prevalent in this film. Connor's face is often only half-lit, significantly more when he is dressed 'masculine', representing his two sides; the one he keeps secret and the one he displays publicly. There is also a shot where Connor, Archie and Lola are walking under a bridge and they are completely silhouetted, showing how Connor is hiding his true self from the people closest to him. He tells Lola he has boxing practise, when in reality he goes home to do makeup and get dressed up. 

This long shot of Connor (above) is a pivotal point in the film. This is the first time where Connor has left the house in his feminine clothes out of choice, and he walks down the road with a visible confidence. The camera dollies backwards as Connor gets closer to the camera, giving us more time to take in his clothes and his makeup, as well as his confident demeanour. The camera is also static. From my point earlier about the shaky camera reflecting his mental state, we can take away that the static camera in this shot means that Connor is confident and comfortable. This scene can also be seen as bittersweet, because although he is confident and dressed the way he wants to dress, he is isolated. For this whole shot he is centred and completely alone, and the use of negative space and empty streets emphasises this.

The theme of isolation is present again when Connor arrives at the party. He stands in the centre of the room, at first with masses of confidence, however as he is met with judgemental looks and laughter, his demeanor changes. This sense of isolation is prominent with the use of negative space - Connor is stood in the middle of the frame, with  no one around him, and then the camera cuts to his point of view, where there is little negative space, and everyone else is on that side of the room. The contrast between the two emphasises how isolated he is. Connor's face and body language changes in a discrete yet powerful way - we see confidence, confusion, sadness, anger, and embarrassment in less than a minute. We realise here that Connor is hurting as he realises no one accepts him for who he is, but he realises that they think it's a joke, so through the pain he tries to play along and does a twirl for them.

After Connor is laughed at, we cut to him sitting in a bathroom, hiding from the party. The nauseating green lighting reflects Connor's own emotions, as he is feeling embarrassed and ashamed and angry and possibly guilty for liking the way he looks to the point he feels nauseous. 

The use of colour in this film is subtle but important to how we perceive Connor, as colour is generally used to reflect him and his emotions. For example, although the first two acts are generally naturalistic and dull colours, the third act has quite an expressionistic use of colour. At the party when he arrives and is ridiculed, the red represents Connor's anger and confusion as he does not feel accepted. When he is sat in the bathroom, the use of green represents his embarrassment and shame. There is also a mix of the red and the green when Connor chases Archie in to the main room of the party, and the door is left open, emitting an even brighter green which contrasts to the red of the room. This suggests Connor is experiencing an overflow of all his emotions. 

Lastly, in the end scene, the lighting and colour grading almost goes back to the way it was in the first two acts, suggesting Connor has hidden that part of him again and can not accept that part of him, and decides to stay being what everyone else expects him to be. There is also a hint of green colour grading, which suggests he is still feeling that same disgust at himself and embarrassment and shame. 

There is also a nice touch at the end with this use of green, because as he takes out his emotions on his opponent, the colour grading does go back to how it was in the first two acts, implying that he is relieving himself of the negative emotions by physically taking out his anger. (see pictures above and below)

The use of mise-en-scene is also very important in this film. In the first scene, we see the posters of half-naked women in the background as Connor does his makeup, which I talked about at the beginning, but there is a detail during the bathroom scene, which is a condom dispenser with the word "stud" on it. This is to show the two sides of Connor's life, as he is stood next to this whilst wearing a dress and makeup. This could also be done to further make him look more feminine, as he does not look like a 'stud'. This dispenser also seems ironic and comedic in some sense but the scene is not a comedic one, so it could be dark humour. 

Editing is very simplistic, mainly using jump cuts. There is an important scene where the jump cuts were used to show Connor's two sides, and this is when he is boxing while wearing the dress in front of the mirror, then dancing in front of the mirror. Jump cutting between these two allows us to see both sides of Connor, as he is not just one or the other.

Another major component to the film is the cast and the performance. The choice of casting Joe Cole as Connor was essential to the film's success. Joe Cole has a very masculine voice, build and demeanour, which contrasts with the feminine side of Connor. The acting from Cole is also very nuanced and he is able to express multiple emotions in micro movements. This is evident in the scene where he watches everyone laugh at him, and his face slowly drops, and we see the confidence leave his body, even though he keeps smiling. 

Overall I really liked this short film, it was engaging and it covered a deep topic without discrediting it or over-exaggerating.