Gasman (1997) short film analysis

Gasman is a film by Lynne Ramsey which explores the theme of a broken home and the end of a child's innocence. The film is presented through the eyes of the child Lynne. By calling the chid Lynne, Ramsey gives the audience the impression that this film could be a biography of her own experience as a child. The narrative explores the child's struggle with jealousy and with the realisation her farther may not be the man she has built him up to be in her head. This film could be described as a coming of age film as the main character Lynne begins to grow up and think more about her actions and consequences. This film must have undergone a lot of pre-production research, as the film is based on a very sensitive subject, and therefore must be approached in a thoughtful manner.  Also  there are ethical issues in which are linked to working with children, therefore in the research and planning stage, Ramsey will have had to taken out any risk assessments linked with this factor. Ramsey has also created a film in which was set in the 1970's, therefore she will have had to have had some form of art direction to make sure all the set and costume design looked authentic. She could have watched films/TV from the time, looked in newspapers/magazines and even archives to create the most accurate set possible.




 I really like the shooting style of the opening sequence of this film. The opening scene is uses a mid shots which show's the child's face, while keeping the mothers face hidden. This is used to show the film is been presented from a child's view point, while also keeping to mothers face hidden. The fact her face is hidden shows she is in the dark about what the father's second life so to speak. I really like this technique as I believe it subtly portrays what the audience doesn't already know. Also shooting from a child's eye-line allows the audience to connect with the character more as they feel distanced from the adult characters. I think in this film it is very effective.

I also think the sound in this film is very effective. There is very little sound actually used in the film which makes it even more interesting. Ramsey uses silence to her advantage and uses very little dialogue throughout the film. I think this is very interesting as it means the clips portray the majority of the meaning within this film. However there are subtle sounds, such as in the opening sequence where the father's voice is droning. This could be perceived as him being afraid and vulnerable, which we later discover that he is.

Overall I think this is a very effective film and I really enjoyed watching it. Ramsey successfully created a coming of age film which follows a child's struggle with loosing her innocence and coming to terms with the fact people aren't always who you build them up to be.