Pre Production: Analysing story telling methods - Sleep Well, My Baby (2017)



I decided to look through Vimeo to see what kind of story telling techniques can be used for short films. I came across a lovely yet moving 7 minute piece which spoke about the dangers for women trying to escape South Korea. 
Sleep Well, My Baby (2017)
Written/ Directed by: Aaron & Winston Tao (TwinTaoers)

Visuals
The first type of technique that I noticed was the important statistic inserted at the very start of the video. Inserted over a picture of mountains, almost showing the depth of how far one would need to travel to safety. This technique is very subtle, yet very effective. This is something that I think would be good for mine if I chose to take it down the short film route. I also love the fact that this is based on true events (written in the description) It almost really causes you to be more connected to the story before it even begins. 



The film starts with a singular item, An item that you don't realise would have great significance until later. It is also a snapshot of the future/ending of the film. Then it cuts to the "present" time. This is again another simple yet effective thing. It is also a similar idea to what I had as I wanted to show the final outcome first to kind of keep the mystery through out.




  • Shots are intentionally shaky and there isn't an abundance of smooth shots unless it is necessary . This maintains the realistic style, gritty style.
  • You don't actually hear any dialogue except from the voice over. She is singlehandedly telling the story and the images match. You don't hear diegetic dialogue but you can see the expressions and the actions show what is happening 




  • In this scene, The main character is being physically abused. Instead of you to actually see it, with the use of some visual effects as well as some clever sound design where you can only hear her muffled screams, you can really feel the emotion but it is also quite artistic in the style. 




My final thoughts
  • I think this was a beautifully shot film. The colours were very consistent and really set the cold mood for the film. I think this is something that I would like to achieve for my film. 
  • This film has made me think a lot about how I would want to tell a story because my topic will be quite a serious one, I would want it to be taken seriously without losing the initial point. 
  • But I definitely think I would like to insert the fact that black males are the likely to be hospitalised for mental illness. 


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